No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law...The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. |
| | The right to privacy is one of the most salient civil liberties issues today, despite the fact that the word "privacy" neither appears in the Constitution nor the Bill of Rights. The Right to Privacy, famously called the "right to be left alone" by Justice Blackmun, is built on combination of the right to "liberty", as described in the fifth and fourteenth amendments and the ninth amendment. Privacy, in turn, underlies a wide range of issues, including reproductive freedom, the "fundamental fairness" of investigations and police procedures, and online "cyber-liberties." The Right to Privacy is a very dynamic area of civil liberties law because it must change in time with new technology, such as the internet, and because it relies on the "reasonable expectation of privacy" standard, which is itself very malliable. |
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Wednesday, August 28, 2002 |
The Failures of Technological Security
This collection of articles from the Atlantic Monthly highlights the dangers of relying on technological solutions to America's post-9/11 security needs, especially those that invade our civil liberties. The articles all note in particular that there is valid tradeoff between liberty and security-- except that this technology does not provide real security.
"The trick is to remember that technology can't save you.... We know this in our own lives. We realize that there's no magic anti-burglary dust we can sprinkle on our cars to prevent them from being stolen. We know that car alarms don't offer much protection. The Club at best makes burglars steal the car next to you. For real safety we park on nice streets where people notice if somebody smashes the window. Or we park in garages, where somebody watches the car. In both cases people are the essential security element. You always build the system around people."
The danger to our civil liberty and livelihood is also pointed out in the context of biometric ID cards:
"For the purposes of a national ID card, identity is a unique, unchanging set of distinguishing characteristics: the flecks in one's iris, the ridges of one's left thumb.... As Americans, though, we have a higher identity: free agent, self-legislator, citizen. It's a common identity held individually. It's what allows us to bond and make a nation or, if necessary, dissolve our bonds. This identity can't be captured on a card, but there is a risk it could be supplanted by one."
These articles should be taken into consideration of the Deering High School ID Badges.
2:30:49 PM 
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American Library Association: The USA-Patriot Act
The American Library Association has posted a collection of information about the investigative provisions of the USA-Patriot Act. The collection is intended to be a guide for librarians, but is also very useful for library users interested in the impact on their privacy and due process rights. [From the Scout Report]
2:02:56 PM
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Deering High Requires Photo Badges
Deering High School will be requiring students to wear photo badges at all times this upcoming school year. Although the school is seeking to protect students and improve security, the photo badges will not realistically protect the school from intruders. Students will also be losing the opportunity to learn about their rights to privacy and due process.
12:02:15 AM
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© Copyright 2002 Lucas Burke.
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