Anchorage, AK — The ACLU of Alaska today launched the “Alaska Privacy Project” to help Alaskans better track government and corporate intrusions into personal privacy in the last frontier.
Unlike most states, Alaskans chose to include an affirmative right to privacy in our most foundational legal document, the Alaska State Constitution. As a result, we should enjoy stronger privacy protections than most Americans, but that can only happen if Alaskans remain vigilant about protecting their rights from encroachment by politicians and corporations.
This is exactly the mission of the Alaska Privacy Project, to give Alaskans a one-stop-shop for privacy issues ranging from police mass surveillance techniques like drones, gunshot detectors, and cell-tower simulators to bureaucratic agencies collecting too much of our data.
“After discovering last year that the Alaska Department of Administration was running facial recognition software on every Alaskans’ driver’s license photo, we realized the need to organize and hold agencies accountable when they stray from their mission in ways Alaskans have no knowledge about, never agreed to, and deeply affects their privacy,” said ACLU of Alaska Legal and Policy Director Tara Rich. “By creating a standalone project focusing solely on privacy, we hope all Alaskans will feel comfortable taking advantage of the information and advocacy the Alaska Privacy Project can offer.”
The Alaska Privacy Project can be viewed online at AlaskaPrivacyProject.com.
The American Civil Liberties Union is our nation’s guardian of liberty. For nearly 100 years, the ACLU has been at the forefront of virtually every major battle for civil liberties and equal justice in this country. Principled and nonpartisan, the ACLU works in the courts, legislatures, and communities to preserve and expand the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States. The ACLU of Alaska, founded in 1971, is one of the 53 state ACLU affiliates that strive to make the Bill of Rights real for everyone and to uphold the promise of the Constitution—because freedom can’t protect itself.