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Government Spying

Updated 10.27.11


What's Happening IN OHIO

Camera Integration Project
In October 2010, the ACLU launched an investigation into the Camera Integration Project, a new state initiative linking public and private surveillance cameras around the state. The network would allow local officials to access live video feeds from thousands of cameras around the state. The ACLU requested documents showing protocols that would limit abuse and protect privacy.

Update: State officials announced in March 2011 that they would not proceed with the CIP program. The ACLU will continue to monitor the Department of Public Safety’s future initiatives to ensure they include adequate privacy protections for Ohioans.

ACLU Legal Actions
KindHearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development, Inc. v. Geithner et al.
The ACLU and several civil rights lawyers have sued on behalf of KindHearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development, Inc., an Ohio-based charity whose property was frozen by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control based simply on the assertion that KindHearts was "under investigation."  Get details in our legal docket.


What's Happening Nationally

Ten Years Under Surveillance
October 26, 2011 marks the ten year anniversary of the Patriot Act, one of the most sweeping and decisive blows to civil liberties in the United States.

We all watched as our government used the Patriot Act to unleash unprecedented campaigns of intimidation and surveillance on its own population. A decade later, the Department of Homeland Security has grown to monolithic proportions while the true scope of our nation’s domestic surveillance programs remains shrouded in secrecy.

You might think our government has learned from the failures of the Patriot Act. You would be wrong. The White House and Congress are currently considering a host of sweeping cybersecurity measures including the infamous “Internet Kill Switch” and regulations that would allow companies who hold your private information to share it with the Department of Homeland Security. Not only would these rules allow private firms to turn over your personal information, they would release those firms from any public accountability by granting them immunity from civil and criminal legal action.

Take action by telling your representatives that civil liberties are not expendable.

For more information about the Patriot Act, click here.

“Radicalization” Hearings in Congress
Rep. Peter King (R-Long Island) announced in 2011 that he would conduct hearings on Muslim “radicalization” in the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee. King alleges that Muslims who hold devout religious beliefs are more likely to be associated with terrorism. The ACLU strongly opposes targeting of any person based on religious belief. Rep. King’s crusade evokes frightening imagery of past Congressional hearings targeting Jews, atheists, and left-leaning activists.

Read the ACLU’s testimony to the House Homeland Security Committee here.

Surveillance at Mosques
On February 23, 2011, the ACLU of Southern California and the Council on American-Islamic Relations filed suit against the Federal Bureau of Investigations after revelations that they placed informants in mosques to spy on innocent Americans. From 2006-2007, an FBI informant posed as a Muslim convert and collected information on others at the mosque. Reportedly, the FBI directed the informant to specifically target devout Muslims.

For more information on the case, click here.


Resources

Obama and National Security: A Civil Liberties Report Card

Droning on about drones: ACLU answers why it is asking for info about program in Afghanistan

Read ACLU of Ohio Executive Director Christine Link's Constitution Day 2009 message: Honor Constitution by Ending Unnecessary Government Secrecy

More about unchecked government surveillance from the national ACLU

Your Right To Know: Guide to the Freedom of Information Act published by the national ACLU

ACLU Surveillance Society fact sheet

Top Ten Myths About the Illegal Spying on Americans

10 Things You Can Do About the USA Patriot Act and the Abuse of Executive Power

Read government spying press releases and articles in our News Center.

Browse our webcasts for government spying-related programs:
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