--- From: "Jim Harper - Privacilla.org" <jim.harperat_private> To: "'Declan McCullagh'" <declanat_private> Subject: ACLU reveals 850 plus e-mail addresses in "Protect Your Civil Liberties/Civil Rights: ACLU's Safe and Free Campaign" Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2003 14:45:57 -0500 Declan: The e-mail below was sent to over 850 individuals and organizations (mailed at 12:37 pm; received here 12:53 pm) with addresses in the To: line rather than the bc: line. A recall request to the same list followed at 1:03 (received here 1:27 pm) Along with learning names and e-mail addresses, recipients can infer that others on the list are activists, sympathizers, or lurkers with the ACLU or allied organizations. (I am proud to say publicly that I fit into more than one of those categories.) In 2001, the Eli Lilly company did the same thing to a smaller number of subscribers (699) to its Prozac Reminder Service. The ACLU filed a complaint against the company with the Federal Trade Commission. http://archive.aclu.org/news/2001/n070501b.html Early last year, the FTC found that the gaffe had rendered Lilly's claim of privacy and confidentiality deceptive because Lilly failed to maintain or implement internal measures appropriate under the circumstances to protect sensitive consumer information. See http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2002/01/elililly.htm Here is the ACLU s information / privacy policy: http://www.aclu.org/Privacy.cfm and relevant excerpts: Individual information about website visitors, including e-mail addresses, is never shared with third parties (except as provided for in the section on email list subscriptions below). The ACLU uses your email address to update you on news that you have requested. To deliver this information to you, we use ClickAction Email Relationship Management (ERM), an email marketing service that helps us to conduct targeted permission-based email campaigns. When registering for our email newsletter(s), ClickAction may collect and store the personal information that you provide on our behalf, but the contract between the ACLU and ClickAction prohibits it from sharing, renting, selling or trading any of this information to parties other than ACLU. In addition to its own strict privacy policy, ClickAction is a member of several industry privacy associations including: the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email and TRUSTe. ClickAction also adheres to all Federal and State privacy laws such as the FTC's privacy guidelines and other industry standards. To learn more about ClickAction's privacy policy, go to http://www.clickaction.com/site/privac.html. It appears that this error renders the ACLU s privacy policy as deceptive as Eli Lilly s was. The risk of having one s affiliation with the ACLU revealed can chill the free speech that the ACLU argues for so often and so well. But I suspect strongly that just as in the Lilly case the embarrassment of revealing subscriber information is more than enough incentive to get the ACLU to adopt better privacy/security measures in the future. Any kind of investigation or enforcement by regulators would be overkill (even if they did have jurisdiction). List members who have been harmed by the ACLU s error have common law rights that they can pursue to make themselves whole. Everyone who e-mails large groups is at risk for this kind of error. It s unfortunate when it happens. But the folks who make a federal privacy case out of it may end up with egg on their faces, which seems to have happened here. Jim Harper Editor Privacilla.org -----Original Message----- From: safeandfreenews [mailto:safeandfreenewsat_private] Sent: Monday, February 24, 2003 12:37 PM To: [deleted to avoid further exposure of ACLU list members] Subject: Protect Your Civil Liberties/Civil Rights: ACLU's Safe and Free Campaign RESOLVED: DEFENDING OUR LIBERTIES AT HOME In a true grassroots movement that harkens back to the founders and their refusal to accept repressive policies, dozens of communities around the country have passed municipal resolutions opposing actions taken by the Bush Administration since the tragic terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. More than 5 million Americans live in communities that have taken action to protect civil liberties. Among the 43 communities, in 19 states, that have taken action against the Bush Administration policies are cities as diverse as Detroit, Michigan, Fairbanks, Alaska, San Francisco, California and Carrboro, North Carolina. The ACLU continues to work -- as part of its ongoing "Safe and Free" campaign -- with dozens of other communities around the country to help them go on the record against repressive legislation. The resolutions specifically single out provisions in the USA Patriot Act, the controversial anti-terrorism law passed in October 2001. If you want to organize a similar effort in your community, the ACLU can help. Sign up here to receive organizing advice and materials on How to Pass a Resolution in Your Community and a Draft Resolution. February 2003 JOIN THE SAFE AND FREE CAMPAIGN "Keep America Safe and Free: The ACLU's Campaign to Defend the Constitution," was launched last fall, nearly one year to the day after Congress hastily passed the USA Patriot Act. "Those who ask the American people to choose whether they want to be safe or free are presenting a false choice," ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said at that time. "The difficult task ahead is to create a new and more powerful balance between two fundamental values -- liberty and security. In this way America can be both safe and free." To kick off the campaign, the ACLU unveiled a 30-second television spot that graphically illustrates how essential freedoms have been curtailed in the name of security since Sept. 11. Now, starting this month, a hard-hitting print ad campaign, featuring John Ashcroft as the "editor" of the Bill of Rights will run in national magazines. (See story, right panel.) Another crucial feature of the Safe and Free Campaign is the grassroots organizing and legislative lobbying. That includes working to pass local and state ordinances prohibiting local law enforcement participation in repressive Administration initiatives, such as those involving immigration laws. (See story, left panel.) Help us safeguard democracy, especially in a time of crisis. Use the links on this page to take action now, and to help spread the word about what we all can do to fight this unprecedented assault on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. SAVE THE DATE ACLU's Inaugural Membership Conference June 11, 2003, to June 15, 2003 American Civil Liberties Union To unsubscribe, send a request to safeandfreenewsat_private NEW PRINT AD FOCUSES ON OUR RIGHTS -- AND THOSE WHO WOULD REMOVE THEM For more than 200 years, the Bill of Rights has stood as a wall between government abuse and the rights of a free people--and that wall is being dismantled. Both English and Spanish (Espaņol) versions of the ad are available for download That is the message of a blunt new ACLU print ad, "The Authors/The Editor," which began appearing in national publications this month. Superimposed over shredded fragments from the Bill of Rights, the ad juxtaposes a historic portrait of "The Authors" (the Founding Fathers) with a scowling photo of "The Editor" (U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft), making a scissors-like gesture with his fingers. It lists some of the liberties Ashcroft has slashed in his response to 9/11, and urges Americans to act before their remaining freedoms are no more. Over the next few months, the ad is scheduled to appear in such publications as Atlantic Monthly, The Economist, Harper's, Foreign Affairs, New York Review of Books, Ms. Magazine, Mother Jones, The Nation and The Progressive. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Like Politech? Make a donation here: http://www.politechbot.com/donate/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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