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Operating as usual
“The sooner the better”: The Washington Post Editorial Board spotlights key #Accountability2021 recommendations Biden must implement with more expediency to demonstrate the importance of transparency in government.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/09/12/biden-must-hold-government-accountable-starting-with-his-own/
The clock is ticking on essential transparency, ethics and oversight reforms.
After dramatically expanding its power post-9/11, the NYPD is routinely interrogating protesters and using "counterterrorism" facial recognition technology.
Story below. See also, OTG's citizen guide about the widespread use of the technology by police and the public’s right to know how it is deployed:
https://www.openthegovernment.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Know-Your-Rights_Facial-Recognition-Guide.pdf
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/08/nyregion/nypd-9-11-police-surveillance.html?smid=tw-nytmetro&smtyp=cur
Two decades after the attack on New York City, the Police Department is using counterterrorism tools and tactics to combat routine street crime.
Our ‘National Security in the Post 9/11 Era’ roundtable featured an excellent discussion on the domestic impact of conflicts abroad on American Muslims & communities of color caught in the crosshairs of secretive, abusive U.S. policies. Watch a recording.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikDp5Sinbec
Ahead of the 20th anniversary of the September 11th terror attacks, Open The Government hosted a roundtable on national security in an era of endless wars an...
Heads up that Open The Government's email system is temporarily down for routine maintenance, but we’ll be back up and running by Tuesday morning. Need to reach us in the meantime?
Call us: (202) 332-6736
Heads up that Open The Government's email system is temporarily down for routine maintenance, but we’ll be back up and running by Tuesday morning. Need to reach us in the meantime?
Call us: (202) 332-6736
Thrilled the Washington Post featured one of our steering committee members Hina Shamsi in its profile of how 9/11 transformed lives. The experience ignited the brilliant attorney and ACLU's director of National Security Project's strong commitment to fight against the unjust U.S. policies that followed the attacks.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/interactive/2021/9-11-attacks-lives-transformed/
On Sept. 12, 2001, the United States staggered to its feet amid the devastation of the al-Qaeda terrorist attacks. Yet, for some Americans and millions of others around the globe, the harshest impacts were just beginning.
Happening Now: National Security in the Post 9/11 Era: https://www.openthegovernment.org/event-national-security-in-the-post-9-11-era/
Ahead of the 20th anniversary of the September 11th terror attacks, Open The Government will host a roundtable on national security in an era of endless wars and overclassification that has paved the way for unnecessary government secrecy amid calls for checks and balances on executive war powers. S...
Today: There will be a lot to unpack when Spencer Ackerman, OTG’s Emily Manna, Arab American Institute’s Maya Berry, and ACLU’s Hina Shamsi discuss national security policy post-9/11 at 11:30 a.m.
Remember to join the conversation. Register here: https://www.openthegovernment.org/event-national-security-in-the-post-9-11-era/
Ahead of the 20th anniversary of the September 11th terror attacks, Open The Government will host a roundtable on national security in an era of endless wars and overclassification that has paved the way for unnecessary government secrecy amid calls for checks and balances on executive war powers. S...
An Illinois judge denied the dismissal of a privacy suit against Clearview by the ACLU and other groups. We agree: selling facial recognition systems to dozens of companies & law enforcement agencies without individuals' knowledge or consent is not First Amendment protected activity.
https://www.jurist.org/news/2021/08/illinois-court-denies-clearview-ais-motion-to-dismiss-privacy-lawsuit/
More on OTG’s work on the company’s invasive activities:
https://www.openthegovernment.org/clearview-ai-the-shady-company-tracking-your-face-online/
Our guide on the use of the technology in your backyard: https://www.openthegovernment.org/new-facial-recognition-citizens-guide-empowers-public-to-investigate-use-of-the-technology/
Presented as a live stream as part of HOPE 2020 Conference Freddy Martinez is a technologist and expert on surveillance. He was previously a Ford-Mozilla open web fellow at Freedom of the Press Foundation. During his fellowship, he worked on democratizing access to public records requests with a foc...
If you haven’t registered for our upcoming roundtable on national security in the post-9/11 era, there’s still time. Ahead of the 20th anniversary of the attacks, we’ll be discussing the impact of the War on Terror on rule of law, securitized communities, and increased government opacity, and more. August 31 at 11:30 a.m.
Register here.
