What she said 👇🏻

To put a finer point on it, it took House Republicans more than a year to come up with this barely-reheated, lukewarm garbage. Shameful *and* embarrassing.

The SECURE Data Act is not a serious effort at tackling the urgent privacy crisis facing this country. It is weaker than many existing state laws (the very state laws that it would wipe off the books with its broad preemption provision). Some examples:

PRESS RELEASE: EPIC and civil rights groups sue Alaska Division of Elections for sharing unredacted voter registration list

NEW: Privacy and voting rights case filed against state officials by the LWV of Alaska and Alaska Black Caucus. @epic.org joins ACLU of Alaska and @aclu.org as counsel. We're honored to help Alaskans fight for accountability and defend against unlawful abuse of voter data.

epic.org/press-releas...

House Republicans roll out landmark data privacy push The proposals would preempt dozens of state data laws and set a federal standard for how tech and finance companies handle their customers’ data.

This bill is dangerous.

It does not protect privacy. It lets Big Tech and Telecom do anything they want with your data.

And it blows up all state and many federal privacy laws that we already have.

Most dangerously, it may nuke all state civil rights laws.

Here are some examples:

1/n

EPIC files amicus brief arguing city’s use of Flock ALPRs violated Fourth Amendment Updates

On Monday, EPIC filed an amicus brief arguing that the Virginia city of Norfolk’s use of Flock’s Automated License Plate Reader system creates a warrantless mass surveillance program and constitutes an unreasonable search in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

Rule on #FISA reauth goes down in flames 197-228. GOP will now try to push a reauth extension to the end of April 2026 on Monday.

Roll Call 124 Roll Call 124, Bill Number: H. Res. 1175, 119th Congress, 2nd Session VOTE QUESTION: On Agreeing to the Resolution, DESCRIPTION: Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 8035) to amend the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 to extend the authorities of title VII of the Fo...

Massive win for us.

Others had the prelim roll call with the 20 Rs:
Burchett, Burlison, Cloud, Clyde, Crane Andy Harris, Mark Harris, Perry, Norman, Massie, Self, Ogles, Davidson, Harshbarger, Miller, Gosar, Bishop, Boebert, Rose, Spartz

Ned to cross-ref though:
clerk.house.gov/Votes/202612...

A tweet from Representative Thomas Massie that reads: I just viewed 2 Top Secret FISA docs. 1) FISA Court opinion that raises serious concerns about FBI implementation of FISA 702. 2) letter by Senator Wyden describing a secret government interpretation of FISA law. The Constitution requires I vote No on FISA 702 reauthorization.

I sent a classified letter to House and Senate colleagues about a secret interpretation of surveillance law that every American should be concerned about.

Representative Massie is right. The Constitution requires EVERY member to vote against a clean reauthorization.

FTC Takes Action to Restore Competition in the Digital Advertising Ecosystem The Federal Trade Commission, along with a coalition of states, took decisive action today to stop collusion between the nation’s largest advertising agencies that distorted America’s modern public

Andrew Ferguson's FTC: all the time in the world to jawbone the digital ad industry into propping up right-wing speech, no time to address the fact that the entire ad ecosystem is built on industrial-scale privacy abuses. The beclowning of the Commission continues. www.ftc.gov/news-events/...

Treasury is creating a database with pandemic aid recipients’ sensitive information Critics say the scope established in the agency’s systems of record notice “is an astonishing and dramatic departure from prior Treasury practice.”

“EPIC argues in its comment, which got sign-on from other organizations like CDT, that the new system runs afoul of the Privacy Act’s principles of minimizing data collection, calling the proposed program ‘illegal and reckless.’”

The court's validation of the intrusion upon seclusion as a common law analogue for Privacy Act violations is a big deal; that's central to many of the pending cases against DOGE and other agency database incursions.

Major ruling from the en banc Fourth Circuit in AFSCME v. SSA, which validates the core basis for Article III standing in the many Privacy Act cases against DOGE & other agency database incursions.

"DOGE is the nosy janitor."

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Last week, President Trump issued an executive order asserting a radical expansion of federal power over mail-in voting. The order directs DHS to compile lists of citizens over 18 residing in each state—an ominous tactic for which the federal government lacks both legal authority and reliable data.

I’m still in awe over all the dumb fuck law firms, tv networks, and universities that caved to Trump.

More or less everyone who has stood up to Trump has won and everyone who didn’t has suffered an endless series of humiliations.

The 33 Data Brokers Selling US Data to Foreign Actors, According to California <p>On March 24, California released an updated registry of data brokers—companies in the business of collecting, inferring, aggregating, and selling people’s data</p>

Data brokers should not exist.

