9th Circuit: Coalition asks federal court to block government efforts to hide illegal domestic spying

A coalition including the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a brief asking a federal appeals court to prevent the government from using the “state secrets” argument to dismiss a lawsuit challenging warrantless surveillance. In a press release, EFF described the lawsuit brought by a Muslim group,  “The Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation alleges in its lawsuit that [...]

Opinion: Secrecy News challenges Obama assessment of open government gains

The Obama administration’s report on progress on transparency in the federal government contains some false information, misrepresentations, and omits some successes notably in limiting national security secrecy, writes Steven Aftergood in Secrecy News. Aftergood thinks that although some strides have been made in releasing data on government agencies through Data.gov, overall the report is not [...]

Wikileaks: Need seen for altering national security classification system

Secrecy News’ Steven Aftergood sees much to criticize about Wikileaks’ indiscriminate release of classified U.S. government documents but says the release highlights the need to reexamine classification policies. -db Secrecy News Commentary November 29, 2010 By Steven Aftergood The massive disclosure of a quarter million diplomatic records by Wikileaks this weekend underscores the precarious state [...]

Courts and Congress avoid addressing legality of warrantless eavesdropping

A Wire Magazine commentary says that even after lawsuits have been filed alleging warrantless eavesdropping, the practice is continuing abetted by Congress and a passive court system. -db Wired Commentary January 29, 2010 By David Kravets The National Security Agency allegedly siphoned Americans’ communications without warrants from behind this door at an AT&T office in [...]

New York Times editorial asks for strong reform of state secrets policy

The Electronic Frontier Foundation embraces a New York Times editorial that criticizes the new guidelines for invoking the state secrets privilege, arguing that independent court review is essential to prevent abuses of the privilege. -DB Electronic Frontier Foundation Legislative Analysis September 30, 2009 By Kevin Bankston Today’s New York Times included an excellent editorial on [...]

Obama’s new policy on state secrets disappoints EFF attorney

An attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation argues that the Obama administration did not go far enough in reforming the use of the state secrets privilege. The changes will run a decision through executive layers but still allow the government to invoke the privilege to block a court case without judicial oversight. -DB Electronic Frontier Foundation [...]

Obama to announce new policy on state secrets

The Obama administration is expected to make it harder for the government to invoke a “state secrets” claim when asked about such activities as rendition, wiretaps and treatment of terrorist suspects. -DB The Washington Post September 23, 2009 By Carrie Johnson The Obama administration will announce a new policy Wednesday making it much more difficult [...]