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9zeCcd6hSuKNp3zhmWr4CA
When: August 31, 2021, 11:30AM – 12:30PM EST Where: Virtual Who: • [Moderator] Spencer Ackerman, Reporter/Publisher of the Forever Wars newsletter on Substack, and author of "Reign of Terror: How The 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump" • Hina Shamsi, Director, ACLU National Secur...
Ten federal agencies from Veterans Affairs to the Department of Agriculture say they're expanding their use of facial recognition technology by 2023 despite privacy and accuracy issues.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/08/25/federal-facial-recognition-expansion/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=wp_business
Ten federal agencies, from the departments of Agriculture to Veterans Affairs, said they intended to grow their face-scanning capabilities by 2023. One watchdog official said, “Even with all the privacy issues and accuracy problems, the government is pretty much saying, ‘Damn the torpedoes, full...
BuzzFeed News's latest story on Clearview is an important one on how widely the controversial facial recognition technology has spread abroad – law enforcement agencies outside the U.S, including in countries where the tech was deemed “unlawful", used free trials of the tech.
https://twitter.com/BuzzFeedNews/status/1430545156487487489
“Clearview AI offered free trials of its controversial facial recognition tech to police around the world. Departments took them up on it, sometimes using it without telling higher-ups. https://t.co/XhoTs4GQLJ”
Today, OTG joined the Brennan Center for Justice,
International Refugee Assistance Project,
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and
Muslim Justice League, and Restore The Fourth in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security to end its new social media monitoring program that threatens civil rights and civil liberties.
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/coalition-letter-urges-department-homeland-security-end-social-media
On August 24, 2021, the Brennan Center and five other organizations sent a letter to the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, urging him to end a new social media monitoring program due to a lack of effectiveness and serious civil rights and civil liberties concerns.
Signed up for the upcoming virtual roundtable on national security in the post-9/11 era? As the 20th-anniversary approaches, join a discussion on 8/31 at 11:30 a.m. moderated by Spencer Ackerman, author of the new, critically-acclaimed, "Reign of Terror."
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9zeCcd6hSuKNp3zhmWr4CA?fbclid=IwAR1CV5YWCTd582UY9d_ciozA4DK-AoouK61njqctsAMKmFizuDGqnhCBmGk
When: August 31, 2021, 11:30AM – 12:30PM EST Where: Virtual Who: • [Moderator] Spencer Ackerman, contributing editor, Daily Beast, and author of "Reign of Terror: How The 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump" • Hina Shamsi, Director, ACLU National Security Project • Emily Manna, ...
A new report first shared with The Associated Press, argues that the federal government targeted Black Lives Matter protesters in 2020 with increased deployment of federal agents and prosecution of participants.
https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-death-of-george-floyd-health-race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-07a91fd5c210f8b809d019292c3ec0c0
The federal government deliberately targeted Black Lives Matter protesters via heavy-handed criminal prosecutions in an attempt to disrupt and discourage the global movement that swept the nation last summer in the wake of the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, according to a new report rel...
Accessible, consistent reporting such as from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction would have facilitated oversight and captured a more realistic picture of the war and its impact on civilians as the U.S. withdraws. Read OTG's Emily Manna's thread on it.
https://twitter.com/EmilyManna/status/1427329452032335883
“One reason for this "disconnect" is the government's descent into secrecy around the war in Afghanistan over the past several years, as DoD sought to prevent unfavorable info from reaching the public https://t.co/EfDLKvXfyR”
With the Biden administration grappling with the consequences of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the 20th anniversary of 9/11 on the horizon, on 8/31 Open The Government will host a live interactive webinar on national security in the post 9/11 era in light of over-classification, forever wars, checks and balances on war powers, and more. RSVP here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9zeCcd6hSuKNp3zhmWr4CA
When: August 31, 2021, 11:30AM – 12:30PM EST Where: Virtual Who: • [Moderator] Spencer Ackerman, contributing editor, Daily Beast, and author of "Reign of Terror: How The 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump" • Hina Shamsi, Director, ACLU National Security Project • Emily Manna, ...
With the Biden administration grappling with the consequences of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the 20th anniversary of 9/11 on the horizon, on 8/31 Open The Government will host a live interactive webinar on national security in the post 9/11 era in light of over-classification, forever wars, checks and balances on war powers, and more. RSVP here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9zeCcd6hSuKNp3zhmWr4CA
When: August 31, 2021, 11:30AM – 12:30PM EST Where: Virtual Who: • [Moderator] Spencer Ackerman, contributing editor, Daily Beast, and author of "Reign of Terror: How The 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump" • Hina Shamsi, Director, ACLU National Security Project • Emily Manna, ...
