Featured Posts
Forbes
NIST AI Guidelines Misplace Responsibility For Managing Risks
Policymakers are scrambling to keep pace with technological advancements in artificial intelligence. The recent release of draft guidelines from the U.S. AI Safety Institute, a…
Blog
The social significance of the Consolidated Audit Trail
Personal privacy is important. The ability of citizens to communicate and do business with one another – and to do so with some degree of…
Reason
Senate To Vote on Web Censorship Bill Disguised as Kids Safety
Reason cites Jessica Melugin on KOSA safety flaws “KOSA would trigger mandatory uploading of government id’s, face scans or social security numbers of…
Search Posts
The Hill
This Week in Tech
SCPR
E-Verify Briefing Turns Into Shouting Match
SCPR
Google, Facebook Go Retro in Push to Update 1986 Privacy Law
SCPR
TechFreedom: Search my electronic communications? Not without a warrant
SCPR
Digital Data Privacy Rules Turn 25
PC World
US Lawmakers Push to Limit Gov’t Mobile Tracking
PC World
Groups Say Bipartisan Backing Will Boost Location Privacy Bill
PC World
Bipartisan Coalition Opposes Warrantless Electronic Tracking by Government
News Release
CEI President to Join U.S. Senators in Press Conference on Privacy Reforms
Washington, D.C., October 17, 2011 – Tomorrow at 11:00 a.m., CEI President Fred L. Smith will join U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Mark…
PC World
Not Without A Warrant
Blog
House Hearing on Effects of EU Privacy Directive
Yesterday the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade held a hearing addressing the economic consequences of the European Union’s internet privacy regulations. The…
PC World
Privacy Mandates are Bad News for Web Users
When Congress returns from its summer recess, Internet privacy will be high on its agenda. Half a dozen bills introduced this session aim to address…
Blog
CEI Podcast for August 25, 2011: Mr. Fuddlesticks
Mr. Fuddlesticks is an anonymous YouTube user who posted embarrassing videos about the Renton, Washington police department. They convinced a judge to let them request…
Human Events
Big Brother Goes Green
Pittsburgh Live
Request for Social Media Curbs in Britain Spark Debate
Blog
TSA Chatterboxes Not as Friendly as they Seem
You may get some extra-special attention from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in the near future — but this isn’t just another pat-down or…
Study
Freedom of Information vs Right to Privacy
The free movement of information throughout the economy and in government benefits Arizonans as citizens and consumers. At the same time, the right to privacy…
Blog
Mandatory Data Retention Rears its Ugly Head Again
This morning the House Judiciary Committee began markup on H.R. 1981, the “Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers Act of 2011,” which would among other things force…
News Release
Free Market Coalition Opposes Digital Dragnet
Washington, D.C., July 27, 2011 — This morning, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary will mark up H.R. 1981, a bill that…
Cop Block
Alyona Show: How to Cop Proof Your Cell Phone
News Release
CEI Experts Respond to Today’s Senate Hearing on Consumer Data Security
Washington, D.C., June 29, 2011 – Today, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a hearing on “Privacy and Data Security: Protecting…
News Release
Conservative, Libertarian Leaders Discuss Regulatory Burdens, Fiscal and Privacy Concerns of Mandatory E-Verify Legislation
Washington, D.C. — On Thursday, June 30th, conservative and libertarian leaders will host a press conference call on controversial immigration enforcement legislation the House Judiciary…
Blog
Where Do TSA-Confiscated Items Go?
The TSA has a habit of confiscating security-unrelated items. Over at The American Spectator, I recall just such an experience that I had at O'Hare.
CDT
A Sledgehammer, a Silver Bullet, or Something in Between? Experts Debate ‘Do Not Track’
News Release
Think Tank Applauds Location Privacy Legislation
Today U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) introduced the Geolocation Privacy and Surveillance (GPS) Act to better protect Americans’…
News Release
Radia to Speak at CFP2011 Panel on Do Not Track Regulation
Washington, D.C., June 14, 2011 — CEI Associate Director of Technology Studies Ryan Radia is speaking today at the 2011 “Computers, Freedom & Privacy”…
News Release
Free Market Groups Applaud Proposed Privacy Law Reforms
Washington, D.C., May 17, 2011 – Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) today introduced legislation (S. 1011) to reform the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). The…
Blog
Laura Ingraham on Protecting Email from Unwarranted Governmental Access
On Wednesday, I appeared on the Laura Ingraham Show to discuss the Obama administration's stance on reforming the 1986 law that governs law enforcement access…
CNET
Privacy dispute tests Obama’s earlier promises
News Release
Leading Free Market Groups Urge Congress to Update U.S. Privacy Laws
Washington, D.C., April 6, 2011 — This morning, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will hear key administration officials testify about the statute that governs…
Letters
Coalition Letter Urging Congress to Update Privacy Laws
Full Document Available in PDF As public interest groups dedicated to limited, Constitutional…
News Release
Congress Should Reject Privacy-Killing Do Not Track Mandate
Washington, D.C., March 16, 2011 — Today, the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on “The State of Online Consumer Privacy.” Below…
Blog
CEI Podcast for March 10, 2011: Keeping Private Data Private
Associate Director of Technology Studies Ryan Radia talks about rampant how to prevent data privacy violations in the Internet age.
