Privacy

Privacy Icon

Privacy

Privacy enables us to form close relationships with other people, build alliances, share information, and consider new and unpopular ideas. Because every human being needs a place where they can be free from the scrutiny of others— including the government— privacy is a fundamental part of a dignified life.

Technology has created unprecedented ways to glean, store, and utilize personal information without our consent, or even our knowledge. The ACLU-WA works to increase the control every individual has over their personal information, expand the right to privacy, and ensure civil liberties are enhanced rather than compromised by technological innovation.

Resources

News Release, Published: 
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
The Washington Supreme Court has ruled that police don't need a warrant or permission from a suspect before collecting genetic evidence from saliva used to seal an envelope. The ACLU had urged the Court to consider the risks to personal privacy from abuses of this practice.
News Release, Published: 
Monday, April 30, 2007
Government needs a warrant or a subpoena that can be challenged in court before gaining access to personal bank records, according to a unanimous decision of the Washington Supreme Court.
News Release, Published: 
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission has asked phone companies to preserve call records that may have been illegally surrendered to a government spying program.
News Release, Published: 
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
The ACLU has filed an amicus brief challenging Pierce County’s practice of routinely examining hotel registration records without reasonable suspicion of a crime.
News Release, Published: 
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
A summary of known federal domestic surveillance programs. Part of the package on ACLU FOIA requests for local peace groups.
News Release, Published: 
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
In a first-in-the-nation case, the Washington Supreme Court today unanimously ruled that police must obtain a warrant in order to track an individual's movements by Global Positioning Systems (GPS). The ruling agrees with the contentions of an amicus brief submitted in the case by the American Civil Liberties Union.
News Release, Published: 
Monday, October 28, 2002
In settlement of a lawsuit brought by the ACLU, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) has agreed to improve its policies for handling requests for documents by the public. The ACLU sued the SPD in 2001 for violating the state Public Disclosure Act by failing to disclose a key document relating to police enforcement of the City's "no protest zone" during the World Trade Organization demonstrations in 1999.

Pages