Congressional Hearing on Employment Verification
The House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on employment verification. Several hearings have be held by the committee on the proposal to create a mandatory national government employment eligibility system. The current private sector system is voluntary.
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Homeland Security Releases Final REAL ID Rules
The Department of Homeland Security released the long awaited final rule on state issued drivers licenses and identification documents. The rule indicated that the new federal REAL ID will be used for a variety of purposes unrelated to the law that resulted in the federalization of state issued drivers licenses. If states do not comply with the agency rule the drivers’ licenses held by state residents will not be accepted for air travel or to access federal government buildings. As a cost saving measure the Department of Homeland Security decided not to require encryption of the digital data stored on the REAL ID. The Privacy Coalition led a major anti-REAL ID public education campaign. EPIC's page on REAL ID and the ACLU's analysis of the new agency rule..
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Congress Gives Administration More Wiretap Power
Congress gives the White House expanded domestic spying and reduce judicial oversight, through amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The new authority given to the President by Congress will permit warrantless surveillance of American citizens when one party to the conversation may be outside of the United States. This change in the FISA law which already gave law enforcement and national intelligence agenies great latitude under a special court which exclusively heard these request for surveillance of non-citizens. This change in the FISA law will leave millions of Americans subject to electronic surveillance, without court review, regardless of whether they are suspected of any wrongdoing. However, the amendments will sunset in 180 days, which will provide an opportunity for further debate in Congress.
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2007 Annual Meeting: Privacy Agenda 08
January 24-26, 2008 marked the 14th Annual Meeting of the Privacy Coalition. The meeting took place in Washington, DC and featured participation by privacy, consumer rights, civil liberties, and civil rights organizations.
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September 28 Privacy Coalition Meeting
The September 28, 2007 meeting of the Privacy Coalition featured presentations by David Gersten Director of the Department of Homeland Security's Civil Rights and Civil Libertieis Programs, Robert Mocny, Director of the Department of Homeland Security's US VISIT Program. The meeting also featured presentations by Susan Hunkler a privacy rights activist, Jim Harrision Director of the Identity Project, Lew Motby President, Work Rights Institute and a discussion on Fusion Centers.
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Privacy Pledge
Privacy is one of America's most fundamental values.
The Fourth Amendment states that "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated." In addition, the U.S. has adopted many laws protecting Americans from privacy invasive practices by both the public and private sectors.
Recognizing the need to protect this essential freedom, I, (insert Member's name), pledge to my constituents in (State and District) and to the American people that I will support a privacy framework to safeguard the rights of Americans in this information age.
This framework includes:
- the Fair Information Practices: the right to notice, consent, security, access, correction, use limitations, and redress when information is improperly used,
- independent enforcement and oversight,
- promotion of genuine Privacy Enhancing Technologies that limit the collection of personal information and legal restrictions on surveillance technologies such as those used for locational tracking, video surveillance, electronic profiling, and workplace monitoring, and
- a solid foundation of federal privacy safeguards that permit the private sector and states to implement supplementary protections as needed.
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Signature
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Date