News Release
Free Market Think Tank Urges House to Reject Patriot Act Extension
Washington, D.C., February 8, 2011 – Today, the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on an extension of three provisions of the Patriot…
Blog
How to Cop Proof Your Cell Phone
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVCROjpgCB0 285 234]…
Study
Protect Free Speech by Rejecting Content Regulation
Liberate to Stimulate Index In recent years, the First Amendment’s protections have been increasingly extended to commercial speech, such as product advertisements…
Blog
Smartphone Searches, Encryption, and the Constitution
The smartphone is arguably one of the most empowering and revolutionary technologies of the modern era. By putting the processing power of a personal…
ARS Technica
Why You Should Always Encrypt Your Smartphone
Last week, California's Supreme Court reached a controversial 5-2 decision in People v. Diaz (PDF), holding that police officers may lawfully search mobile phones found on…
Blog
TSA’s Bad Policies Aren’t Going Away
Public outrage at the TSA's new policies has died down. That's a real shame, because people are still having experiences like this one.
ARS Technica
Keep Privacy Policies Private
Like the lame duck itself, the online privacy turkey waddles on this December. It’s headed for January and the next Congress. Along with proposed legislation,…
Blog
Wikileaks’ Assange to Australian Times: “I’m Not Sorry”
Julian Assange wrote an op-ed in the Australian Times today essentially saying, “I’m not sorry”: I grew up in a Queensland country…
Blog
An Intrusive, Ineffective, Unionized TSA?
Much has been written about the backlash against the TSA’s intrusive new screening methods. Law professor Jeff Rosen has argued that they violate…
Blog
TSA’s John Pistole Offers to Probe Senators: Shouldn’t He Buy Them Dinner First?
TSA chief John Pistole offered to give enhanced pat-downs to senators at a hearing today on TSA's new screening policies.
News Release
Free Market Groups Urge Congress to Update U.S. Privacy Laws
Washington, D.C., September 23, 2010 — If you store sensitive files on your personal computer which law enforcement authorities wish to examine, they generally…
Comment
Joint-Statement Submitted to House and Senate Committees on Reforming the Electronic Communications Privacy Act
The House and Senate Committees on the Judiciary held separate hearings on the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) on September 22, 2010, and September 23,…
Adage
Look to the Marketplace for Stronger Privacy Protection
A series of recent high-profile privacy gaffes involving internet firms such as Google, Microsoft and Facebook has spurred a public outcry for stronger privacy…
PC World
The Pros and Cons of Craigslist’s Shutdown of the Adult Services Section
PC World
Nothing New About Privacy Fears
“Did we pronounce privacy dead this week?” asked a recent CNET headline, capturing the frenzy that now surrounds the Internet and privacy. Both the House…
Blog
Obama Justice Department Uses Americans with Disabilities Act to Harm the Disabled, Risk Lives, and Undermine Safety
“Amazon.com . . . tried to sell a talking Kindle reader, but” the Justice Department “said it couldn’t because the button to make the…
News Release
House Privacy Bill Endangers Privacy Competition, E-Commerce
Contacts: Ryan Radia, 202-331-2281 Richard Morrison, 202-331-2273 House Privacy Bill Endangers Privacy Competition, E-Commerce Government…
Newsletter
National Security, Federal Red Tape and Private Government in Florida
The Washington Post reports that 854,000 people have top-secret security clearances. The Federal Register for 2010 now exceeds 40,000 pages. Just outside of Florida’s Walt…
Newsletter
Financial Regulation, the Gulf Oil Spill, and Privacy on Facebook
Congress passes the Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill. The New York Times chronicles the economic fallout from the BP oil spill. Pundits argue that Facebook is…
CEI Planet
CEI Planet: May – June 2010
To view this issue of the CEI Planet, please click here to download the PDF file. Below are selected articles from the May-June 2010 issue: Collective…
Blog
California poker players: 1 – Free market opponents: 0
As I wrote yesterday, California was on the verge of passing a bill that would have allowed residents to play poker online at one…
PC World
Wayne Crews on Cybersecurity and the Presidential “Kill Switch”
Competitive Enterprise Institute Director of Technology Studies Wayne Crews discusses the need for a decentralized and competitive approach of cybersecurity.
