Privacy and Technology

The ACLU has established the Technology and Liberty program which monitors the interplay between cutting-edge technology and civil liberties, actively promoting responsible uses of technology that enhance privacy and freedom, while opposing those that undermine our freedoms and move us closer to a surveillance society. While the issues of privacy rights and rapidly expanding technological innovations are very broad, the ACLU addresses the need for privacy protections in internet use, medical records and for workers, consumers and students. We also work to address ethics in biological technologies and scientific freedom. And the ACLU is historically best known for confronting government surveillance and wiretapping.

Police GPS Tracking Question Left Unanswered by WI Supreme Court; ACLU Seeks Legislative Response
Tuesday July 20, 2010
On Tuesday July 20th, the Wisconsin Supreme Court sidestepped the question of whether there are any constitutional limits on police use of global positioning system devices to track people in their cars. Instead, the Court decided that a court order obtained by the police in the case of State v. Sveum satisfied the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Wisconsin Constitution. Read more…
Press Release: 7/20/2010 - Wisconsin Supreme Court Decision Leaves Unanswered Questions About GPS Tracking; ACLU Seeks Legislative Response (PDF)

ACLU and Electronic Frontier Foundation Urge Wisconsin Supreme Court to Require Warrants for GPS Tracking
Friday, February 12, 2010
The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Wisconsin and the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday urging the justices to find that, when the police place a global positioning system tracking device on a car to obtain information on its location and movements without a valid warrant, they violate the Wisconsin constitution. Read more
Press release: 02/12/2010 - ACLU and Electronic Frontier Foundation Urge Wisconsin Supreme Court Require Warrants for GPS Tracking (PDF)
Amicus brief: 02/04/2010 – State of Wisconsin v. Michael A. Sveum (PDF)

For more resources and information on the ACLU’s work on privacy and technology across the nation, please visit the ACLU’s privacy and technology webpage.