Senators Demand Answers on Meta’s Facial Recognition ‘Smart’ Glasses Plans, Following NYT Report and EPIC Letters <p>The Senators’ inquiry echoes warnings raised by EPIC in a series of letters to federal and state regulators last month.</p>

Senators @markey.senate.gov, @merkley.senate.gov, and @wyden.senate.gov are demanding answers on Meta's plans to roll out facial rec in its 'smart' glasses, following a recent report from @nytimes.com and a series of letters by @epic.org calling on regulators to step in: epic.org/senators-dem...

Representative Trahan Releases EPIC-Backed Blueprint for Updating the Privacy Act <p>This week, Representative Lori Trahan (MA-03) published Privacy, Trust, and Effective Government: A Bipartisan Blueprint for Modernizing the Privacy Act, a new report outlining ten ways to strength...

SORNs aren't a cure-all, and the Privacy Act desperately needs to be strengthened. epic.org/representati...

But SORNs are an important arrow in the quiver of transparency and privacy advocates and a critical accountability mechanism. This Sunshine Week, we're grateful to have them.

League of Women Voters v. DHS <p>A lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s unlawful “National Data Banks” that consolidate sensitive personal information across federal agencies</p>

Through Privacy Act litigation by EPIC and others, agencies have been forced to lay their cards on the table and slow down their runaway plans at building a full-fledged surveillance state. epic.org/documents/le...

Pallek v. Rollins

Yet even now, SORNs remain a vital transparency tool. In lawsuits @epic.org is part of like Pallek v. Rollins and LWV v. DHS, federal agencies violating the public's privacy rights have been forced to go back to square one and publish the SORNs they failed to. epic.org/documents/pa...

EPIC’s Fight Against the Administration’s Privacy Abuses

And the problem has dramatically worsened under the current administration. From personal financial data to SSNs to state voter rolls and food assistance records, agencies have flouted Privacy Act safeguards, adopting an approach of 'collect first, comply later' (if ever). epic.org/issues/democ...

Comments from EPIC & 16 Organizations to the U.S. Department of the Treasury on the Financial Assistance Programs System of Records Notice

Of course the government doesn't always live up to the Privacy Act. Over the years, many agencies have postponed, eluded, or outright ignored the steps they must take. E.g., agencies tend to define the allowable ("routine") uses of data very broadly to maximize flexibility. epic.org/documents/co...

5 U.S. Code § 552a - Records maintained on individuals

SORNs illuminate the activities of government in different ways. They alert us to databases and surveillance systems. They let the public weigh in. They tell individuals who to contact about their data. And they create a paper trail that the agency is bound by. www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/...

The Privacy Act of 1974

If an agency does its job, SORNs tell us a lot about a system of records—what it is, whose and what personal data it includes, where that data comes from, how the data can be used and disclosed, how the data will be protected, and who's accountable for the system. epic.org/the-privacy-...

Happy #SunshineWeek! Sunshine takes many forms. One of them is the system of records notice (SORN)—a dry but powerful set of disclosures that federal agencies must publish before establishing or modifying a system of personal data. They're required by the Privacy Act of 1974. A thread:

CalPrivacy inviting preliminary comments reducing friction in exercise of privacy rights & opt-out preference signals. Submit your comments by April 6. Learn more. cppa.ca.gov/regulations/...

EPIC, OTI Urge FTC Not to Ignore Full Scope of Data-Driven Harms <p>The comments call on the Commission to broaden both its quantitative and qualitative conceptions of the privacy injuries caused by unlawful data practices to fulfill its consumer protection mandate...

As the FTC holds a workshop today on consumer injuries, EPIC and @newamerica.org’s Open Technology Institute are calling on the Commission “to take a more comprehensive view of consumer harm in the data-driven economy.” 🧵(1/6)

I contain multitudes!

DHS agents detain Columbia student after entering University-owned residence, Shipman reports <i>This is a developing story. Check back for updates. </i>

fyi the Columbia student newspaper has far more details on the ICE raid on a Columbia residence hall (including the likely name of the student in question) than any of the journalists y'all are reposting who aren't on campus. 🙂 support student journalism!

Immigration Agents Arrest Student Inside Columbia Building, School Says

In June, President Shipman insisted that @columbiauniversity.bsky.social's capitulation to fascism would ensure "critical continuity for faculty, students, and staff" and that the University would "retain[] control" over "operational decisions."

So much for that: www.nytimes.com/2026/02/26/n...

But mooooneeey :-(