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March 2009 Archives

March 2, 2009

Responding to Privacy Concerns, Whitehouse Drops YouTube for Broadcasting Presidential Speeches

Following protests that YouTube was creating persistent cookies for people who visited the White House web site, the latest Weekly Address of President Obama no longer secretly tracks Whitehouse visitors. Federal policy restricts the use of tracking cookies by federal agencies. Privacy concerns remain for media content delivered by Congressional offices. For more information, see EPIC's Cookies Page.

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Posted by Caitriona Fitzgerald on March 2, 2009 12:08 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

March 3, 2009

Justice Department Releases Domestic Surveillance Memos and Opinions

Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Department of Justice will make public memos and opinions concerning warrantless surveillance, and other controversial claims of Presidential authority, that were prepared in the wake of 9/11. The documents describe the legal basis for President Bush's domestic surveillance program. After learning of the warrantless wiretap program, EPIC sued the Department of Justice under the Freedom of Information Act to compel disclosure of legal memos concerning the program. Government lawyers subsequently disavowed the justifications for the warrantless surveillance. For more, see EPIC's "National Security Agency's Warrantless Surveillance Program" page.

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Posted by Caitriona Fitzgerald on March 3, 2009 12:08 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

March 6, 2009

EPIC v. DOJ - EPIC Urges Court to Require Disclosure of Warrantless Wiretap Memos

EPIC, the ACLU, and the National Security Archive asked a federal court in Washington, DC to order the immediate disclosure of government memos describing the legal basis for the warrantless wiretapping of American citizens by the Bush Administration. The court is currently reviewing the documents, prepared by the Office of Legal Counsel, as part of an EPIC Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. This week, the Attorney General released several related memos, which previously were secret. The new release follows President Obama's recent statement on government transparency. "The Freedom of Information Act should be administered with a clear presumption: In the face of doubt, openness prevails," the President said. For more information, see EPIC v. DOJ.

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Posted by Caitriona Fitzgerald on March 6, 2009 5:05 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

March 9, 2009

Cybersecurity Czar Steps Down, Warns of Growing NSA Influence

Rod Beckstrom, Director of the National Cybersecurity Center, has resigned. In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Beckstrom warned of the increasing role of the National Security Agency in domestic security. The "intelligence culture is very different than a network operation or security culture... the threats to our democratic processes are significant if all top government network and monitoring are handled by any one organization... we have been unwilling to subjugate the NSCS under the NSA," wrote the former NCSC Director. The announcement follows Congressional testimony from the new Director of National Intelligence that the NSA should be responsible for network security. EPIC has long maintained that the NSA, though it plays a vital role in gathering foreign intelligence, should not be the lead agency for domestic network security because it also engages in extensive and unregulated spying. See EPIC Computer Security Act of 1987.

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Posted by Caitriona Fitzgerald on March 9, 2009 12:05 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

March 17, 2009

EPIC Celebrates Sunshine Week

Open government and media organizations throughout the country are celebrating Sunshine Week by highlighting the importance of government transparency. EPIC publishes the most comprehensive up-to-date manual on federal open government law. EPIC is pursuing Freedom of Information Act litigation to obtain government memos describing the legal basis for the warrantless wiretapping of American citizens by the Bush Administration. To learn more about your right to access government information, see EPIC's Open Government page and Litigation Under the Federal Open Government Laws 2008.

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Posted by Caitriona Fitzgerald on March 17, 2009 10:57 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

EPIC Petitions FTC to Investigate Google, Cloud Computing Services

EPIC has formally asked the Federal Trade Commission to open an investigation into Google's Cloud Computing Services -- including Gmail, Google Docs, and Picasa -- to determine "the adequacy of the privacy and security safeguards." The petition follows the recent report of a breach of Google Docs. EPIC cited the growing dependence of American consumers, businesses, and federal agencies on cloud computing services, and urged the Commission to take "such measures as are necessary" to ensure the safety and security of information submitted to Google. Previous EPIC complaints have led the Commission to order Microsoft to revise the security standards for Passport and to require Choicepoint to change its business practices and pay $15 m in fines.

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Posted by Caitriona Fitzgerald on March 17, 2009 10:59 AM | | TrackBacks (0)

March 19, 2009

Attorney General Issues New FOIA Guidelines

The Attorney General today set out new Freedom of Information guidelines pursuant to President Obama's memorandum directing all executive branch departments and agencies to maintain a presumption of openness in releasing information requested from them. In the memorandum, the Attorney General strongly encouraged agencies to make discretionary disclosures of information to the fullest extent possible. Rescinding the FOIA Memorandum of October 12, 2001, the Attorney General stated that the Justice Department will defend a FOIA request only if the disclosure would harm an interest protected by a statutory exemption or its disclosure is prohibited by law. The memorandum also directs that each agency is fully accountable for its administration of FOIA and should be mindful of their obligation to work "in a spirit of cooperation." For more information, see EPIC's Open Government page.

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Posted by Caitriona Fitzgerald on March 19, 2009 12:54 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Senators Introduce Open Government Bill, Celebrate Sunshine Week

Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) introduced legislation to improve government transparency and strengthen the Freedom of Information Act. The proposal comes during Sunshine Week, an annual celebration of open government. The OPEN FOIA Act of 2009 would reduce government secrecy by limiting the circumstances in which government records can be exempted from disclosure. "Excessive government secrecy is a constant temptation and the enemy of a vibrant democracy," Senator Leahy said. In 2007, Senators Leahy and Cornyn co-sponsored the OPEN Government Act, a law that imposed meaningful deadlines on federal agencies, created a FOIA Ombudsman, and provided "news media" standing for freelance journalists and bloggers. For more information, see EPIC's Litigation Under the Federal Open Government Laws.

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Posted by Caitriona Fitzgerald on March 19, 2009 12:56 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

Federal Trade Commission to Review EPIC Cloud Computing Complaint

The Federal Trade Commission will review EPIC's March 17, 2009 complaint, which describes Google's unfair and deceptive business practices concerning the firm's Cloud Computing Services. EPIC's complaint describes numerous data breaches involving user-generated information stored by Google, including the recently reported breach of Google Docs. EPIC's complaint "raises a number of concerns about the privacy and security of information collected from consumers online," federal regulators said. EPIC urged the Commission to take "such measures as are necessary" to ensure the safety and security of information submitted to Google. Previous EPIC complaints have led the Commission to order Microsoft to revise the security standards for Passport and to require Choicepoint to change its business practices and pay $15 m in fines. For more information, see EPIC's complaint to the FTC. EPIC's Cloud Computing Page.

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Posted by Caitriona Fitzgerald on March 19, 2009 12:56 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

March 26, 2009

European Parliament Adopts Report on Fundamental Freedoms and the Internet

The European Parliament adopted with 481 votes a report on Security and Fundamental Freedoms on the Internet. Expressing strong support for privacy, data protection, security and freedom of speech, the report called on Member States to make use of existing law, exchange best practices and draw up a series of regulations to protect privacy. The Parliament also urged Member States to update legislation to protect children using the Internet and called on the Council and Commission to develop a comprehensive strategy to combat cybercrime, identity theft and fraud. A draft of the report was released in January. See also EPIC's report on Privacy & Human Rights 2006.

Posted by Caitriona Fitzgerald on March 26, 2009 11:10 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

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About March 2009

This page contains all entries posted to epic.org in March 2009. They are listed from oldest to newest.

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