Entries tagged with: wiretapping
33 result(s) displayed.
2012 FISA Orders Up, National Security Letters Down, No Surveillance Request Denied
According to the 2012 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Report, the Department of Justice submitted 1,856 applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), a 6.4% increase over 2011. Of the 1,856 search applications, 1,789 sought authority to conduct electronic...
2011 Report: Wiretap Authorizations Decrease
According to the 2011 Wiretap Report, released by the Administrative Office of the US Courts, federal and state applications for wiretap orders dropped 14 percent in 2011, compared to the number reported in 2010. The reduction in wiretaps resulted primarily...
Supreme Court Set to Review Wiretap Case
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear Clapper v. Amnesty International USA, a challenge to the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. The Act expanded the Government's authority to engage in warrantless surveillance, and followed news of the Bush administration's program...
EPIC v. FBI - Stingray / Cell Site Simulator
Top News | Background | Legal Documents| Freedom of Information Act Documents | Released Documents | News Items Top News : () Background A StingRay is a device that can triangulate the source of a cellular signal by acting...
EPIC Urges Justice Department to Investigate Google for Unlawful Wiretapping
EPIC wrote a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder asking the Department of Justice to investigate Google’s collection of Wi-Fi data from residential networks by means of "Street View" vehicles. The Federal Communications Commission recently fined Google $25,000 for obstructing...
Appeals Court: Noncitizens Protected by Electronic Communications Privacy Act
A federal appeals court has ruled in Suzlon Energy v. Microsoft Corp. that foreign citizens are protected by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. The decision is not that surprising as the Electronic Communications Privacy Act protects consumer data, without regard...
DC Circuit Court Grants Access to Cell Phone Surveillance Records
The Circuit Court for the District of Columbia has ruled that the Department of Justice must release information regarding government surveillance of cell phone location data. The American Civil Liberties Union had filed a Freedom of Information Act request for...
Court Approved Wiretaps Reach a New All-Time High
According to the newly released 2010 Wiretap Report, federal and state courts issued 3,194 orders for the interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications in 2010, up from 2,376 in 2009, a 34% increase. Only one request for authorization was...
Judge Rules Google Street View Data Collection May Violate Wiretap Act
In a lawsuit filed by several private citizens, a federal judge has found that Google's purposeful and secretive collection of Wi-Fi data as part of its "Street View" activities could constitute illegal wiretapping. EPIC filed an amicus brief in the...
Senator Leahy Introduces Bill to Update Digital Privacy Law
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has introduced the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) Amendments Act to update the 1986 law for electronic mail and stored communications. Senator Leahy said "Since the Electronic Communications Privacy Act was first enacted in 1986, ECPA...
Senator Leahy Calls for Updates to Federal Privacy Law, Attorney General Confirms Sony Investigation
At a Justice Department oversight hearing, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy today urged Congress to enact the bipartisan Personal Data Privacy and Security Act. He also said that the "collection, use and storage of Americans’ sensitive personal information, including by...
In Court Filing, EPIC Argues Residential Wi-Fi Routers are Not Exempted Under Federal Wiretap Laws
EPIC filed an amicus brief in federal court arguing that users of private residential routers are entitled to privacy protection. The EPIC brief is in response to a series of questions asked by a federal judge as to whether private...
FBI Report on Wiretap Capacity 2/96
[Congressional Record: February 9, 1996 (Senate)] [Page S1166-S1171] From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] RELEASE OF FBI REPORT ON FUTURE WIRETAP CAPACITY NEEDS Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, we took an important step in the last Congress to...
EPIC Comments on FBI Capacity Requirements 11/13/95
November 13, 1995 Telecommunications Industry Liaison Unit Federal Bureau of Investigation P.O. Box 220450 Chantilly, VA 22022-0450 Re: Initial FBI Notification of Law Enforcement Capacity Requirements as Mandated in the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act These comments are...
EPIC Letter to Rep. Henry Hyde 11/9/95
November 9, 1995 Honorable Henry Hyde Chairman Committee on the Judiciary House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Mr. Chairman: We are responding to the letter from FBI Director Louis Freeh regarding the New York Timesarticle which stated that...
EPIC Letter on FBI Wiretap Report 12/95
December 12, 1995 Hon. Orrin Hatch Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 Hon. Henry Hyde Chairman, House Judiciary Committee U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Dear Sen. Hatch and Rep. Hyde: I am writing...
EPIC v. DOJ: Warrantless Wiretapping Memos Disclosed
Pursuant to EPIC v. DOJ, the Justice Deparment has turned over two legal memos concerning the Bush-era warrantless wiretapping program. EPIC sought these memos within hours after the New York Times first reported on the wiretapping program in 2005. The...
Federal Appeals Court Finds A "Reasonable Expectation of Privacy" in Email
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the Constitution establishes greater protections for stored email than is set out in federal laws. In Warshak v. United States, the government compelled an internet service provider to reveal 27,000 emails...
Canada: Google Street View Violates Privacy Laws
Canada's Privacy Commissioner has determined that Google violated Canadian privacy law when the company's Street View cars collected user information from wireless networks. The personal information Google captured included e-mails and the names, addresses, and home phone numbers of people...
Federal Appeals Court Protects Innocent Targets of Government Surveillance
A federal appeals court in New York overruled a lower court order that would have disclosed thousands of wiretapped conversations, to the Security and Exchange Commission. The appeals court called the disclosure a "clear and indisputable" abuse of discretion. In...
