Privacy

October 8, 2009 -- “The PATRIOT Act reauthorization bill passed by the Judiciary Committee today falls far short of adequately protecting the rights of innocent Americans. Among the most significant problems is the failure to include an improved standard for Section 215 orders, even though a Republican controlled Judiciary Committee unanimously supported including the same standard in 2005.    » read more »

October 1, 2009 -- Individuals’ genetic information will have greater protections through new regulations issued today by the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and the Treasury.

The interim final rule will help ensure that genetic information is not used adversely in determining health care coverage and will encourage more individuals to participate in genetic testing, which can help better identify and prevent certain illnesses.    » read more »

Senate Judiciary Committee Executive Business Meeting

October 1, 2009 -- As Prepared for Delivery

“When Congress reconsidered the sunsetting provisions of the Patriot Act reauthorization four years ago, I was unable to support the final reauthorization package because I did not believe that it contained adequate oversight and safeguards for some very intrusive surveillance powers.    » read more »

September 30, 2009 -- As he announced earlier this week, Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) introduced the Retroactive Immunity Repeal Act, legislation that eliminates retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that allegedly participated in President Bush’s warrantless wiretapping program.    » read more »

Legislation Would Protect Privacy Rights and National Security

September 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Jeff Bingaman today joined in introducing legislation to reform the Patriot Act and other surveillance laws to better protect Americans' constitutional right to privacy while providing the government with the tools necessary to effectively fight terrorism.

The legislation, titled the Judiciously Using Surveillance Tools in Counterterrorism Efforts (JUSTICE) Act, would:    » read more »

WASHINGTON - June 16 – Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is again part of an effort to fix problems in the REAL ID Act of 2005 that have led many states to balk at participating in what critics say is a thinly disguised national ID program built around a national database that would be vulnerable to identity theft.

Leahy is a leading cosponsor of a new bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate on June 15 by Senator Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii). Senator George Voinovich (R-Ohio) is the chief Republican cosponsor. The new bill would implement the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations to enhance the security of driver’s licenses while fixing many of the most troubling aspects of the REAL ID Act of 2005.    » read more »

05/15/2009 -- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today issued a statement on the first fines to be issued by his Department of Public Health under new laws enacted last year to protect private medical information:

“Californians should never have to worry that their private medical information will be improperly shared. Medical privacy is a cornerstone of quality health care. That’s why California has put in place strong patient privacy laws to ensure that hospitals, health facilities and individuals are held accountable for protecting confidential information. This fine should be a reminder that there are consequences for violations of medical privacy.”

The Governor sponsored and signed the following legislation last year related to patient privacy:    » read more »

Financial Industry Accounts for 93 Percent of 285 Million Compromised Records; Most Breaches Avoidable if Proper Precautions Taken

April 15, 2009 -- BASKING RIDGE, N.J. - More electronic records were breached in 2008 than the previous four years combined, fueled by a targeting of the financial services industry and a strong involvement of organized crime, according to the "2009 Verizon Business Data Breach Investigations Report" (DBIR) released Wednesday (April 15).    » read more »

House Homeland Security Committee must exercise oversight over DHS’s creation of militarized zones within the US

WASHINGTON, DC, 7/17/2008 – Today, when Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff testifies before the House Homeland Security Committee, the American Civil Liberties Union calls on the committee to exercise vigorous oversight of the many DHS programs that endanger U.S. citizens’ privacy and civil liberties without increasing security. DHS’s unchecked detention and deportation powers have resulted in abusive interrogations of families with children at checkpoints, creation of militarized zones within the U.S. and widespread fear in immigrant communities facing natural disasters.    » read more »

Washington -- 26 June 2008 -- Legislation to revise U.S. surveillance law survived a key test vote in the Senate Wednesday, despite opposition from some majority Democrats to a provision protecting telephone companies from possible privacy lawsuits. The Senate could give final approval to the bill and send it to President Bush for his signature before a congressional recess next week.

Senators voted 80 to 15 to proceed to the legislation - 20 more than the 60 votes necessary under Senate rules.

The bill, which updates the 1978 Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act (FISA), would expand the government's powers to eavesdrop on terrorism suspects while at the same time take steps to safeguard civil liberties.    » read more »

June 6, 2008 -- Washington, DC – Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) issued the following statement today after news reports indicated that Senator McCain supports President Bush’s wire-tapping program:

John McCain: Photo by Christy Frink (CC)    » read more »

May 22, 2008 -- "More recent preliminary information indicates that additional Connecticut financial institutions, companies and residents may be victims of this astonishing security breach by Bank of New York Mellon.

"We have received preliminary information and have demanded all of the details relevant to this shocking security breach, particularly as to the delay in notifying Connecticut authorities, as well as People's and its customers. The banks have cooperated so far in providing the information that the governor is directing the Department of Consumer Protection to seek, but we welcome this interest and concern.    » read more »

May 23, 2008 -- Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced that she has directed Consumer Protection Commissioner Jerry Farrell Jr. to issue two more subpoenas related to the loss of bank customer data being transported by Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BNY Mellon).

The two new subpoenas concern Webster Bank and Wachovia Corp. On Thursday, Governor Rell directed Commissioner Farrell to issue subpoenas to BNY Mellon and People’s United Bank of Bridgeport.    » read more »

May 21, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Barack Obama today released the following statement after the President signed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (H.R. 493) into law:

"The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act will protect all Americans from discrimination by insurance companies and employers on the basis of genetics, and I commend the President for signing it into law.

Senator Barack Obama: Photo by Ryan Glenn (CC)

"This landmark legislation will strengthen our privacy and civil rights protections in this new century of medical breakthroughs.    » read more »

May Affect Hundreds Of Thousands Of CT Consumers, Millions Nationwide

May 21, 2008 -- Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today announced that a storage company for a New York bank lost an unencrypted backup tape containing Social Security numbers and bank account information belonging to as many as hundreds of thousands of Connecticut consumers and personal information of millions more nationwide.

Among the Connecticut consumers are depositors and investors of People's United Bank of Bridgeport, which gave Bank of New York Mellon the information so it could offer those consumers an investment opportunity.    » read more »