Privacy, Security, and Civil Liberties

Letter from Ronald Weich, Assistant Attorney General and enclosed letter from Patrick J. Leahy regarding FISA.

durbin-feingold-091409.pdf

Comments from higher education associations.

calea-comments-12apr10.pdf

Comments from higher education associations.

calea-comments-fcc-14nov05.pdf

Joint statement of industry and public interest.

calea-comments-issues-27apr04.pdf

Letter urging Senatory Harry Reid to support the Judiciary Committee's version of S. 2248, the FISA Amendments Act of 2007.

fisacoalitionletterjan2008.pdf

The undersigned organizations are concerned about the current language for Critical Infrastructure Information in the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which contains ambiguous definitions that could unintentionally allow companies to keep broad categories of information secret and provisions that restrict the government's ability to use the information.

fix-foia-statement-2002.pdf

Letter to attorneys involved in the Google Books Settlement case written to urge Google to include enforceable privacy protections along with the amended settlement agreement.

lt-gbs-group-privacy06oct09.pdf

Letter from interested organizations urging Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert to ensure that the House of Representative follows normal parliamentary procedures when it takes up any new antiterrorism legislation.

lt-hastert-dsea-02apr03.pdf

Letter from the Association of American Universities, the American Council on Education, and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, concerning the database protection legislation discussion draft "Database and Collections of Information Misappropriations Act."

database-act-letter-09sept03.pdf

On October 20, 2009, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and Representatives Jerrold R. Nadler (D-NY) and Bobby Scott (D-VA) introduced the USA PATRIOT Amendments Act of 2009 (H.R.3845). The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and the American Library Association (ALA) believe that this bill contains necessary and important reforms to the powers created by the USA PATRIOT Act.

us-patriot-statement-2009.pdf

Letter from interested organizations advising that consideration of H.R. 3179, should be postponed until Congress has conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the Patriot Act authorities.

lt-goss-sensenbrenner-hr3179-15jun04.pdf

Letter from interested organizations urging the Department of Homeland Security to give the public an opportunity to comment on procedures that are being developed that may restrict the public dissemination of "homeland security information," including information that is "sensitive but unclassified."

lt-ridge-hsisa-27aug03.pdf

Letter from interested organizations concerning the the practice of "ideological exclusion," refusing visas to foreign scholars, writers, artists, and activists not on the basis of their actions but on the basis of their ideas, political views, and associations.

idex-coalition-letter-3-18-09.pdf

Joint Comments Submitted on Behalf of American Library Association, Association of Research Libraries, Center for Democracy & Technology, Champaign-Urbana Community Wireless Network, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Media Access Project, The Rutherford Institute, and the Voice On The Net (Von) Coalition.

joint_comments_calea_25july07.pdf

The American Library Association (ALA) and the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) support including enhanced civil liberties and due process safeguards in the reauthorization of selected provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act. When Congress last reauthorized these provisions in 2005, it recognized the need for oversight and sunsets to ensure that there would be an opportunity to revisit the Act and make necessary changes. Since then, Justice Department investigations have produced abundant evidence of the need for comprehensive reform of the Act. Congress should pass the USA PATRIOT Act Sunset Extension Act of 2009 with key amendments to protect civil liberties.

lib-assoc-statement-patriot-23sep09.pdf

Letter from library associations calling on Congress to move cautiously in proposing new laws and regulations aimed at terrorism.

ltr-library-anti-terror-100201.pdf

Library association statement in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks.

library-statement-free-speech-19sept01.pdf

Library association letter in support of the USA PATRIOT Act Sunset Extension Act of 2011, (S. 193).

lt-leahypatriot-02feb11.pdf

Matrix describing changes to search and seizure of electronic information due to the PATRIOT Act.

patriot-act-search-and-seizure-matrix.pdf

The Protect America Act (PAA) has broad implications for libraries and library users. As Congress considers amending the Act prior to its sunset, the library community (the "LC") asks that its interest, and those of its users, be protected in the final bill language by requiring a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ("FISC") to access the facilities of, or to obtain other information from, libraries in the United States.

paa-and-libraries-5oct07.pdf

Letter from public interest organizations expressing opposition to the Domestic Security Enhancement Act (DSEA).

lt-patriot2-dsea-17mar03.pdf

Letter from NASULGC expressing support for efforts by the nation's librarians to require that any surveillance by the Federal government of the e-mails and other electronic information generated by library patrons be conducted only following issuance of a subpoena by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

lt-leahy-surveillance-07nov07.pdf

The American Library Association (ALA) and the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) (the "Libraries") seek language in the RESTORE Act and other FISA modernization proposals that ensures judicial review of law enforcement requests for library patron records or surveillance of library users through library networks.

protecting-privacy-22oct07.pdf