Privacy & Technology

“The progress of science in furnishing the Government with means of espionage is not likely to stop with wiretapping. Ways may someday be developed by which the Government, without removing papers from secret drawers, can reproduce them in court, and by which it will be enabled to expose a jury the most intimate occurrences of the home…Can it be that the Constitution affords no protection against such invasions of individual security?”
-- Louis Brandeis
U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Olmstead v. United States, (1928)

The word "privacy" means many different things to different people. One widely accepted meaning is "the right to be let alone," as it was described by former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis.

The United States is at risk of turning into a full-fledged surveillance society. From using the telephone to seeking medical treatment to applying for a job or sending e-mail over the Internet, our right to information privacy is in peril. Our personal and business information is being digitized through an ever-expanding number of computer networks in formats that allow data to be linked, transferred, shared and sold, usually without our knowledge or consent. Employers and schools are turning to drug testing policies without any reasonable suspicions of illegal drug use. DNA has the power to disclose not only private personal and medical information about any individual but also blood-relatives. The use of DNA is expanding as a tool for crime-solving and has also been used to exonerate the innocent. The same technological advances that have brought enormous benefits also make us more vulnerable than ever before to unwanted snooping.

As technology provides new ways to gather information and databases proliferate, the need for privacy protections becomes more urgent. The ACLU is a national leader in working to guarantee that individuals may determine how and when others can gain access to their personal information.

Litigation

Lanier v. Woodburn

Ninth Circuit Rules Drug-Testing Policy, As Applied, Unconstitutional

March 13, 2008 - The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today ruled that a City of Woodburn pre-employment drug-testing policy is unconstitutional, as applied to Janet Lynn Lanier. Lanier in 2004 had applied to be a page at Woodburn Library.

Washburn v. Columbia Forest Products, Inc.

Oregon Supreme Court Narrows Definition of Disabled Worker

October 2006 - In Washburn v. Columbia Forest Products, Inc., 340 Or 469, 134 P.3d 161 (2006), the Oregon Supreme Court was faced with the question under the Oregonians with Disability Act of whether a person’s disability should be assessed with or without regard to measures which mitigate the disability.

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Legislation

Privacy Questions Delay Vote on Surveillance Cameras

May 9, 2012 - The Portland City Council this morning postponed a vote on a proposal that, if approved, would enable increased use of surveillance cameras by the Portland Police Bureau. The ACLU of Oregon testified in opposition to the proposal at last week's City Council meeting, raising concerns about the privacy implications of 24-hour video surveillance of perfectly legal activities of Portlanders in their everyday lives. At that meeting, the Council agreed to delay a vote on the proposal to allow for the Police Bureau to research and report on further specifics that might address the privacy concerns raised at the hearing. To allow for more time for the Bureau to do so, the Council delayed the vote again today. It is rescheduled for May 30.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE: Retention of Fingerprints by the State Police (HB 4091) (2012)

Representative Nancy Nathanson (D-Eugene) is a champion in the legislature of government efficiency. As Vice-Chair of the Joint Ways & Means Committee, which writes the state budget, the representative is constantly looking for ways to streamline government’s work to save the state money. To that end, she introduced HB 4091 to require the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) to convene a workgroup to examine and develop recommendations around how the state can improve its systems for performing criminal background checks.

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Other

Oregonians Unite Against Attack on Workforce and Business as Part of National Day of Action Against E-Verify

September 14, 2011 - The ACLU of Oregon along with a group of business, immigrant, labor, faith, and civil rights leaders stood together with others from across the country to tell Congress that forcing employers to use the flawed E-Verify system will harm U.S. workers and employers and undercut the country’s economic recovery. The groups held a press conference at St. Francis of Assisi, 311 SE 12th Avenue, Portland.

Speakers included Kevin Díaz, Legal Director of the ACLU of Oregon; Jeff Stone, Executive Director for the Oregon Association of Nurseries and Co-Chair of the Coalition for a Working Oregon; Javier Lara, Organizer for PCUN (Oregon’s farm worker union); Ignacio Páramo, MLK Worker Center Director for VOZ Workers’ Rights Education Project; and Valerie Chapman, Pastoral Administrator of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church.

The ACLU of Oregon’s Perspective on Electronic Health Care Records: What Do We Mean by “Privacy”?

by Andrea Meyer, Legislative Director/Counsel, ACLU of Oregon

Presentation before the Department of Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology, Oregon Health & Science University (January 13, 2011) and before the Health Information Exchange Conference, HIMSS Oregon (January 20, 2011)

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