By Anna Porto
When Donald Trump takes the oath of office later today, he will inherit an unprecedented surveillance state that includes expansive powers and databases filled with information on millions of people. He has suggested this system could be turned on Muslim Americans and that NSA reforms triggered by Edward Snowden’s disclosures should be rolled back. While government spying is not new, the potential for abuse is greater than ever before.
Yet here in California, we have the tools to fight back. California’s robust constitutional rights and state laws can serve as a shield to protect the civil liberties and civil rights of all residents. If history is any predictor of the future, California will play an important role in protecting privacy and free speech and combatting government surveillance in the years to come.
Since its founding, California has been a leader in protecting privacy and free speech. And our policies have changed to address every major advancement in technology. In 1849, the delegates tasked with drafting the California Constitution adopted a provision ensuring that “every citizen may freely speak, write, and publish his sentiments on all subjects.” California was ahead of its time – when those delegates drafted and adopted California’s free speech provision, the U.S. Supreme Court had not yet interpreted the federal First Amendment as applying to the states. In 1862, California took another leading step to protect civil liberties, when it became the first state to prohibit the government from tapping telegraph lines.
A century later, the modern threat posed by then-nascent digital technology motivated Californians to amend the state constitution and provide for an explicit right to privacy. It was 1972 and California residents were troubled by the “dossiers of American Citizens” compiled by new computers and now collected in databases – and increasingly vulnerable to government spying and corporate privacy invasions. California’s constitutional right to privacy ensures every Californian has an “inalienable right” to pursue and obtain privacy. This explicit right to privacy is more robust than the Fourth Amendment, as it protects against privacy intrusions by the government and by private parties.
California has continued to lead in the 21st century with laws that safeguard constitutional rights to privacy in the digital age. In October 2015, the legislature passed and Governor Jerry Brown signed The California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (CalECPA), which went into effect in January 2016. CalECPA, considered the nation’s best digital privacy law, requires the government to obtain a warrant to search electronic devices or compel access to any electronic information from a provider like Facebook or Google. Prior to CalECPA’s passage, warrantless government demands for information were skyrocketing—companies like Google reported a 180% increase in demands from law enforcement in just a five-year period.
California’s robust privacy protections have a particularly important role to play at the local level, where there is often the most interaction with the government. In the last fifteen years, more than a billion dollars a year has been sent down from the federal government to local police and sheriffs across the country to buy and build sophisticated surveillance technologies and use them, most often in secret and without adequate oversight to protect civil rights and civil liberties. But Californians are leading the charge against secret and discriminatory surveillance.
In Oakland, community members dismantled a plan for a spy center, and the city’s new Privacy Commission (the first in the nation) recently unanimously approved a local ordinance that would require transparency, accountability, and oversight for all surveillance technology decisions. It will be up for a vote at the City Council soon. Santa Clara County was the first county in the country to have a public debate about invasive cell-trackers, stopped its Sheriff from purchasing this surveillance device, and passed the first county surveillance technology ordinance in the nation. Palo Alto, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), Berkeley, and several other California cities are also moving forward with ordinances of their own. And the ACLU of California this year exposed and shut down secret social media surveillance systems being used by law enforcement across the country.
We don’t yet know how the incoming presidential administration will try to use or abuse surveillance powers. But one thing is certain: as Californians, we have an arsenal of civil liberties protections, and we intend to use them.
Where was California last Friday night?
But we do know how the outgoing presidential administration abused them.
We do indeed, which is not exactly comforting.
David
What is comforting you? The corrupted justice system with 378 years prison sentences sentences ? Police brutality? 24 million people in prisons ? Unprotected borders ? 11 million undocumented immigrants and detention centers full of them ? 50 million deplorable on food stamps with out hope for better life in America ? Living in fear because groups of bandits named ISIS , Al-Queida and others like them which are plotting terrorist attacks around the globe and in America .
You are crying a lot but you don’t provide and ideas which would change people life for better. The empty slogans and propaganda about democracy, justice for and equality for all will not make anybody life better. We need administration which will restore the law and order and would provide a better life for these 50 million Americans on food stamps . The democracy, constitution , liberty , equal rights for all means nothing if the people are hungry , having no hope and being killed on the American cities street every day because crime is out of control . This nothing to do with left or right . This is a necessity to restore the law and order and stop the march of anarchy which destroying America.
