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Privacy

The right to privacy entails being free from unwarranted government intrusions into our personal affairs. It means that individuals, not the government, should determine how and when others get access to their personal information. The ACLU litigates and advocates for laws and policies to curtail proliferating threats to personal privacy in the Information Age.

Protect the privacy of your DNA

DNA contains a person's most private information. Proposed legislation would require mandatory collection of your DNA upon arrest, even if you are never charged or convicted. In America, our Constitution guarantees your right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Collecting DNA from the innocent will do nothing to make us safer. Tell your legislators that you oppose this unwarranted expansion of government power. Read More »
 
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Helping Youth Move Forward: Bill Would Keep Juvenile Records Confidential

Vanessa Hernandez, ACLU-WA Staff Attorney and Equal Justice Works Fellow
Friday, January 27th, 2012 at 8:46 am
Since the turn of the century, juvenile courts have been separate from adult courts. The goal of juvenile courts, as the Supreme Court recognized over 50 years ago, is to determine how to rehabilitate juveniles and “save [them] from a downward career.” To further these goals, juvenile court records have historically been shielded from public view. This system allows juveniles to enter adulthood without being publicly labeled as criminals. Read More »
 
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520 Tolling Starts Soon, But Your Privacy Is Already Protected

Doug Klunder, ACLU-WA Privacy Counsel
Thursday, December 8th, 2011 at 9:32 am
The Washington Department of Transportation announced today that tolling will start on the SR 520 bridge on December 29. This will be Washington’s first all-electronic toll bridge—meaning there will be no toll booths—and by far the highest volume all-electronic toll facilities in the country. There are lots of advantages to eliminating toll booths (e.g., less congestion, greater safety), but there are also drawbacks, potentially including a loss of privacy.  Read More »
 
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GPS Tracking: In Our State, Police Need a Warrant

Doug Klunder, ACLU-WA Privacy Counsel
Wednesday, October 5th, 2011 at 8:41 am
The United States Supreme Court soon is going to consider a case involving warrantless use of a GPS tracking device, in a case the New York Times has called “the most important Fourth Amendment case in a decade.” Read More »
 
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Secure Mobile Chat App Wins Develop for Privacy Challenge

August 5, 2011
The ACLU –WA and other privacy advocates have announced that Gibberbot, a secure instant messaging and chat app, is the winner of the 2011 Develop for Privacy Challenge (www.develop4privacy.org). The Challenge co-sponsors made the announcement in a celebratory event at the DEFCON security conference. Read More »
 
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Usage-Based Insurance

Bill: SB 5730
Position: neutral
Status: Did not pass.
The usage-based insurance bill would have facilitated the introduction of new automobile insurance products in Washington that could have compromised driver privacy by tracking vehicle location and driving habits. We sought to include robust privacy provisions in the bill, including consent requirements and limitations on collecting and disseminating tracking data. Ultimately, the measure died.  Read More »
 
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Jail Booking Photos

Bill: HB 1689
Position: oppose
Status: Passed House, died in Senate.
Sought by the newspaper association, the bill would have added mug shots to a list of information about people in jail that must be publically available – prior to any conviction. Such disclosure would serve no open government function, but would invade privacy. It could lead to individuals being stigmatized for an arrest without ever being convicted of a crime.  Read More »
 
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One-Party Consent

Bill: HB 1874
Position: oppose
Status: Passed, with some protections for civil liberties.
We succeeded in limiting damage to our state’s rule on two-party consent, which requires both parties to consent to audio recordings. Washington is one of the few states which retains this important protection.  A well-intentioned but problematic bill allows one-party consent for recordings made in connection with the human trafficking of minors; that exception to Washington’s two-party consent statute currently only exists for drug trafficking investigations.  Although the bill passed despite our opposition, we successfully fought for language that allows for meaningful judicial review and the destruction of illegally made recordings – a protection that will apply to drug trafficking as well as human trafficking cases. Read More »
 
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Juvenile Records

Bill: SHB 1793
Position: support
Status: Passed.
Adults should be able to put juvenile mistakes behind them, and not be denied educational, employment, and housing opportunities because of offenses committed as minors. Yet currently, it is easy for commercial entities to obtain records of juvenile offenses statewide. Some maintain shadow databases, which may not be promptly (if ever) purged when records are sealed, and these records prevent some former offenders from reintegrating into society.

The bill addresses this problem by restricting consumer reporting agencies from disseminating juvenile records to employers, landlords and other third parties after a person turns 21. And it establishes a task force to figure out how to cost-effectively restrict access to records of rehabilitated juvenile offenders. The measure was initiated by students in a University of Washington Law School clinic. Read More »

 
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Say Cheese! Your Picture Is Being Cross-Referenced Around the World

Arnold Jin
Wednesday, May 4th, 2011 at 11:34 am
There are some people who claim to never forget a face.  Now, what if that person was actually a government computer using advanced facial recognition technology?  Say Cheese!  Your picture has now been reduced to data and is being cross-referenced with databases across the world that can identify your face from the Internet before you’ve even finished smiling!  Read More »
 
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