A New Age-Verification Bill Could Make You Show ID To Use a Computer or Smartphone
Plus: The war with Iran is raising condom prices, increased legal liability for chatbot advice could backfire, and more...
Privacy
Alabama Supreme Court to Cops: It's OK To Force a Pastor Watering Flowers To Show His ID
The court ruled that police can demand a physical ID under the state's stop-and-identify law.
San Jose's 'Creepy' and 'Deeply Intrusive' ALPR Camera System Is Unconstitutional, a New Lawsuit Says
The city has created a network of nearly 500 cameras that routinely monitor innocent people as they go about their daily lives.
Justice Ginsburg Cancer Treatment Leak Prosecution: Blame the Cat
"Russell insisted that he didn't know how his credentials had been used to run the 'Gins' and 'Ginston' searches. But he theorized that 'potentially his cat had run across the keyboard and typed in those letters.'"
Trump Says He's Willing To 'Risk' Your Rights for His Surveillance Powers
The president once said he wanted to kill warrantless electronic spying. So much for that.
ICE Is Determined To Unmask a Reddit User Whose Only Crime Seems To Be Criticizing ICE
After withdrawing a summons in the face of a legal challenge, the government is seeking a grand jury subpoena.
Photo: Ring Calls Off the Search Party
Following a backlash to its Super Bowl commercial, Ring owner Amazon announced that it was canceling a planned partnership with Flock Safety.
Keonne Rodriguez on Bitcoin, Privacy, and Going to Prison
"We thought we were on the right side of the law," the Samourai Wallet co-founder tells Reason.
The Supreme Court's Next Big Fourth Amendment Case
How the digital privacy rights of millions are at stake in Chatrie v. United States.
Sex Educators Say They're Being Harmed by Age Verification Laws
Plus: Wisconsin governor vetoes porn age-check bill, more charges for penis protester, the Komodo dragon theory of social media, and more...
There Are Many Good Reasons To Criticize Kristi Noem. Her Husband's Sexual Interests Are Not Among Them.
Who cares if Bryon Noem likes pretending to have giant breasts?
Maine Lobsterman Asks the Supreme Court To Strike Down a Rule Allowing the Government To Track His Boat 24/7
The case could give the Court a chance to clarify what a "closely regulated" business is and what constitutional protections it enjoys.
Trump Backs Section 702 Reauthorization After Once Calling To 'KILL FISA'
The president is much less concerned about the law's potential for overreach now that he's in charge of the government wielding it.
Court Dismisses Suit Against N.Y. Times & Serial Productions over The Idiot Podcast
The podcast is M. Gessen’s story about cousin Allen Gessen (who is the plaintiff in this case) and his murder-for-hire conviction. Extra juicy tidbit in this case: Venue!
The Feds Are Investing in Wearable Health Trackers. That Could Put Your Private Data at Risk.
Government-backed biowearables could generate vast streams of personal health data with few legal safeguards.
NYC Transit Just Got Rid of MetroCards for Fares. The Successor Could Put Your Privacy at Risk.
Unlike the MetroCard, the OMNY system requires train and bus riders in New York City to give their name and phone number to the government.
Controversial Geofence Warrants Face Supreme Court Challenge
Technological innovations allow the authorities to see who has visited whole geographic areas.
Canadian Cops Questioned Dad About Human Trafficking After He Took His Daughter to a Coffee Shop
Plus: AI for mass surveillance, Alaskan lawsuit to decriminalize prostitution, "enhanced" British regulation of streaming services, and more…
Trump Replaces Old Illegal Tariffs With New Illegal Tariffs
Plus: The U.S. could be going to war with Iran, the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, and why AI surveillance is worrying civil libertarians
The Government Wants Your Posts Before It Grants You Papers
The Trump administration will start collecting social media account information on immigration forms.
Blaming Buildings for Sex Trafficking
And paving the way for increased surveillance of all women
Ring Drops Controversial Partner After Super Bowl Ad Backlash
The move is a rare win for privacy, both for users and their neighbors.
Do Construction Workers Have Fourth Amendment Rights? A Federal Court Will Decide.
The Department of Homeland Security argues it doesn't need a warrant to enter a construction site.
Drug Dogs Should Not Be Unleashed To Authorize Apartment Searches, a SCOTUS Brief Argues
The 4th Circuit held that the doorstep of an apartment did not qualify as protected "curtilage" under the Fourth Amendment.
