CDT Challenges Overly Broad Surveillance Demand On Facebook
Today, the Center for Democracy & Technology joined the ACLU, the New York Civil Liberties Union, and the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in defense of the rights of 381 Facebook users whose records were sought en masse by the Manhattan District Attorney. We filed a brief in the highest court in New York State arguing that Facebook has the right to challenge the warrants on behalf of its users, and to notify its users that the government was seeking the contents of their accounts.
Internet users entrust enormous amounts of private information to Facebook and other communications service providers in the digital age. These companies must be empowered to assert their users’ privacy rights because the users have no idea that the government is seeking their information, and therefore cannot assert their own rights.
The warrants, which were substantially identical, sought what the lower court described as essentially every posting and action of each of the 381 Facebook users in a large- scale investigation of Social Security fraud. Each came with a gag order barring Facebook from informing its users. If allowed to stand, this type of warrant process would set a troubling precedent. Not only would companies be barred from talking about the warrants or challenging them on behalf of their users, the same process could later be used to routinely gain access to many accounts with limited court oversight and other judicial protections.
CDT-led Coalition Calls for Transparency for White House AI Framework
CDT and Americans for Responsible Innovation led a broad, bipartisan coalition of over two dozen civil society groups in calling on the White House to release its Framework for review of frontier AI models.
CDT Amicus Brief Calls on Fourth Circuit to Rein In Geofence Warrants
Earlier this year the Supreme Court ruled in Chatrie v United States that the Fourth Amendment protected all cell phone location information, which CDT lauded as a landmark decision, but sent the case back down to the Fourth Circuit to assess the propriety of the geofence warrant at issue.
CDT and Partners Post Floor Alert Opposing CA SB 1013 Automated License Plate Readers Bill
The best way to ensure that Automated License Plate Readers are not abused is to limit the retention of stored data and to keep loopholes to lawful process closed. CA SB 1013 is a step in the wrong direction, and we urge the California legislature to reject this approach.
British Public Oppose Secret Surveillance Powers and Want Strong Protections for Encrypted Communications
CDT released nationally representative polling data revealing that a the British public are broadly concerned about the security, privacy, and free speech consequences of allowing law enforcement to access encrypted communications.