News Release
Lieberman-Collins-Carper Bill Threatens Nation’s Cybersecurity
Washington, D.C., June 24, 2010 – This afternoon, the U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee begins markup of the Lieberman-Collins-Carper cybersecurity bill, which contains controversial provisions…
PC World
Senate Panel Approves Controversial Cybersecurity Bill
PC World reports on the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act and discuss issues with the bill with Wayne Crews. One critic said Thursday…
Newsletter
Internet Gambling, Carbon Regulations and FDA’s Energy Drink Crackdown
Restrictions on Internet gambling go into effect this week. The Senate will soon vote on Lisa Murkowski’s resolution to stop the EPA from regulating carbon…
Newsletter
Energy Legislation, Facebook Privacy and Wine Regulations
Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) unveil their long-delayed energy bill. Executives at Facebook hold a high-level meeting to…
News Release
Misguided Privacy Legislation Threatens Digital Commerce, Innovation
Reps. Rick Boucher (D-VA) and Cliff Stearns (R-FL) today unveiled draft legislation aimed at improving online privacy that would impose new rules on…
CEI Planet
CEI Planet: March – April 2010
To view this issue of the CEI Planet, please click here to download the PDF file. Below are selected articles from the March-April…
Blog
Online Gambling Could Have Brought $150 billion and 32,000 jobs to the US
In the past five years since the de facto ban on Internet gambling (congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in 2006) the US…
Blog
Online gambling opponents play the Abramoff card
Gambling as an activity for fun has been around since the dawn of human civilzation. When man first discovered fire, there were probably cavemen…
Blog
Republicans Will Lose Many Seats in Congress Due to Right-Wing Paranoia About the Census
Republicans will lose many seats in Congress due to right-wing paranoia about the census and refusal to fill out Census forms, gloats the liberal…
Op-Eds
Digital Due Process: Protecting Americans’ Privacy by Restoring Constitutional Limits to Government in ECPA
CEI Joins Coalition to Urge Federal Privacy Reforms…
CNET
Tech Coalition Pushes Rewrite of Online Privacy Law
Blog
National ID Plan Insults Americans
President Obama recently gave his thumbs-up to an immigration compromise plan formulated by Chucky “Why Am I So Annoying” Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC)…
Blog
Human Achievement of the Day: Beam me up, Scotty?
Today’s achievement doesn’t quite put us on the final frontier, but the successful transmission of atoms via teleportation by scientists at the University of Maryland…
Blog
The cut-and-paste Splinternet
The way Ben Kunz in a new Business Week artcle puts it, “Each device contains its own widening universe of services and applications, many…
Heartland
TSA Rules Threaten In-Flight Technology Use
Newsletter
Cybersecurity, Global Warming and Organized Labor
Congress considers a bill to fund new cybersecurity initiatives. In the wake of ClimateGate, climate change alarmists are now having to defend the scholastic integrity…
News Release
Don’t Turn Cybersecurity into a Bureaucracy; Enhance Private Sector Practices
Today the House of Representatives is considering HR 4061, the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act. A solid Cybersecurity Enhancement Act might read “Title I: Stop losing federal…
Blog
TSA Security Playset
The Playmobil Security Check Point has experienced a new surge in popularity (so much so that it is currently out of stock) on Amazon in…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 97: Full Body Scans and Child Protection Laws
Sometimes, when two regulations love each other much, they get together and have little baby regulations. This is happening right now in Britain.