Group Chats About ICE Whereabouts Are Protected Speech. The FBI Is Investigating Anyway.
FBI Director Kash Patel pays lip service to the First and Second Amendments while casting suspicion on people who exercise their First or Second Amendment rights.
Leaked ICE Memo Claims Agents Can Enter Homes Without Judicial Warrants
Under this understanding of the Fourth Amendment, an attorney at the Institute for Justice says, “there is little left of the rights of Americans to be secure in their houses.”
DHS Invokes Immigration Enforcement To Justify Gathering Americans' DNA
A proposed rule change would allow routine gathering of biometric data without a warrant.
If You Give a Bear a Badge, Will It Respect Your Rights?
Despite their general ignorance of constitutional law, bears pose a much less grave threat to your civil liberties than humans do.
Shein Can't Sell Sex Toys Unless It Checks IDs, French Court Says
Laws requiring porn platforms to age-check visitors are becoming "a Swiss army knife for the government."
He's Serving 5 Years in Prison for Bitcoin Privacy Software
Keonne Rodriguez explains why he built a bitcoin privacy tool, discusses the federal charges that sent him to prison this week, and warns that his case could redefine the legal boundaries of financial privacy.
Governments Are Pushing Digital IDs. Are You Ready To Be Tracked?
Proponents say such IDs will make life easier and protect kids from dangerous content. But opponents worry they will make you much easier to target.
Porn Sites Must Block VPNs To Comply With Indiana's Age-Verification Law, State Suggests in New Lawsuit
It's an insane—and frighteningly dystopian—interpretation of the law.
Did the Internet Break Our Sense of Reality?
Katherine Dee examines how living online reshapes attention and behavior and makes the case for a more grounded, realistic way of using digital tools.
CBP Agents Held This U.S. Citizen for Hours Until He Agreed To Let Them Search His Electronic Devices
A federal lawsuit argues that the agency's policy of perusing travelers' personal data without a warrant or probable cause violates the Fourth Amendment.
No Injunction Against Prosecution for Taking Photo of Transgender Politician Washing Hands in Women's Restroom
So holds a Fifth Circuit panel, over a dissent. Note that part of the majority's rationale is that the photo would only violate the statute if the prosecution can show that defendant intended to invade privacy in a way "highly offensive to a reasonable person of ordinary sensibilities."
Plaintiff Can Add Claims to Case Alleging Carnegie Mellon Prof Said Time on Jewish-Related Project "Would Have Been Better Spent" Exploring "What Jews Do to Make Themselves Such a Hated Group"
One claim is that CMU's Chief Diversity Officer illegally recorded meeting with student and the accused professor—and then apparently "asserted her Fifth Amendment rights when ... asked her if she did so or if she had a pattern or practice of recording student meetings, without their consent, in the scope of her duties."
Showing Plaintiffs' House in an Ad for Netflix Real Estate Reality Show Isn't Actionable Invasion of Privacy,
even if it leads people "to visit plaintiffs’ home 'on a daily basis' asking to see it and claiming they learned it was for sale through the Buying Beverly Hills advertisement."
The 'Free' World Is Coming for Your Private Messages
Nobody expects China or Iran to protect privacy. But as seen in the European debate over chat control, even nominally free countries are becoming intrusive when it comes to the digital world.
How ICE Is Watching Your Thanksgiving Drive
ICE and Border Patrol are using license plate cameras for extensive domestic surveillance.
Lindsey Graham Is Outraged About Federal Surveillance Powers That Lindsey Graham Helped Create and Expand
The government can look at your phone records whenever it wants, but it's a different story when we're talking about his metadata.
Declassified Documents Detail the FBI's Surveillance of a Libertarian Sci-Fi Author
Vernor Vinge, who mocked the surveillance state in his writing, was investigated for alleged connections to socialist Sandinistas in Nicaragua.
Stealing Innocent People's Tax Returns Isn't Heroic. The IRS Leaker Doesn't Deserve a Do-Over.
Charles Littlejohn exposed hundreds of thousands of Americans’ private tax returns and undermined the nation’s voluntary tax system. His five-year sentence shouldn’t be reduced.
Congress Investigates TeaOnHer App for Letting Men Post About Women Without Their Consent
It sounds like something niche feminist bloggers might have taken up 10 years ago. But this is being led by Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives.
ICE Is Mounting a Mass Surveillance Campaign on American Citizens
Without strict oversight, the agency’s new technology threatens Americans’ free speech and privacy.