Jaroslaw, are you saying that the only way to make America great again is to put everyone under surveillance so that national police forces can disappear the bad actors?
Dave
This not what I am saying. I don’t believe that the new President’s administration would spy on people .The new President has a different goals than spying on everybody. The certain groups of people or organisations were always monitored does not matter we liked it or not . Today’s America is not the same America as it was 30 or 40 years ago. With the today’s very advanced communication technology , social media etc and the half million of newcomers every year from third world countries the America is getting some folks with strange and sometimes very dangerous ideas. Not all the countries where immigrants are coming from are the friendly countries to USA. Better be sure than sorry.
I am an immigrant myself and I was watched by assigned to me FBI’s agent for almost 10 years . I knew his name and I had no problem to be watched . The United State of America law enforcement should screen and monitor the newcomers from foreigner countries until the law enforcement decide that they are not posing any threats to Americans and Americans should support such measure . Monitoring should with done in the proper way and in according to the law without affecting anybody life and without the witch hunting other people because they have a different believes and their culture is different. My life would not change regardless who would be the in charge of the White House. I don’t like war mongers .
Bottom line is: If you coming to America than respect law of this country and don’t abuse American social system which is very generous and costly to the taxpayers.
And, the outgoing president allowed his predecessor’s policies/legislative approvals to remain in effect… the “Patriot Act” did not come into being on Mr Obama’s watch… that would have been a “conservative” Republican who signed it into law… “Mr Shrub” as I recall…
It’s awfully quiet on the Vanguard this morning. Is everyone in mourning?
I’m not in mourning, but I haven’t had this much concern about the temperament and behavior of an American president since 1974.
Nah, Tricky Dick was a piker. This guy’s high crimes and misdemeanors will be “HUGE!”
http://crooksandliars.com/files/mediaposters/2016/04/33290.jpg?ts=1459526313
“there are two countries, he spoke to one of them. You’re clearly in that one. That’s fine.”
CALEXIT looks better all the time.
Well put. His speech and his nominees did nothing to reassure the country on the way forward.
I thought it was a great speech. Putting power back to the people. What’s not to like about that?
I was going to go down the list, but I just a good tweet – there are two countries, he spoke to one of them. You’re clearly in that one. That’s fine.
Virtually every nominee Trump put forward has come under fire. Do you see a trend here, did it really matter who he chose?
Remember, as Obama stated: “elections have consequences”.
Did it really matter who he put forward? Probably. Had he put mainstream, experienced, qualified people forward they would have come under considerably less fire. There was no test of that because the people he did put forward all came from a common place of inexperience and extremism.
I would’ve been concerned if people on the left had liked his speech or his nominees.
Another Obama quote:
“You don’t like a particular policy or a particular president? Then argue for your position. Go out there and win an election,” Obama said. “Push to change it”
That’s exactly what happened. Oh my how words can come back to haunt.
I share the same concern about the temperament of the left and their actions since they lost the election.
Maybe, but they aren’t president.
Thankfully……….
For a very interesting analysis of what is happening here and abroad, I recommend the lecture by Brown Univ. professor Mark Blyth called “Global Trumpism” on YT.
Leanna
Trumpism is not global . America is a completely different modern empire with the different principles and philosophy than any other country on the planet Earth.
“empire”
Someone failed civics.
An average of 3 bombs dropped per hour (over 16,000 total) on 7 different countries with which we are not officially at war in 2016 alone. If that doesn’t qualify as the actions of empire, I’m not clear what would.
Chuck
America is the modern Roman Empire since 1770
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_United_States_at_war
Inherit is the operative term here, with the outgoing president expanding those capabilities as one of his parting shots. The incoming president has been in office one day and here is a piece projecting that the egregious privacy violations and record-breaking prosecution of whistleblowers of the past eight years will undoubtedly be surpassed. Are there no limits to the levels of delusion out there?
And why, exactly, does Keith O post other than under his own name? All I hear from him is glee to sticking his finger into the eye of those others who don’t agree with him. Unenlightening and childish.
Not even T*** claimed he was returning power to the people. Power to billionaires like himself, yes, but not to anyone around this town.
All you hear is that I have a different world view than you and you don’t like it so you attack me. Your comment is the one coming off as “Unenlightening and childish”.
