Home : Privacy & Technology : Anonymity on the Web

ACLU Warns Against Intrusive Deep Packet Inspection (07/17/2008)
Washington, DC – Americans’ online privacy was discussed today at a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. The hearing, titled “What Your Broadband Provider Knows About Your Web Use: Deep Packet Inspection and Communications Laws and Policies,” was meant to shed light on the practice of Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) by Internet service providers (ISPs). DPI allows ISPs to track users’ Internet browsing activities and can be data mined for targeted marketing purposes. The ACLU urges members of the committee to be wary of the privacy landmines inherent in DPI.

Record Industry Cuts Corners in Crusade Against File-Sharers, ACLU and Privacy Rights Groups Say (02/02/2004)
WASHINGTON - The music industry has not shown adequate justification for unveiling the identities of anonymous online music ""pirates,"" Public Citizen, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation today told two federal courts.

Citing Right to Anonymity Online, ACLU Asks Boston Court to Block Recording Industry Subpoena (09/29/2003)
BOSTON - The American Civil Liberties Union and a Boston law firm have asked a federal court to quash a recording industry subpoena filed against a local college student, saying that companies should not have the authority to strip Internet users of anonymity without allowing them to challenge the order in court.

Privacy Groups Demand Protection of Users' Anonymity Online (07/11/2002)
NEW YORK- A coalition of civil liberties and privacy groups today called on Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and other online companies to adopt policies protecting their users' right to anonymous speech on the Internet. That right has come under attack in recent years through a growing number of ""cyberSLAPP"" lawsuits, in which companies file suit just to discover the identity of their online critics - often in order to silence or intimidate them.

In Two Significant Cases, ACLU Seeks to Protect Anonymous Online Speakers from Legal Intimidation (02/26/2001)
SEATTLE--In two legal actions involving free speech and privacy rights online, the American Civil Liberties Union today came to the defense of anonymous speakers who face legal intimidation from those they criticize in cyberspace.