Privacy '08

The Obama-Biden Administration has set up a website where you can share your vision for the next administration. Visit http://change.gov/page/s/yourvision and share your privacy vision!

Way back in May, Bob Barr spoke about the Patriot Act at a debate between third-party candidates. Today, knowing that Barack Obama will be our next President, it is important to keep in mind the challenges that will face his administration and we hope he takes Barr's advice on the Patriot Act! Listen to what Barr said:

In the final days before the election, Internetnews.com provides a breakdown of Barack Obama and John McCain's views on six major technology topics: net neutrality, broadband and spectrum, immigration, privacy, technology in government, and green technology. Read the article here.

CNET provides a Technology Voter Guide on its site, including answers to a technology survey taken earlier this year from Barack Obama, John McCain, Bob Barr, and Ralph Nader.

This Friday, Oct. 31, at noon, EPIC will host a Privacy '08 debate with representatives from both the Obama and McCain campaigns. The event will take place at EPIC's offices at 1718 Connecticut Ave NW. RSVP by e-mailing rsvp@epic.org.

Over the weekend, the McCain campaign charged that the Obama campaign may have had something to do with the breaches of Joe the Plumber's privacy records. The Obama campaign responded yesterday, saying "Invasions of privacy should not be tolerated. If these records were accessed inappropriately, it had nothing to do with our campaign and should be investigated fully." More at Political Punch.

There will be a discussion about e-deceptive campaign practices today, Oct. 20, at the EPIC offices at 1718 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 200 from 2pm to 3pm. Deceptive campaigns are attempts to misdirect targeted voters regarding the voting process for public elections. Election activity that would be considered deceptive could include false statements about polling times, date of the election, voter identification rules, or the eligibility requirements for voters who wish to cast a ballot. Historically, disinformation and misinformation efforts intended to suppress voter participation have been systemic attempts to reduce voter participation among low-income, minority, young, disabled, and elderly voters. In 2008, millions of new voters are engaging the political process through Internet communication, which presents an opportunity to review the technology and the incident of e-deceptive campaign practices. See more information on the Facebook event page.

The final presidential debate is this coming Wednesday, October 15th at 9pm. The Privacy '08 campaign has sent a letter to Bob Schieffer, moderator of Wednesday's debate, urging him to ask a question regarding the future of privacy protections for American consumers and citizens. More questions and privacy challenges facing the next Administration can be found here.

On Monday, EPIC hosted an event at the National Press Club with security expert Bruce Schneier and Phillip Friedman, a leading expert on consumer law. Schneier and Friedman discussed recommendations they believe should be given to the next administration. Schneier argued that the next President will need to strengthen privacy safeguards for Internet users, and Friedman urged that strengthening consumer protection law will be vital. A picture of the event is below:

During tonight's debate, both John McCain and Barack Obama expressed their support for electronic health records. In answering a question about the future of health care, Senator Obama said "[we must] mak[e] sure that we use information technology so that medical records are actually on computers instead of you filling forms out in triplicate when you go to the hospital. That will reduce medical errors and reduce costs." In response, Senator McCain said, "Let's put health records online, that will reduce medical errors, as they call them." You can view EPIC's page on medical record privacy here. Video of the candidates' responses:

The presidential debate is this coming Tuesday, October 7th at 9pm. The Privacy '08 campaign has sent a letter to Tom Brokaw, moderator of Tuesday's debate, urging him to ask a question regarding the future of privacy protections for American consumers and citizens. More questions and privacy challenges facing the next Administration can be found here.

During a discussion of Roe v. Wade with Katie Couric, Vice-Presidential candidates Joe Biden and Sarah Palin discussed whether they believe there is an inherent right to privacy in the Constitution. "I think the liberty clause of the 14th Amendment… offers a right to privacy. Now that's one of the big debates that I have with my conservative scholar friends, that they say, you know, unless a right is enumerated - unless it's actually, unless [it] uses the word "privacy" in the Constitution - then no such "constitutional right" exists. Well, I think people have an inherent right," Biden stated. When questions, Palin also stated that she believed there was an inherent right to privacy in the Constitution. You can read the transcript of the interview here or view the video below:

In a recent post, the Civil Liberties Examiner explains that, historically, government responses to crises have had significant civil liberties implications.

The vice-presidential debate is this coming Thursday, October 2nd at 9pm. The Privacy '08 campaign has sent a letter to Gwen Ifill, moderator of Thursday's debate, urging her to ask a question regarding the future of privacy protections for American consumers and citizens. More questions and privacy challenges facing the next Administrationo can be found here.

The Civil Liberties Examiner has a post outlining Barack Obama's positions on civil liberties issues. Obama has a 82% lifetime score from the ACLU, with an 80% rating during the 110th Congress. However, despite his high score, there is no civil liberties section on his website.

The Civil Liberties Examiner also has a corresponding post outlining John McCain's positions on the same issues.