Entries tagged with: EPIC v. DHS
89 result(s) displayed.
TSA "Unplugs, Boxes Up, and Ships Back" X-Ray Body Scanners
The TSA has completed removal of the x-ray body scanners from US airports. The devices revealed detailed images of a person's naked body and have been described as "digital strip searches." The TSA action follows an Act of Congress and...
EPIC FOIA Request Reveals Details About Government Cybersecurity Program
New documents obtained by EPIC in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit reveal that the Department of Defense advised private industry on how to best circumvent federal wiretap law. The documents concern a collaboration between the Defense Department, the Department...
Public Opposes TSA Nude Body Scanners
Following a court mandate that the Transportation Security Administration receive public comment on airport body scanners, the public overwhelmingly opposes invasive nude body scanners. The court mandate was in response to EPIC's lawsuit in EPIC v. DHS, where EPIC successfully...
EPIC Appeals FOIA Decisions Concerning Body Scanner Information
EPIC has filed appeals in two Freedom of Information Act cases seeking documents related to airport body scanners from the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration. EPIC filed FOIA requests with the agencies seeking records related to...
DHS Reveals More Information on Covert Social Media Monitoring Program
The Department of Homeland Security has issued a Privacy Impact Assessment, updating information on its controversial social media monitoring program. As part of the program, DHS scours social media sites, including Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube, for public posts that contain...
EPIC Obtains News Information on TSA Body Scanner Program
The Transportation Security Administration was forced to disclose additional information regarding the Agency's controversial body scanner program after EPIC prevailed in a lawsuit against the Agency. In March 2013, Judge Royce Lamberth held that the Agency had unlawfully redacted certain...
TSA Begins Court Ordered Rulemaking on Body Scanner Program, EPIC Urges Public Comment
The TSA announced today that it will begin a public comment process on its airport screening procedures. The action follows from a 2011 court order in EPIC v. DHS. In that case, the Federal Appeals Court for the DC Circuit...
EPIC Prevails in Two FOIA Cases, Obtains Further Details on Body Scanners
A federal judge has granted EPIC victories in two Freedom of Information Act cases involving the controversial airport body scanners. Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington, DC held that the Department of Homeland Security must turn over two safety reports detailing...
EPIC Prevails in Social Media Monitoring FOIA Suit
EPIC has obtained a court order and an opinion in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, requiring the agency to turn over more documents about the monitoring of social media and Internet media organizations....
EPIC Obtains DHS Body Scanner Training Manuals, New Questions About Absence of Privacy Safeguards
In response to an EPIC FOIA request, the Department of Homeland Security has released documents about the use of body scanners by the US Secret Service. EPIC sought information about the types of images that body scanners capture, the length...
TSA to Pull Naked Body Scanners Out of US Airports
The US Transportation Security Administration will end the contract for backscatter x-ray devices. As a consequence, all devices that produce a detailed naked image of air travelers will be removed from US airports. Beginning in 2005, EPIC and then a...
EPIC Succeeds in Fight Against Protective Order in FOIA Case
A federal judge has vacated provisions in a prior order that would have limited the ability of FOIA requesters to disseminate information to the public. EPIC filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security after...
Congress to Scrutinize TSA's "Scanner Shuffle"
The House Subcommittee on Transportation Security is holding an oversight hearing this week, "TSA's Recent Scanner Shuffle: Real Strategy or Wasteful Smokescreen?" The hearing announcement follows a decision by the TSA to remove the backscatter x-ray devices from major US...
DHS Privacy Review Fails to Address DHS Monitoring of Online Dissent
The Department of Homeland Security released a Privacy Compliance Review which found that the DHS social media monitoring program complied the DHS's own privacy requirements. Documents obtained by EPIC through a FOIA lawsuit revealed that DHS is monitoring social networks...
TSA Unplugs, Boxes Up Airport Body Scanner X-ray Devices
Earlier this year, the TSA indicated that it would no longer purchase backscatter x-ray devices for deployment in US airports. A news story this week confirms that the TSA has ceased buying the "Whole Body Imaging" devices and is actively...
Court Responds to EPIC Petition, Expects Body Scanner Rule by March 2013
The Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit has issued a ruling on EPIC's recent petition regarding the controversial body scanner program. EPIC had urged the court to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to begin a public comment process...
EPIC Prevails in Mobile Body Scanner FOIA Case
A federal district court has awarded EPIC attorneys fees and costs in EPIC v. DHS, No, 11-945, a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit that resulted in the disclosure of information about the agency's plan to deploy body scanners at bus...
EPIC Pursues Body Scanner Case, Files Reply Brief
EPIC has filed a reply brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in the airport body scanner case. The case arises from EPIC's Mandamus Petition, seeking to enforce the Court's July 2011 order requiring the DHS...
New Congressional Report Recommends TSA Address Privacy and Health Concerns with Airport Bodyscanners
"Rebuilding TSA into a Smarter, Leaner Organization," a new House Report critiques the Transportation Security Administration for "failing to meet taxpayers' expectations." The report, prepared by the House Committee on Homeland Security, recommends that the TSA sponsor "an independent analysis"...
EPIC FOIA - Documents Shed Further Light on Homeland Security Pursuit of Crowd Surveillance
New documents obtained by EPIC under the Freedom of Information Act provide further details on a DHS plan to use an multiples surveillance technologies to search people in public spaces. Previous EPIC FOIA work produced records about a similar DHS...
