The First Amendment of the United States Constitution states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.billofrights.html

The Fourth Amendment guarantees "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.billofrights.html

The Ninth Amendment states "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people," which, as interpreted by Justice Brandeis in his opinion for (Olmstead v. United States, 1928: 476) says the makers of the Constitution clearly meant to "secure the conditions favorable to the pursuit of happiness — and individual liberty." www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.billofrights.html

"Toward a definition of a Right to Privacy: Various analysts have sought to define the core of this concept of privacy and the right to it. The U.S. Office of Science and Technology offered one definition: privacy is the right of the individual to decide for himself how much he will share with others his thoughts, feelings, and the facts of his personal life." (quoted in Hixson, 1987: 52) p. 103 from "Media and Public Policy" Chapter Six, by Michael Hawthorne. Edited by Robert J. Spitzer (ISSN: 1062-5623) Praeger Publishers. Westport, Conn. 1992. 256 pages
LC 92-17810. ISBN 0-275-94303-8.

Justice Douglas said: "Liberty in the constitutional sense must mean more than freedom from unlawful governmental restraint; it must include privacy as well, if it is to be a repository of freedom. The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all freedom." (Public Utilities Commission v. Pollack, 1952: 467)

These constitutional guarantees often don't apply in cyberspace. Data is harvested from computer users, government policy has expanded to allow monitoring and surveillance — all without citizens' knowledge or consent. Although the Federal Trade Commission proposed a program called Safe Harbor Principles requiring users be provided with "notice, choice, access and security" about and from anyone gathering personal information, it has been used only to bring United States corporations who wish to do business in Europe, into conformance with European Union privacy laws through the U.S. Department of Commerce. www.export.gov/safeharbor/SHPRINCIPLESFINAL.htm

Current government policy and how it impacts the mass media

USA Patriot Act as a .pdf file: www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.pdf
Formally known as the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism, this legislation was enacted into law on October 26, 2001, six weeks after the September 11th attacks. Sections 215 and 216 "Access to records and other items under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)" and "Modification of authorities relating to use of pen registers and trap and trace devices". Under the Fourth Amendment, a criminal search warrant requires probable cause of criminal activity before being issued. Under the USA PATRIOT ACT, the FBI no longer needs probable cause to obtain a court order for a search warrant. Under FISA, foreign intelligence investigators may obtain search warrants from a secret court formed for FISA if investigators believe there may be evidence that may lead to information related to terrorist activity. This enables federal agents to search newsrooms, public library records — including patrons reading habits and personal information — or any place deemed necessary in order to seize any tangible things including books, reporters' notes, records, papers, documents, videos, voice mail, e-mail and more. In addition, Section 216 extends telephone monitoring laws to cover information relating to Internet usage, including e-mail addresses, Internet provider addresses and URLs for web pages. This Act provides the government with the ability to conduct in-depth surveillance of citizens without their knowledge or ability to provide consent.

Additional resources on USA PATRIOT ACT

• www.rcfp.org/homefrontconfidential/usapatriot.html
• The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press web site outlines the ramifications of the USA PATRIOT ACT for journalists and the mass media www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/usapatriot
• Electronic Frontier Foundation, EFF Analysis of the Provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act, at www.eff.org/Privacy/Surveillance/Terrorism_militias/20011031_eff_usa_patriot_a nalysis.html

Homeland Security Act of 2002 The actual text of bill, Title II, Sections 201-204 can be found online at: www.whitehouse.gov/deptofhomeland/bill/title2.html This Act provides authority for monitoring online activity in Title II, Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection. Monitoring online activities includes tracing e-mail and other online transactions without any prior court approval if there is "an immediate threat to national security" or an attack on "a protected computer." In addition, the Homeland Security Act's protection of infrastructure information (such as information on bridges, locations of nuclear power plants, and other information necessary to the mass media as it performs it function as a watchdog of the government in the public interest) exempts it from the Freedom of Information Act.

Cyber Security Enhancement Act, which is found within the Homeland Security Act, at Section 225: www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/homeland_CSEA.htm, increases legal protection provided to Internet Service Providers when they disclose user information. The government can demand user information from an ISP thus violating the right guaranteed under the First and Fourth amendments for citizens to speak anonymously and without the fear of unreasonable searches.

Additional resources on the Cyber Security Enhancement Act

http://www.subpoenadefense.org Individuals who may have downloaded copyrighted material using peer-to-peer file-sharing software may have had their names and personal information subpoenaed from their ISP in a third party effort to prosecute for copyright infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This site provides information on how to determine if a subpoena has been issued for a user name and offers defense advice.