Privacy Coalition

National Call-in to Congress on NSA Warrantless Surveillance

On May 17, 2006, the Bill of Rights Defense Committee is leading a coalition effort to organize a "call your member of Congress campaign". The organizations participating in the effort include the ACLU, First Amendment Foundation, National Lawyers Guild, and People for the American Way.

]]> Action Alert

Please forward this message widely, and call your Senators and Representative (just three quick phone calls) on Wednesday, May 17!

Wednesday, May 17, National Call-in to Congress on NSA Warrantless Surveillance

Last December, we learned that the President had broken the law by allowing the National Security Agency to spy on Americans' phone calls.

On Thursday, 5/11, USA Today published a major cover story revealing a National Security Agency (NSA) database of millions of innocent Americans' domestic phone call records, indicating who, when and where we are calling. This database has nothing to do with catching suspected terrorists: It is documenting all our associations in the largest database in history-with a goal of including "every call ever made" within the nation's borders. This program is truly beyond "Big Brother"!

Take Action Now

It's time for the American people to tell Congress in a clear, loud voice that we've had enough!

Join the Bill of Rights Defense Committee and thousands of other Americans by calling Congress on Wednesday, May 17 to demand they investigate this government intrusion immediately. The BORDC, the ACLU, People For the American Way, and other organizations (see below) have declared the week of May 15 "National Call-in to Congress Week" and are asking their constituents to call their members of Congress on a specific day. Let's keep those phones ringing in the Congressional halls all week long!

The Message

Please phone each of your Senators, and your Representative. Urge them NOT to consider draft legislation that would give the executive branch new surveillance powers that are immune to oversight by the courts and Congress. Call for a full, public investigation of the NSA surveillance program.

Call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 (24 hours) and ask the operator to connect you. Or use the BORDC call-in page to find your legislators' phone numbers and to let us know how your calls went.

Additional sample talking points:

Here are a few suggestions. Choose one or two:

* The President has broken the law. He must stop warrantless eavesdropping and collecting records on all our phone calls and come clean with the American people about any further secret powers he claims as Commander-in-Chief.
* The administration's claim that it must break the law to protect us from al-Qaeda are just plain false: any communications specifically targeting an al-Qaeda member outside the U.S. doesn't even need a warrant, and FISA judges are ready and waiting to issue warrants to wiretap any suspected al-Qaeda in the U.S.-- ven if those calls include U.S. citizens or residents.
* Overburdening the FBI with thousands of false leads makes us less safe because it leaves them less time and fewer resources to find the real terrorists.
* How can Congress even consider passing legislation to make these illegal programs legal, when it can't even find out what they entail? It must investigate. This is no time for new legislation!
* What's needed is an immediate, full and unrestricted public investigation into the NSA spying program, including a probe into the massive database collecting Americans' phone calls.
* The idea that the database of all our calls is permissible as long as it doesn't contain names and addresses is ludicrous. By linking the database of phone calls with all the other government data mining operations, the government can literally follow our every move, every contact, and every transaction. It's "Big Brother" run amok!
* Congress needs to pass whistleblower protections for government employees and safeguards for journalists who provide information to the American public about illegal government acts.
* The Fourth Amendment is clear. Electronic surveillance of this sort requires a warrant. A warrant allows a judge to serve as a check against executive abuse of power. That check keeps our government honest - preventing one branch of government from mischief and errors.

Organizations supporting the call-in day (partial list) include the Alliance for Justice, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, American Civil Liberties Union, Bill of Rights Defense Committee, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Electronic Privacy Information Center, First Amendment Foundation, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Liberty Coalition, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, National Coalition Against Repressive Legislation, National Lawyers Guild, Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances, People For the American Way, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, and United For Peace and Justice.

More information is available on the BORDC webpage: http://www.bordc.org/threats/spying.php

April 28, 2006 Meeting

Toby Levin, Senior Advisor, Department of Homeland Security

March 31, 2006 Meeting

Dale Underwood, Department of Treasury's Privacy Act Officer

New Federal Report on Improving Financial Privacy Notices

A joint new report issued by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Trade Commission, the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Securities and Exchange Commission in intended to improve financial privacy notices.

