Ben Jacobs, Sabrina Siddiqui, and Spencer Ackerman report: For the second time in less than a year, US senators rejected a bill to abolish the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of American phone records. By a vote of 57-42, the USA Freedom Act failed on Friday to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to advance in…
Category: Govt
DOJ releases privacy policy for US drones
Mario Trujillo reports: The Justice Department on Friday released guidelines that would explicitly bar the agency from using drones solely to monitor activity protected by the First Amendment, like peaceful protests. The department issued five pages of policy guidelines dealing with privacy and civil liberties protections when conducting drone flights. It also outlined transparency requirements….
FCC prepares for privacy rules
Mario Trujillo and David McCabe report: The Federal Communications Commission is preparing Internet service providers for new privacy rules included in the net neutrality order slated to take effect next month. In a memo Wednesday, the commission said it would initially judge providers — like AT&T or Comcast — on whether they are “taking reasonable,…
FTC Requests Bankruptcy Court Take Steps to Protect RadioShack Consumers’ Personal Information
From the FTC: In a letter to the court-appointed consumer privacy ombudsman in the bankruptcy case of the electronics retailer RadioShack, Federal Trade Commission Consumer Protection Director Jessica Rich recommended conditions the court could place on the sale of consumers’ personal information to protect their privacy. According to the letter, substantial amounts of personal data…