ACLU acts against #45 admin order for FB to hand over private info on 'anti-Trump activists'

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Kimi Wei <kimiwei888 () gmail com>
> Subject: ACLU acts against #45 admin order for FB to hand over private info on 'anti-Trump activists'
> Date: October 8, 2018 at 11:29:12 AM GMT+9
> To: David Farber <farber () gmail com>
>
> https://www.independent.co.uk/news/trump-facebook-information-order-anti-administration-activists-data-hand-over-a7974746.html
>
> The Department of Justice has demanded Facebook turn over information about three anti-Trump activists, drawing a 
> legal challenge from civil liberties advocates who say the government is overreaching by seeking vast amounts of 
> personal information. 
>
> Warrants issued by the US Attorney for the District of Columbia in February asked Facebook to detail the activities 
> of three users who spearheaded mass protests of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, as well as information about 
> the page they used to plan the demonstrations. More than 200 people were arrested as violence flared in otherwise 
> peaceful gatherings.
>
> Citing “evidence of rioting or intent to riot”, the sweeping requests ask Facebook to disclose all personal 
> information of the organizers, including their passwords and physical addresses, as well as all activity associated 
> with their accounts, any photos or videos they uploaded or any messages they sent. A separate warrant asks Facebook 
> to reveal information about users who interacted with a page used to plan the protests.
>
> The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has moved to block the warrants on behalf of the targeted activists, 
> arguing in a filing that enforcing the warrants would “reach deeply into individuals’ private lives and protected 
> associational and political activity”. 
>
> It warns that giving the government access to such broad repositories of data would stifle future speech.
>
> “The enforcement of the warrants would chill future online communications of political activists and anyone who 
> communicates with them, as they will learn from these searches that no Facebook privacy setting can protect them from 
> government snooping on political and personal materials far removed from any proper law enforcement interest”, the 
> filing warns.
>
> A spokesman for the US Attorney's office declined to comment. In a statement, Facebook backed the ACLU's efforts on 
> behalf of the activists.
>
> “We successfully fought in court to be able to notify the three people whose broad account information was requested 
> by the government. We are grateful to the companies and civil society organizations that supported us in arguing for 
> people’s ability to learn about and challenge overly broad search warrants“, a spokesperson said. 
>
> Among the information that could be exposed, the ACLU's court filing argues, is information about conversations with 
> friends and family members, “intimate messages” sent to romantic partners and “detailed discussions” of having 
> endured domestic violence. One of the targeted activists said in a filing that the government would have access to 
> information about her long history of unrelated political activity, including posts identifying others who 
> participated in various marches and sit-ins. 
>
> And the government’s dragnet could sweep up thousands of other people, the ACLU argues, citing the roughly 6,000 
> people who “liked” the disruptj20 page and others who said they would attend events sponsored by the page unrelated 
> to the inauguration protest, including a “Queer Dance Party at Mike Pence’s House”.
>
> The unfolding legal battle marks the latest clash over the inauguration protests, with government demands for 
> information running up against the privacy concerns of web users.
>
> Earlier this year, the Department of Justice served online service provider DreamHost with a warrant seeking 
> information about anyone who had visited a website used to organize anti-Trump protests. DreamHost challenged the 
> request, and ultimately a judge compelled the company to turn over a scaled-down collection of data - an outcome 
> DreamHost framed as a victory for its users.




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