News & Commentary

It should outrage us that a homeless man will be in prison for the rest of his life because he was the middleman in the sale of $10 worth of marijuana. We can all pretty much agree that the punishment of growing old and dying behind bars for such offenses is a wildly extreme, tragic and wasteful overreaction to the crime.

Looking for a Sunday evening activity? Look no further! Join the ACLU's Ben Wizner and other leading privacy advocates for an online screening of "Terms and Conditions May Apply," followed by an open discussion on Internet surveillance.

Is it harder to take candy from a baby or a border agent?

In criminal cases, defendants have a right to know what evidence the government plans to use against them and how the government gathered that evidence. This basic due process principle is essential: it allows defendants to test in court whether law enforcement officers obtained evidence in violation of the Fourth Amendment. But in a new legal brief, the government has refused to confirm or deny whether it relied on constitutionally questionable mass surveillance programs to gather evidence for a criminal prosecution.

Leaks of classified and highly secretive information from U.S. government databases by the likes of Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning have naturally garnered massive press attention, exposing some deeply problematic U.S. military and national security programs and activities. Meanwhile, however, a lesser-publicized phenomenon has also been occuring with some frequency recently: breaches of corporate databases holding highly sensitive information on millions of Americans.

There's a wave of transparency reports sweeping the nation. In recent months a plethora of companies – including Microsoft, Facebook, Apple, and Twitter – have released these detailed documents, which describe the number of requests they get from the government to divulge their users' information and how they comply. Many of these reports are recent developments – Apple released its first report last week – and almost certainly spurred in some part by companies' desire to reassure users in light of the NSA scandals. Nonetheless it's a welcome development. As we have repeatedly said, the only way we can learn how our data is used is if companies tell us.

Dad usually suggests we leave a little early because leaving is the 'elephant in the room' that we're all trying to avoid. "Ya'll go on and head home and get some rest. Don't worry about me, I'm fine." It's the same stuff every time.

Recent reports have revealed that several companies are currently pushing “intelligent street lights” that are capable of being loaded with various kinds of sensors including, as Reuters reported late last month,

Ever wonder what could land you in prison for the rest of your life? For 3,278 people, it was nonviolent offenses like shoplifting a few cameras from Wal-Mart, stealing a $159 jacket, or serving as a middleman in the sale of $10 of marijuana.
That's rig