privacy law advocate l.d.a.

The Secret Service focuses mainly on issuing regarding counterfeiting, but you might be surprised to learn that they also investigate identity theft, telemarketing fraud, and computer fraud of all types. The Secret Service offers some good advise and tips on what to do if you are a victim of a financially related crime. They also provide a link to a “know your money” site which gives you pictures of money and how to recognize counterfeit currency. Financial crime is on the rise and with it the safety of your privacy is more at risk then ever. Learn what to do if you find that someone is fraudulently using your name in a financial transaction and how to recognize counterfeit currency. Check out the following link.

http://www.secretservice.gov/criminal.shtml

Alex Jones is a documentary film maker who has caused a lot of controversy with his movies Martial Law 911, Rise of the Police State and Terrorstorm. His movies focus on what Joe Conger on the news talk show KENS 5  out of San Antonio called the unpleasant surrender of civil liberties that has kept us safe since 9/11.These movies are controversial, difficult to watch and have a point to make. There has been a surge of movies, books and other materials on the changes of policy since 911. Interested in some of the more painfully obvious sides of what happens when we lose our civil liberties for the greater good, to save us from our own best interest? Check out the following link;

http://www.martiallaw911.info/

 Home land Security has a link to a hearing on the implementation of the  Aviation and Transportation Security Act. This link mainly focuses on screening and checking baggage. When it comes to privacy airline travelers where the first and most prominent group to have their privacy challenged post 911. This is just the beginning on hearings regarding airline security which today include security being allowed to take a passenger’s laptop off premises and have it tested in a lab for relevant information extraction. The airline passenger offers up his personal baggage and bodily privacy on behave of security with the hope that he shall be able to travel more safely to his next airport. Read up on the first hearings regarding airport security and how it is security began to come to where they are now on the topic of privacy rights.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/congress/2002_h/020123-memo.htm

Besides the economic issues faced by the United Stated the 111th Congress promises to root out monies sent to other countries that end up in the hands of terrorists. One of the biggest challenges of national security is not only balancing the right to privacy with security measures but also keeping the money needed to thort these efforts out of the hands of terrorists.  Take a look at the upcoming agenda of the 111th Congress as they prepare to vote on issues that will effect the direction of the country in these trying economic times. The question of how can the United States keeps foreign aid  out of terrorist hands with out forcing other countries into poverty is a difficult one. Check out the following link.

http://dodd.senate.gov/index.php?q=node/4619

 The 110th Congress found itself revisiting and revising bills and laws that had over the pass couple of years been popular but had not yet passed. Some of the issues they worked on included privacy and data security legislation. The most relevant Acts address these issued include the “Personal Data Privacy and Security Act of 2007”,  the “Notification of Risk to Personal Data Act of 2007”,  and the “Data Accountability and Trust Act” (DATA). The important issues of not just what data is considered privacy but also how to handle and manage this information was more clearly defined in this session of the 110th Congress. Check out the following link on the Acts deliberated over during the session of the 110th Congress.
http://www.privsecblog.com/archives/federal-legislation-pending-privacy-and-data-security-legislation-in-the-110th-congress.html

  During the 109th Congress brought some important post 911 including the following Acts, Consumer Data Security and Notification Act, Information Protection and Security Act, Security and Freedom Enhancement Act.  and   The USA Patriot and Terrorism Prevention Reauthorization Act. Once again we see as the post 911 legislation got into full swing many new Acts and laws come to the forefront of the nation. Each time security measures are enacted the rights of the citizen to privacy becomes threatened and left on the back burner. The reasoning for this new wave of legislation has been based on the thought that it is allowable to strip the citizen of his privacy if it allows for a better protection of the nation as a whole. Check out the following link for further information.

http://epic.org/privacy/bill_track.html

 In the start of the 108th Congress many laws focused on privacy law. Laws such as those requiring clear disclosure to computer users of computer software features that poses a threat to user privacy,  The Social Security Protection Act of 2003 which amendments the Social Security Act and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 providing additional safeguards and the Do-Not-Call Implementation Act designed to collect fees for the implementation and enforcement of a “do-not-call” registry. There are other laws and amendments listed. The post 911 era has rung in a time where a legal frenzy regarding privacy law has begun. Two years after 911 the focus of law and the protection of the citizen. Check out the following link.

http://www.cdt.org/legislation/108th/privacy/

This is an informative list of legislation enacted in the years 2001 and 2002 just following the 911 terrorist attacks.   These links include bills and joint resolutions signed into law and legislation with floor action of the 107th Congress. Since 911 there has been a drive to protect citizens from further attacks. This protection often comes at the cost of the citizen’s freedom and  their right to make choices in their lives. How has the post 911 era changed the way people think about the balance between rights and protections? This is a view into the legal frenzy that happen the first year after 911. Check out the following link:

http://thomas.loc.gov/home/terrorleg.htm

 Nation Security Agency ( NSA) has recently been named in a lawsuit  in Fresno California for buying records from the nation’s phone carriers. These records included millions of Americans phone records specifically to whom they called and how long the calls lasted. USA TODAY reported that the NSA has been secretly collecting these phone call records using data provided by AT&T, BellSouth and Verizon, citing people within the nation’s phone carrier’s companies with direct knowledge of the program.  The right to be left alone includes the privacy to make a phone call and expect your phone company will honor your privacy. Check out the following link for further information on this lawsuit against the NSA.

http://news.cnet.com/Verizon-sued-for-alleged-NSA-cooperation/2100-1036_3-6072483.html

 A man “taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way” must first “be warned that he has a right to remain silent, that any statement he does make may be used as evidence against him, and that he has a right to the presence of an attorney, either retained or appointed.”  The question of when does a person have the right to be left alone especially in the face of being detained by authorities is an essential one. Even in the face of detainment one has at least the right to silence and any attempt to with hold these rights can be cause of dismissal to a case based on the citizen’s detainment. Check out the following link to the ruling on who’s bases the simple right to silence has been established:

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?navby=case&court=US&vol=511&invol=318