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EPIC, joined by over 2,000 members of the public, leading privacy experts, and journalists, has again petitioned the National Security Agency, urging the suspension of the NSA domestic surveillance program pending public comments. EPIC, joined by leading privacy experts including James Bamford, Whitfield Diffie, and Bruce Schneier, first petitioned the agency on June 17, 2013. Because the NSA has failed to respond, EPIC has renewed the petition on a weekly basis. EPIC's petition states "NSA's collection of domestic communications contravenes the First and Fourth Amendments to the United States Constitution, and violates several federal privacy laws, including the Privacy Act of 1974, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 as amended." EPIC's petition further states that NSA's domestic surveillance "substantively affects the public to a degree sufficient to implicate the policy interests" that require public comment, and that "NSA's collection of domestic communications absent the opportunity for public comment is unlawful." By law, the NSA is required to respond. EPIC intends to renew its request for a public rule making each week until the NSA responds. For more information and to join EPIC’s petition, see EPIC: NSA Petition also #NSApetition.
In extensive comments, EPIC has urged the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board not to weaken the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Sunshine Act as the agency has proposed. According to EPIC, the Board proposes to adopt vague, broad, and otherwise unlawful definitions that would permit the oversight agency to withhold information and delay document production. The proposed regulations would also allow the Board to encourage other agencies to classify information. The Board proposes to terminate public participation in Board meetings "at any time for any reason." EPIC routinely comments on agency proposals that impact the rights of FOIA requesters. In 2011, EPIC submitted extensive comments to the Department of Justice, warning the agency not to erect new obstacles for FOIA requesters. For more information, see EPIC: Open Government.
EPIC filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission against Samsung, the publisher of a mobile app for Jay-Z's new album "Magna Carta Holy Grail." The Magna Carta App collects massive amounts of personal information from users, including location data and data pulled from other accounts and other apps on the users phones. The Magna Carta app also includes hidden spam techniques that force users to promote the album. Well known music critic John Pareles wrote "Jay-Z Is Watching, and He Knows Your Friends." EPIC asked the Commission to require Samsung to suspend the distribution of the app until the privacy problems are fixed and to implement the privacy protections contained in the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights. Previously, EPIC filed an FTC complaint against Snapchat, the publisher of a mobile app that falsely claimed to delete photos and videos "forever." For more information, see EPIC: Federal Trade Commission.
EPIC, in a prepared statement, addressed the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board regarding NSA surveillance under the Patriot Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act at day long workshop. Retired Judge James Robertson, who served on the FISA Court, told the panel that he was "stunned" by the news that the government was collecting all of the telephone records of Americans. EPIC, which has recently filed a challenge to the domestic surveillance program with the Supreme Court, recommended increased public reporting for FISA and new limitations on the authority of the FISA court. EPIC previously provided recommendations to the Board for future work. Several of the recommendations were incorporated in the Board's semi-annual report. For more information, see EPIC: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and EPIC: NSA Petition.
EPIC has filed a Petition with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the Court vacate an unlawful order by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that enables the collection of all domestic phone record by the NSA. The order, directed to Verizon, requires the production of all "call detail records" for calls made "wholly within the United States, including local telephone calls." EPIC said "It is simply not possible that every phone record in the possession of a telecommunications firm could be relevant to an authorized investigation. . . . Such an interpretation of [the law] would render meaningless the qualifying phrases contained in the provision and eviscerate the purpose of the Act." For more information, see In re Electronic Privacy Information Center.
Privacy International, a leading privacy organization based in London, filed a legal complaint today with a UK tribunal about the recently disclosed surveillance programs. Privacy International asserts that the NSA and its United Kingdom counterpart, GCHQ, have been conducting dragnet surveillance of American and British citizens, without any public accountability. PI also charges that by accessing the NSA's information pool, the British government is acting outside the rule of law. EPIC today filed a petition in the US Supreme Court, alleging that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court exceeded its legal authority when it issued the order to Verizon to turn over all of the phone records of its customers. For more information, see EPIC: NSA Petition and EPIC: NSA - Verizon Phone Record Monitoring.
The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly (483 to 98, with 65 abstentions) to investigate "PRISM" and other surveillance programs of the US National Security Agency. (Press release.) The investigation with be undertaken by the influential Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice, and Home Affairs ("LIBE"). Members of Parliament also urged European representatives to reexamine current arrangements that allow the transfer of banking and travel data from EU countries to the United States. The resolution was adopted as the European Union is considering a new trade deal with the United States and a proposal to strengthen privacy protections is pending. EPIC has appeared several times before the European Parliament to urge the adoption of a comprehensive privacy framework to safeguard the transatlantic transfer of personal information. For more information, see EPIC - EU Data Protection Directive, and Madrid Privacy Declaration.
The Senate has passed an expansive immigration bill that includes employment verification by the federal government for all U.S. employees -- "E-Verify" -- within five years. In testimony before Congress, EPIC warned of inaccurate employment determinations in the E-Verify system and said that Privacy Act safeguards must be strengthened to ensure fairness and accountability. In June 2011, EPIC filed comments with the Department of Homeland Security in opposition to the expansion of E-Verify. For more information, see EPIC: E-Verify and Privacy and EPIC: Spotlight on Surveillance - E-verify System.
Almost 2,000 members of the public have joined EPIC's petition to the National Security Agency, urging the suspension of the NSA domestic surveillance program pending public comment. EPIC, joined by leading privacy experts including James Bamford, Whitfield Diffie, and Bruce Schneier, first petitioned the agency on June 17, 2013. EPIC's petition states "NSA's collection of domestic communications contravenes the First and Fourth Amendments to the United States Constitution, and violates several federal privacy laws, including the Privacy Act of 1974, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 as amended." EPIC's petition further states that NSA's domestic surveillance "substantively affects the public to a degree sufficient to implicate the policy interests" that require public comment, and that "NSA's collection of domestic communications absent the opportunity for public comment is unlawful." EPIC intends to renew its request each week until the NSA responds. For more information and to join EPIC’s petition, see EPIC: NSA Petition.
