civil liberties

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US Senate OKs Spying Bill, Despite Privacy Worries

Bipartisan vote gives thumbs-up to reauthorization of FISA surveillance program

(Newser) - Barely missing its midnight deadline, the Senate voted early Saturday to reauthorize a key US surveillance law after divisions over whether the FBI should be restricted from using the program to search for Americans' data nearly forced the statute to lapse. The legislation approved 60-34 with bipartisan support would extend...

China May Ban Clothes That Hurt Country's 'Feelings'

Draft of proposed law bans clothing that undermines 'the spirit' of the nation

(Newser) - Wearing the wrong thing could land you in jail, according to a newly proposed law in China. The draft of this new law says that certain speech, clothing, or acts that "undermine the spirit or hurt the feelings of the Chinese nation" will incur harsh penalties, the BBC reports....

On NYC's Labor Day Weekend, a 'Sci-Fi Inspired Scenario'

NYPD says it will deploy surveillance drones to check on too-large holiday gatherings

(Newser) - Americans across the nation are gearing up for their final summer weekend, but for residents of New York City, there may be what the AP calls "an uninvited guest looming over their festivities." The NYPD announced Thursday it will deploy surveillance drones throughout Labor Day weekend to check...

Reported Secret CIA Program Sees Pushback: 'It Is Not OK'

Edward Snowden, civil rights advocates slam initiative that reportedly scooped up Americans' info

(Newser) - Facebook isn't the only entity you might need to worry about when it comes to your personal data. According to two lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence Committee, the CIA has been secretly scooping up info en masse on Americans, and civil liberties activists aren't happy about it. News...

'Backsliding Democracies' Now Include US

Group cites several factors, but the election fraud claim is the biggest

(Newser) - The US has been experiencing a "visible deterioration" in its relationship with democracy since 2019, a think tank says. And the organization saw a "decline in the quality of freedom of association and assembly" during the protests after the killing of George Floyd last year. But "a...

Pokemon Go Sex-Offender Ban Raises Eyebrows

Civil liberties advocates have issues with NY parolee mandate

(Newser) - Sex offenders in New York state will find a new restriction they'll have to agree to before they're granted parole: no playing Internet games like Pokemon Go, the New York Times reports. Gov. Andrew Cuomo pushed the policy through earlier this month after two Democratic state senators conducted...

FBI Iris Scans Slammed as 'Runaway Surveillance'

434K scans have been collected since 2013

(Newser) - The FBI has collected 434,000 eye scans from people arrested in the US since 2013, according to a Verge investigation based on records obtained through the California Public Records Act. The scans can be used for identification much like a fingerprint, and critics are worried about abuse. The FBI...

CIA Chief Blasts 'Hand-Wringing' Over Surveillance

Debate renews over whether government spying is a necessary evil

(Newser) - Civil liberty advocates are worried that a spate of ISIS attacks will bring a renewed push for more-intense government surveillance, and comments by CIA chief John Brennan won't make them feel any better. Following the downing of Flight 9268 , last week's suicide bombings in Beirut , and Friday's...

Online Sleuth: Surveillance Planes Spied on Baltimore

ACLU wants answers, FBI and Baltimore PD haven't given any yet

(Newser) - The Internet—a powerful tool that allows you to catch up with friends on social media, indulge in online gaming, and figure out that surveillance planes are hovering over your city. That last activity is how one Baltimore aviation aficionado (and ex-ACLU employee) spent last Saturday night, picking up on...

Cops Quietly Using Secret Spy Tool to Find Suspects

Critics say cell-tower simulators violate civil liberties, 4th Amendment

(Newser) - A device police can use to pinpoint a suspect's location with what some say is 100% reliability may just sound like the latest cool tool in a cop's catch-a-criminal arsenal. But the surveillance instrument used by the Tallahassee PD since 2007 is worrying the ACLU, judges, and citizens...

Feds Set to Ban Profiling by Religion, Nationality

But national security loophole may stay open

(Newser) - The Justice Department is poised to ban federal agents from profiling suspects by religion, nationality, gender, and sexual orientation as well as race, reports the New York Times . Sources say Attorney General Eric Holder, who has condemned profiling in the past, revealed plans to expand the ban on racial profiling...

Yes, NSA Spying Is a Big Deal

 Yes, NSA Spying Is a Big Deal 
OPINION
Aug 1, 2013 1:50 PM CDT

Yes, NSA Spying Is a Big Deal

Your liberties are disappearing even if you haven't noticed, Elizabeth Goitein argues

(Newser) - Half of America seems outraged by the NSA's surveillance activities. But the other half seems to be heeding Harry Reid's advice to "just calm down." A court approved this stuff, and Congress knew about it, so what's the big deal? "The most obvious answer...

Did Obama Just End the War?
 Did Obama Just End the War? 
OPINION
May 24, 2013 1:12 PM CDT

Did Obama Just End the War?

Pundits differ on how seriously we should take yesterday's speech

(Newser) - President Obama delivered a landmark speech on the war on terror yesterday, but people are divided on just how impressed we ought to be. The New York Times is singing the speech's praises. "As frustratingly late as it was—much of what Mr. Obama said should have been...

Media Finally Gets It: Obama Is a Joke on Civil Liberties

Glenn Greenwald: Sad that it took a direct attack on the media to wake it up

(Newser) - Look around today, and it's easy to find a news story or column criticizing President Obama and his Justice Department for going after reporters' phone records. (Like these in the Washington Post , Politico , and the New York Times .) To which Glenn Greenwald at the Guardian can only say,...

Poll: 78% Now OK With More Surveillance Cameras

Public strongly approves of how Boston bombings were handled

(Newser) - Public opinion is firmly behind having more surveillance cameras in public places in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, according to a new CBS / New York Times poll. Some 78% of people called the cameras—which helped identify the suspects—a good idea, and only 20% said the...

Feds: We're Taking Sheriff Joe to Court

Negotiations fall apart in civil rights case, as Arpaio refuses monitor

(Newser) - The Justice Department is through negotiating with the self-proclaimed toughest sheriff in America. Authorities announced yesterday that they will sue Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio for alleged civil rights violations, the AP reports. The department had been trying to work out an agreement with Arpaio in which he'd train his...

Obama Throws Away Civil Liberties With Defense Bill

President to sign bill allowing indefinite detention of Americans

(Newser) - President Obama is taking a lot of heat today for dropping his threat to veto a controversial defense bill that could allow the military to capture and indefinitely detain American citizens on US soil. In a fiery editorial, the New York Times today called it "a complete political cave-in,...

Americans Willing to Give Up Some Freedoms for Security

Public fine with surveillance cameras, not fine with email snooping

(Newser) - Americans are willing to give up some privacy and freedoms for security—but not others. A new AP poll has charted just which freedoms Americans are partial to. For example:
  • 71% are OK with surveillance cameras in public places
  • 58% are fine with full-body scans and pat-downs at the airport
...

One in Four Would Trade Rights for Security: Poll

And that's down big time since 9/11

(Newser) - Only about 25% of Americans now say they would give up their “basic civil liberties” in exchange for security—a huge decrease from the days after the September 11 attacks, according to a new USA Today/Gallup Poll . In January of 2002, close to half of respondents (47%) were willing...

Mexico Hops on Suit Over Georgia Immigration Law

10 other countries also sign on

(Newser) - Mexico and 10 other countries have filed amicus briefs in a lawsuit that asks a judge to declare Georgia's new immigration law unconstitutional and block it from being enforced. The lawsuit was filed two weeks ago by civil liberties groups, who are asking US District Judge Thomas Thrash to...

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