]]> The report's release concludes the first phase of an interagency project by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Trade Commission, the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Securities and Exchange Commission to explore alternatives for financial privacy notices that would be easier for consumers to read, understand, and use than many of the notices consumers currently receive from financial institutions. These six agencies were among those that jointly issued regulations in 2000 implementing the financial privacy provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, but survey data indicate that many consumers neither read nor understand the notices financial institutions provide under those regulations.

The report's findings indicate that it is possible for financial privacy notices to include all of the information required by law in a short document that consumers can readily understand. The report fully describes the extensive research that underlies these findings and the development of a prototype simplified privacy notice. Over a 12-month period, researchers conducted focus groups and in-depth individual interviews with consumers throughout the United States. Based on consumers' reactions to sample privacy notices, the researchers modified content and design to create notices in a tabular format that improved consumers' ability to read, understand, and use the notices, as well as to compare the information sharing practices of different financial institutions.

The report concludes that consumers need a context for understanding information in financial privacy notices. The research shows that while there is a general awareness of information sharing practices, most consumers do not understand them. According to the report, consumers are overwhelmed by complex information, and simplification of financial privacy notices enhances consumers' ability to read the notices and make informed choices about the use of their personal information. The research also demonstrates that consumers more easily understand the important information in the notice when good design reinforces the content.

The six agencies, together with the Office of Thrift Supervision, will fund a second phase of the project, to be contracted separately. This research will involve interviewing a much larger group of consumers throughout the United States to measure the effectiveness of the prototype and other examples of notices. The agencies have deferred consideration of policy action with respect to financial privacy notices until the next phase of consumer testing is completed. At that time, the agencies expect to consider a full range of options for improving financial privacy notices in light of all their consumer research.

The agencies' efforts to improve these notices complement efforts to improve the effectiveness of privacy notices worldwide, as well as other government efforts to improve financial literacy.

Media Contacts:
Federal Reserve Deborah Lagomarsino (202) 452-2955
FDIC David Barr (202) 898-6992
FTC Jacqueline Dizdul (202) 326-2472
NCUA Cherie Umbel (703) 518-6337
OCC Bryan Hubbard (202) 874-5770
OTS Chris Smith (202) 906-6677
SEC John J. Nester (202) 551-4125

Washington DC Conference on International Data Protection and Security

The American Bar Association Section of International Law and the Association Internationale Des Jeunes Avocats are sponsoring a conference on May 5-6 in Washington, DC to discuss international data protection and security. The group sponsoring the event invite those interested in attending to register the early bird deadline is April 4, 2006.

For more information, see: http://www.aija.org/modules/motionmill/index.php?iid=1

]]> From the Sponsor's Web Site:

AIJA organises seminars and law courses either at the Annual Congresses or at other times throughout the year. These meetings are both organized and run by the AIJA members themselves through the Commissions. These meetings offer excellent opportunities to young lawyers and inhouse counsels to network and to develop personal visibility in the international field of the legal profession.

In many jurisdictions, the AIJA programmes are recognised on an individual basis for the purpose of Continuing Legal Education (CLE). In addition, AIJA has been recognized as an accredited CLE provider by the State of New York (USA). NY CLE credits are also usable by lawyers from other jurisdictions, including the UK and Hong Kong. The jurisdictions believed to have reciprocity include Alabama, Arkansas California*, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin and the Law Society of Hong Kong

(*Approved only for courses exceeding 60 minutes in length).

RFID Hacked

A study by European researchers has revealed that radio frequency identification (RFID) systems can be affected by viruses encoded into individual chips. Melanie Rieback, Bruno Crispo, and Andrew Tanenbaum have authored a paper describing how the remotely readable tags can be programmed to infect the machines that read them and the databases that store their information. Such malicious programs could then force the systems to produce more infected tags, further spreading the virus.

US Senate Judiciary Schedules Hearing on NSA Surveillance

The hearing on "NSA III: War Time Executive Power and the FISA Court" scheduled by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary for Tuesday, March 28, 2006 will begin at 9:00 a.m. and will take place in Dirksen Building Room 226.

]]> Witness List for the Hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on NSA III: Wartime Executive Powers and the FISA Court

Tuesday, March 28, 2006 Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 226 9:00 a.m.

