Privacy violations

November 5, 2007 -- Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and law enforcement officials from four other states have asked the U.S. Senate to reject retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that let the federal government snoop on private telephone calls without warrants.

Blumenthal, with the Vermont, Maine and New Jersey attorneys general and the Missouri public safety commissioner, submitted testimony last week to the Senate Judiciary Committee urging it to reject immunity.    » read more »

17 October 2007 -- Legislation in the House of Representatives to revise U.S. law on anti-terrorist electronic surveillance without a court warrant has run into trouble in the House of Representatives. Consideration of the Democratic-crafted measure to strengthen oversight by a special intelligence court was halted by Democratic leaders amid uncertainty about whether it could pass, and in the face of a veto threat from President Bush.    » read more »

August 14, 2007 -- Washington, D.C. — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sent the following letter today to Senators Jay Rockefeller and Pat Leahy, encouraging them to develop long-term modernizations to FISA that better serve our national security interests than the law signed by President Bush this month:

August 14, 2007

The Honorable John D. Rockefeller IV
Chairman, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy
Chairman, Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Jay and Pat:    » read more »

06 August 2007 -- President Bush has signed into law a bill that gives the U.S. government more power to eavesdrop on suspected foreign terrorists.

The legislation lifts a previous requirement that such surveillance could not begin without advance permission from a court. Mr. Bush says in a statement Sunday that this change will give U.S. agents "dynamic and flexible" tools for counterterrorism work.    » read more »

LOS ANGELES, July 26, 2007 -- In an effort to bolster personal privacy and intellectual property rights, California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that District Attorneys in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego will begin receiving funds for the fight against identity theft violations. The funds, which will be used to purchase specialized equipment, will also assist prosecutors in the evaluation of intellectual property rights violations and other privacy violations.    » read more »