Sandra Cortez, born in Chicago sixty-eight years ago, has never set foot outside the United States -- yet she discovered, through an error in her credit report, that her name is permanently inscribed in a terrorist "watch list."
Cortez has no criminal record, and an exemplary credit history. In March 2005, Cortez -- who at the time was living in Denver, Colorado -- attempted to buy a vehicle from the John... (more)
A North Texas man says he is outraged that airport security agents at Dallas Love Field strip-searched his wife and handled her feeding tube.
Melinda Deaton has a four-inch medical tube sticking out of her stomach. The medically implanted tube is needed for treatment after complications with a gastric bypass surgery.
Deaton frequently flies from Dallas to Minneapolis for treatment at the Mayo Clinic. She said Transportation Security Administration agents strip-searc... (more)
An elderly disabled Florida man is stuck in Des Moines because he says TSA agents forced him to miss his flight.
When you think "Terrorist", Primo Meza is probably not the guy you're picturing. Still, the elderly handicapped Florida man was detained by TSA agents so long he had to miss his flight home.
Meza uses an oxygen machine, and the batteries have to be charged for it to work. As Meza and his step daughter were getting ready to board their pla... (more)
Australia is the latest democratic nation to introduce new national security measures that would vastly expand governmental surveillance powers, following an alarming legislative pattern that's also unfolded in the United Kingdom and Canada in recent months.
Just as EFF sounded the alarm about the UK's attempt to move forward with ... (more)
This isn't a huge surprise, but yesterday, we wrote about some comments by Judge David Harvey in New Zealand concerning region coding on DVDs and the New Zealand/US negotiations over the TPP agreement. None of this had anything to do with Megaupload or the Dotcom case, but at one point he referred to a tweet that did a slight satire on the famo... (more)
Back in April, a US judge pointed out that US criminal law requires serving those accused of criminal activities and Megaupload, as a foreign-based corporation, might not be subject to such service -- potentially killing the lawsuit against the company (though, not against the individuals who run the company). The Justice Department has now hit back with a filing ... (more)
We've discussed how the government often seems much more focused on silencing leaks of information, rather than recognizing that those leaks are often highlighting serious misconduct. The latest example involves the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), who apparently started trying to find the source of a leak, but in the... (more)
Agents of the U.S. Transportation Security Administration will be stationed at British airports during the Summer Olympic Games, British media reported Tuesday — the latest indication that authorities are scrambling to shore up security before the games open in 11 days.
Sky News, citing security sources, reported that the agents would begin arriving at Heathrow and other major UK airports next week.
... (more)
Obama signed an executive order meant to prioritize government communications over privately-owned communications in the event of a national emergency or devastating terrorist attack.
The Russian Duma overwhelmingly approved the controversial Internet regulation Bill â„– 89417-6. 441. A total of 441 out of 450 deputies representing all four party factions within the Duma, voted to support the bill. The regulations set forth within the bill, includi... (more)
59-year-old Carol Jean Price has been found guilty of battery for conducting what thousands of Americans are subjected to every day – a TSA-style pat down.
... (more)
Even after millions rallied against the passage of SOPA/PIPA, the House is still quietly trying to pass a related bill that would give the entertainment industry more permanent, government-funded spokespeople. The Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee recently held a hearing on Lamar Smith's IP Attaché Act (PDF), a bill that increases intellectual property policing around the world. The Act would create an Assistant Secreta... (more)
Over in Russia, they're preparing some new internet legislation that would censor the internet using the typical bogeymen. The claim from supporters is that the law is to block access to information on drugs, suicide and child porn -- all to protect the children. The way it works is with a giant blacklist, that I'm sure won't be abused at all (yes, that's sarc... (more)
Most of us don't think much about it, but the truth is that people are being watched, tracked and monitored more today than at any other time in human history. The explosive growth of technology in recent years has given governments, spy agencies and big corporations monitoring tools that the despots and dictators of the past could only dream of. Previous generations never had to deal with "pre-crime" surveillance cameras that use body language to spot criminals or unmanned drones wa... (more)
As I entered Chicago's Union Station back on July 5th, I noticed 3 Fully Uniform TSA Agents sitting inside the office of Amtrak Police. I took out my cell phone and started to follow these TSA agents, and it appeared to me that they were setting up a Check Point for Amtrak Riders. This is just another example of how TSA expanding their operations and entering Train Sta... (more)
We've had plenty of stories lately about police overreacting to people filming them -- and multiple courts have ruled that filming the police is perfectly leg... (more)
While it didn't get nearly as much attention as other parts of SOPA, one section in the bill that greatly concerned us was the massive expansion of the diplomatic corp.'s "IP attaches." If you're unfamiliar with the program, basically IP attaches are "diplomats" (and I use the term loosely) who go around the globe pushing a copyright maximali... (more)
Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said it would be "reprehensible" if any cemetery was taking advantage of grieving families by overcharging them for funerals.
Since last year, a few members of Congress--led by Senator Ron Wyden--have been trying to get the Obama administration to answer a simple question: how many Americans' phone calls or emails have been and are being collected and read without a warrant under the authority of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 (FAA)? Unfortunately, no one else in the government seems to want that question answered.
The question arose soon after Congress passed the FAA, which among other thin... (more)
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