Then & Now: "Biden on Afghanistan: Not my problem" as Afghanistan withdrawal unravels faster than expected.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/11/biden-afghanistan-not-my-problem-503928 via POLITICO
https://www.facebook.com/OpenTheGov/posts/10160822526373712
The president announced the withdrawal in the same room where former President George W. Bush announced the war in Afghanistan's start.
Senate Republicans Block Debate on For the People Act: OTG's Statement:
"Today, in an affront to our democratic values, Republicans prevented the Senate from starting debate on the For the People Act, a critical bill that will help realize the promise of our democracy and restore the public’s belief in an inclusive and representative government. Disgracefully, the same Republican Senators who blocked an investigation into a deadly attack on our Capitol and previously abused the filibuster to hinder the bill again blocked the legislation that 8 in 10 Americans from across the nation and the political spectrum overwhelmingly support to protect the freedom to vote."
More: https://www.openthegovernment.org/for-the-people-act-deserves-unwavering-support-despite-latest-senate-republican-opposition/
Washington, D.C. – After Senate Republicans blocked a floor debate on the For the People Act, Lisa Rosenberg, executive director of Open The Government released the following statement: “Today, in an affront to our democratic values, Republicans prevented the Senate from starting debate on the F...
New: Citing security concerns, the Minnesota Fusion Center is bypassing state public records law and refusing to release info pertaining to its policing of anti-pipeline activists. OTG's Freddy Martinez discussed the growing secrecy around energy infrastructure with the Intercept below.
See also: OTG's 'Cost of Fear' report on how fusion centers consistently violate Americans’ privacy and civil liberties, producing unreliable and ineffective information while avoiding standard public accountability.
https://theintercept.com/2021/08/07/minnesota-pipeline-line-3-public-records/
https://www.openthegovernment.org/new-otg-report-finds-abuses-persist-at-fusion-centers/
The state’s fusion center, which coordinates police intelligence-sharing, enacted the policy after critical stories in the news media.
Remember to check out our latest 'Transparency Matters' with spotlights on support for Fourth Amendment is Not for Sale Act, Accountable.US's campaign to hold attorneys general accountable, Project on Government Oversight's work on Supreme Court reform, R Street Institute’s take on crypto war, and center-right solutions on governance issues by Jonathan Bydlak.
Subscribe: https://www.openthegovernment.org/subscribe/
Remember to check out our latest 'Transparency Matters' with spotlights on support for Fourth Amendment is Not for Sale Act, Accountable.US's campaign to hold attorneys general accountable, Project on Government Oversight's work on Supreme Court reform, R Street Institute’s take on crypto war, and center-right solutions on governance issues by Jonathan Bydlak.
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ICYMI: Lisa Rosenberg was on Fox 23 News discussing our 'Government Inc.: Amazon, Government Security & Secrecy' report and the strict safeguards needed before gov’t agencies purchase/deploy controversial tech. Variations of the interview also aired in 9 other stations, including WFXT Boston, WFTV/WRDQ/Orlando, WHIO-TV (Dayton): https://bit.ly/2X5MXyU
The Open the Government coalition is dedicated to ensuring that the people’s right to know remains intact and serves as the underpinning for creating a government that works for the welfare of the many, not the narrow interests of the few. An informed democracy is the antidote to claims of fiction as fact and facts as fake news. Each day, we are inspired to continue our fight for a transparent and accountable government, creating a more informed electorate that can demand respect for and adherence to democratic fundamentals.
Open the Government’s Executive Director Lisa Rosenberg condemned a vote to reauthorize and expand Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), and views it as a direct assault on Americans’ Fourth Amendment protections and privacy rights. “This is an Orwellian step towards a permanent surveillance state and all Americans should be deeply concerned,” said Open the Government Executive Director Lisa Rosenberg.
Open the Government's Lisa Rosenberg was on The Bill Press Show today. She spoke about the problem of warrantless government surveillance. Lisa also discussed the FBI’s use of the new “Black Identity Extremist” (BIE) label, which has raised a number of accountability issues regarding the disproportionate impact it has on communities of color, religious minorities, and activists. You can check out the Bill Press Show daily at Billpressshow.com.
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