PANEL I

The Honorable Harold A. Baker
Judge
U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois
Urbana, IL

The Honorable Stanley S. Brotman
Judge
U.S. District Court of New Jersey
Camden, NJ

The Honorable John F. Keenan
Judge
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
New York City, NY

The Honorable Allan Kornblum
Magistrate Judge
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida
Gainesville, FL

PANEL II

Morton H. Halperin
Senior Fellow
Center for American Progress
Executive Director
Open Society Policy Center
Washington, D.C.

David S. Kris
Senior Vice President
Time Warner, Inc.
New York, NY

DHS Public Workshop: Transparency and Accountability

The Department of Homeland Security's Privacy Office will host a public workshop, on Wednesday, April 5, 2006 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on "Transparency and Accountability: The Use of Personal Information within the Government." The workshop is intended to explore the concept of public notices and freedom of information frameworks.

The Workshop will be held in the Horizon Ballroom at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300
Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC, 20004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kathleen Kavanaugh, (571) 227-3813, by facsimile (571) 227-4171, or by e-mail
privacyworkshop@dhs.gov.

]]> SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Privacy Office is holding a public workshop to explore comparative government frameworks on transparency and accountability. The program will be organized into three panel discussions that will allow for presentation of a broad range of perspectives provided by experts from United States and foreign governments. In addition to the panel discussions, time will be allotted during the workshop for questions and comments from the audience.

The program will begin with a discussion of privacy notices as a transparency tool, followed by a discussion of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and in particular, how the law has provided accountability on government use of personal information. The workshop will conclude with a comparison of international freedom of information laws. The workshop is open to the public and there is no fee for
attendance. For general security purposes, the Ronald Reagan Building requires that all attendees show a valid form of photo identification, such as a driver's license, to enter the building.

The Privacy Office will post additional information about the workshop, including a detailed agenda, on the DHS Privacy Office Web
site at http://www.dhs.gov/privacy prior to the event. A transcript of the workshop will be posted shortly after the workshop.

Dated: March 15, 2006.

Maureen Cooney,
Acting Chief Privacy Officer, Chief Freedom of Information Officer.
[FR Doc. E6-4227 Filed 3-23-06; 8:45 am]

A Call to Action

The National Consumers League has teamed with a number of companies, organizations, government agencies, and law enforcement to join efforts to fight phishing scams. Phishing is a type of theft that involves tricking the consumer into giving their personal information to thieves. To learn more visit http://www.nclnet.org

Department of Homeland Security Announces Meeting

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Privacy Office extends an invitation to a public meeting scheduled for April 5, 2006 from 8:30 AM until 4:30 PM at the Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center Horizon Ballroom. The building is located at 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, which is near the Federal Triangle metro station. Those wishing to attend, must RSVP to PrivacyWorkshop@dhs.gov or 571-227-3813.

In a Federal Register Notice published today the Department of Homeland Security's Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee announced plans to hold a meeting on March 7, 2006 in the Polaris Room at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC 20004. Those wishing to place comments with the agency may do so at any time. More information.

National Gathering of Privacy and Civil Liberty Organizations

On January 27-28, 2006, the Privacy Coalition held its annual meeting in Washington, DC with over 40 state and national groups in attendance. The organization uses this annual forum to identify trends and plan for the coming year.

DHS's Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee Meeting

In a Federal Register Notice published n November 16, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 220), DHS announced a public meeting of its Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee on December 6, 2005. The meeting will be held in the Capitol Ballroom (E & F) at the JW Marriott Hotel, 1331 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC. Those interested in attending must register with the agency by December 1, 2005.

More information on the DHS Privacy Office.

Federal Register notice.

Coalition Sets Out Framework for Effective ID Theft Legislation

A coalition of privacy and consumer advocacy groups have set out a framework for effective legislation to address the growing problem of identity theft. The groups recommend strong notification requirements, better consumer control over personal information, limits on the use of the SSN, regulation of commercial data brokers, and protection for good state privacy initiatives. The annual cost of identity theft exceeds $50 billion.

[More on Regulation of Commercial Data brokers]

Coalition Launches Medical Records Privacy Protection Campaign

The Privacy Coalition has joined Patient Privacy Rights in launching launched a joint campaign to strengthen protections for patients' medical information. Congress is rushing to pass legislation to establish a national Health Information Network without patient privacy safeguards. Yet a recent poll found that 69 percent of adults do not believe strong enough data security will be installed. Sign an online petition in opposition of this legislation.