I not surprised that you may not have listened to his speech. Here’s a line from his speech:
So indeed Trump did say he was returning power to the people.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/in-trump-inauguration-speech-trump-vows-to-give-power-back-to-the-people/
And because he says it, it is true? Even my four year old grandson sometimes narrows his eyes and asks if I’m kidding.
Dave
I like Trump because he is billionaire . Most of billionaires are employing lot of people and help people to live decent life. The professional propaganda’s “Politicos” creates only millions of deplorable on food stamps and they don’t produce anything beside poverty for others .
Jaroslaw, I get that many would view a billionaire as some kind of role model and want to believe that these people are smarter, more beautiful, more driven and still made it home every night to have dinner with the family. I don’t trust how most people that wealthy made their money or what collateral damage they inflicted.
More people were working good jobs and employed back in the years when they remember that “America was Great” and the wealth disparity was a whole lot narrower. I’m no fan of how the Democratic Party has been asleep at the switch since the 1968 election. The Republican Party has delivered even less. I don’t trust Trump BECAUSE he is a billionaire (actually he may not be worth as much as he claims when you add up all the liabilities) and has never coached Saturday morning soccer games, helped his neighbor put up a fence or walked precincts for a candidate he knows personally.
It is just possible, however, that he may deliver something good to prove he isn’t as bad as only he knows he is. Remember, it was Richard Nixon who signed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, achieved detente with China and even enacted wage and price controls to rein in inflation. And like the Nixon years, I’m not sure I’m willing to put up with all the bad things that happened just to get a few “good” crumbs.
Dave
We both don’t if Trump would be a good or bad President . Let’s wait at least 100 days than we would know which direction the country is going . I don’t condemn people because their names are Trumps and because they are billionaires . Do you think that Republicans don’t like clean water and clean air . ? America was a completely different country when Nixon was a President . At that time the Soviet Union was a scare crow , Chinese people were riding bicycles and they were all dressed like Mao Zedong . The Made in America products were products you was proud of. Today America is the Chinese and other countries economical colony . Even the American flags are Made in China . Come on Dave . Your first love should be America than you love others . Americans must take their country back from foreigners. My native Poland is located in bad spot between Germany and Poland and suffered a lot because once in history got an idea to became very out of control liberalism and open country for all the oppressed in Europe .
Jerry
It is interesting to me that you refer to those who are dependent on governmental assistance as “deplorables.” I wonder if that is how you would have thought of my mother, sister and me after our father died and we were dependent on social security ?
Tia
This is not what I was referring to . Social Security , sick or disable people , children who lost father or mother is the completely different matter. Deplorable on the endless social programs because no employment due to jobs were exported and outsourced to oversea and new jobs were not created is the urgent problem to resolve for the benefits of all Americans. The high crimes and millions of people in prisons and jails and on food stamps is not a solution . This is the dilution of this serious problem which could become very explosive if not resolved .
Jerry… if I’ve misread you twice, I apologize… think you were talking about folk who are in deplorable situations, not meaning to reflect on them as individuals… it was the Democrat candidate who clumped folk together as “deplorables”… pretty sure she meant Trump supporters… yet someone didn’t take offense to that, nor relate it to her family history… God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy…
Howard
You are correct . I am taking about about the millions of folks which were marginalized because of economy and because of the wealthy shareholders shares in China and other countries which are more important for them than the Unites States of America and millions of people under poverty line . I agree with you that the God is great and beer is good . Normally I drink Corona.
Jerry… you made my evening… as an engineer, am always leery of my emotional/intuitive side… mess up there often… altho’ a tad off topic, I express my sincere apologies for when I criticized/made fun of your spelling/grammar in the past… God bless, have a wonderful new year… may peace, good health, etc. be with you and yours…
Howard
Don’t worry about and you no need to apologize . If you find something funny in my awkward English than make fun of it and let me know . If you would correct sometimes my statements or ask me what I am up to in my rant than would I appreciate and will not get defensive. Thank you for understanding .
Tia… another correspondent doesn’t parse english the way perhaps we do… I was ‘bad’ to be “on his case” for that a few months back… he graciously (if somewhat defensively) explained his lack of formal english language education including spelling/grammar… have learned to ‘interpret’ (I think)… obviously, he “pushed your button”… I have also now learned, from you (I think), what drives some of your ‘views of the world’, including the UBI thing… completely understandable, given what you disclosed your experience was…