Newsletter
EPA in Court, Anti-Terrorism Policies and the Hidden Health Care Tax
Recent greenhouse gas regulations issued by the Environmental Protection Agency are sparking legal opposition. Security agencies respond to a suspected terrorist incident onboard a Detroit-bound…
Blog
The Big Business of Illegal Gambling
Tonight at 9pm CNBC will investigate the horrors of illegal gambling . It will doubtlessly delve into the shady underground economy of gambling, where…
Newsletter
Health Care Costs, Online Privacy and Workplace Safety
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announces a cost estimate for major new health care legislation. The Members of the House Commerce Committee hold a hearing…
News Release
Congress Meddling in Online Privacy Protection May Backfire, Harm Consumers
Washington, D.C., November 18, 2009—A House subcommittee on Thursday will take a step closer to inserting government as the arbiter of consumer…
Blog
DOJ Asks For News Site’s Visitor Info
Declan McCullagh is reporting that earlier this year the Department of Justice subpoenaed the left-of-center news aggregation site Indymedia.us for information including visitor lists…
Newsletter
Cybersecurity, Tariffs and Union Elections
The Department of Homeland Security opens a new operations center to battle cyber attacks. The federal government continues to add tariffs to inexpensive consumer goods…
Blog
Government Incompetence Costs Woman Her Job
Wired reports that a Maryland woman recently lost her job due to an error in the FBI’s criminal database. Eschol Amelia “Amy” Studnitz, formerly…
Blog
Obama Signs Hate-Crimes Bill Into Law; Critics Say It Circumvents Constitutional Safeguards Against Double Jeopardy
Today, President Obama signed into law a bill that will dramatically expand the federal hate crimes law, enabling prosecutors to bring federal charges against…
New York Times
Identity Chip Planted Under Skin Approved for Use in Health Care
The New York Times discusses implantible chips used for medical reasons with Wayne Crews. ''The fact that we're engaged in such a deep,…
Blog
ACORN Sues Whistleblowers for Exposing Its Wrongdoing in Scandal
ACORN is now suing the whistleblowers who allegedly filmed it promoting illegal sexual activities for $2 million! And not just them, but…
Washington Examiner
Facebook Changes Privacy Policy to Appease Canadians
Facebook made headlines late last month when it overhauled its privacy policy, which governs the site's practices regarding user data. The move followed months of…
Blog
Leftist Prosecutor Tries to Censor Video Embarrassing to ACORN
ACORN, the group that helped launch Barack Obama’s career as a community organizer was recently caught in undercover stings advising about how to set up…
Washington Examiner
What do ‘Cybersecurity Emergency’ Powers Mean for the Internet
Could President Obama soon gain the power to shut down the Internet? This is a question that has vexed security experts, legal scholars, and…
Newsletter
Cybersecurity, Consumer Snitching and an Insurance Downgrade
A new bill to would give the White House “cybersecurity emergency” powers. Consumer Reports magazine turns a high-performing showerhead over to the EPA for exceeding…
Washington Examiner
Slothful Bureaucracy Fails to Protect the Public
Gene Healy was right to criticize the bloated bureaucracy that is the Department of Homeland Security. Its worst feature is the Transportation Security Administration…
Tech News World
Rights Groups Demand More Info on Arbitrary DHS Laptop Searches
News Release
Breaking News: Bill to Give Obama ‘Cybersecurity Emergency’ Powers
Breaking News: Bill to Give Obama ‘Cybersecurity Emergency’ Powers Experts Warned Against Dangers of Gov’t Control of Private Networks Washington, D.C., August 28,…
Newsletter
Regulating online drug ads, Google Book settlement, bottled water to the rescue
Yahoo being scrutinized online pharmaceutical ads. Microsoft, Yahoo, and Amazon sign on to oppose the Google Book settlement.
Blog
Bank Robbers for Transparency!
The news that the Federal Government has forced UBS to give up the details of 4000 of its customers’ transactions has other financial institutions…
Washington Examiner
Is Google Book Deal a Threat to Privacy?
October 7 is shaping up to be a big day for bookworms. On that day, a federal judge is expected to rule on a…
Washington Examiner
U.S. Swiss Bank Deal a Partial Victory for Financial Privacy
After a long and protracted battle between the United States and Swiss governments, Swiss bank UBS AG has agreed to turn over 4,000 names…
News Release
UBS Settlement Only a Partial Victory for the Feds
The following is the statement of John Berlau, Director of the Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, in reaction to…
Washington Examiner
Swiss Bank to Reveal Account Holders to U.S.
Lawyers for the United States government and the Swiss bank UBS AG have announced that they have reached a deal on releasing to the…
Newsletter
Microhoo under the Microscope, Mob Mentality and Horse Killings in Florida
Microsoft and Yahoo brace for scrutiny from antitrust officials. Democrats claim that opponents of health care legislation are part of an “angry mob”. Florida authorities…
Blog
A Bailout for the First Amendment?
Dan Rather actually made the following two contradictory statements in the same speech: I personally encourage the president to establish a White House…
Newsletter
Cutting Back on Healthcare, Online Privacy and Front-Running on Wall Street
House Democrats debate how to cut healthcare costs as part of their effort to pass major new legislation. Online advertisers back voluntary industry guidelines for…