At our June 16th General Meeting, we signed on to #MassWiretap campaign:
We, the undersigned, call on the Massachusetts legislature to reject proposals to expand government wiretap powers. Listening in on phone calls and electronic communication poses “grave dangers to the privacy of all citizens of the commonwealth,” in the words of our existing law. However, pending legislation would ignore that wise warning. It would permit wiretapping not just in connection with organized crime, or even for serious, violent crimes, but for a wide variety of offenses down to simple drug possession and other less serious offenses. Crime has fallen substantially, but electronic surveillance is on the rise. Now is not the time to hand our government broader powers to eavesdrop on us. We urge you to oppose S.654 / H.3261, An Act Updating the Wire Interception Law.
We urge you to add your name to the petition and tell your friends and family to do so as well. The privacy you save may be your own or those you love.
A big thanks to the Campaign for Digital Fourth Amendment Rights, ACLU of Massachusetts, the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, Demand Progress, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Fight for the Future for leading this campaign.
Keep Massachusetts free!