Epic.org Bookshelf

This annual report by EPIC and Privacy International provides an overview of key privacy topics and reviews the state of privacy in over 75 countries around the world. The report outlines legal protections, new challenges, and important issues and events relating to privacy. Privacy and Human Rights 2006 is the most comprehensive report on privacy and data protection ever published. (read more)

The Privacy Law Sourcebook is the leading resource for students, attorneys, researchers, and journalists interested in privacy law in the United States and around the world. It includes the full text of major privacy laws and directives such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Privacy Act, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, the Right to Financial Privacy Act, the Privacy Protection Act, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Video Privacy Protection Act, the OECD Privacy Guidelines, the OECD Cryptography Guidelines, and European Union Data Directives for both Data Protection and Privacy and Electronic Communications. (read more)

While politicians spew shallow sound bites that describe a "free" American people who govern themselves by selecting their representatives, in reality politicians from both parties maintain control by selecting specific voters. Incumbent politicians control thousands of election practices and bureaucratic hurdles that determine who votes and how their votes are counted, including the location of election-district boundaries, the number of booths at urban polling places, and English-only ballots. Spencer Overton uses real-life stories to show how these seemingly insignificant practices channel political power and determine policies on war, schools, clean air, and other issues that shape our lives. (read more)

In the bicentennial issue of Life magazine that was published in 1991 — an issue given over to the two-hundred-year history of the Bill of Rights — Frank Wilkinson was featured as one of history's greatest defenders of the portion of the First Amendment that defined his life: "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble." (read more)

In Army of Davids, author Glenn Reynolds, the man behind the immensely popular Instapundit.com, provides an in-depth, big-picture point-of-view for a world where the small guys matter more and more. Reynolds explores the birth and growth of the individual's surprisingly strong influence in: arts and entertainment, anti-terrorism, nanotech and space research, and much more. (read more)

Litigation Under the Federal Open Government Laws, published by EPIC in cooperation with Access Reports and the James Madison Project, is a comprehensive guide to FOIA and open government, essential for anyone interested in open access laws. The book draws upon the expertise of practicing attorneys who are recognized experts in the field. The twenty-third edition includes a new chapter on searching for records, international open government resources, a glossary of key terms, and is updated with new significant cases. (read more)

In this remarkable tour de force of investigative reporting, James Bamford exposes the inner workings of America's largest, most secretive, and arguably most intrusive intelligence agency. The NSA has long eluded public scrutiny, but The Puzzle Palace penetrates its vast network of power and unmasks the people who control it, often with shocking disregard for the law. With detailed information on the NSA's secret role in the Korean Airlines disaster, Iran-Contra, the first Gulf War, and other major world events of the 80s and 90s, this is a brilliant account of the use and abuse of technological espionage. (read more)

This book addresses a host of issues concerning credit reporting in the United States. The book is designed to help readers gain a greater understanding of the credit reporting and scoring system, and how it impacts them. As the disclaimer states, this book does not give legal advice. Legal advice can only be given case-by-case by a lawyer, which this author is not. (read more)

As part of its Library Awareness Program, the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted numerous counterintelligence activities in libraries, including requesting confidential information on library users based solely on their nationality. Written by a librarian whose own institution was the target of such intrusions and who later helped to develop confidentiality legislation, Surveillance in the Stacks is the first book to document and analyze the FBI's wide-ranging surveillance of libraries. Relying heavily on previously classified FBI reports, the book traces the recent history of federal library surveillance, documents the media and congressional response to the Library Awareness Program, and discusses the professional and legislative moves that have been taken to safeguard library confidentiality.

Following a brief introduction, Herbert N. Foerstel begins his study with an overview of library surveillance, its background and significant examples, and a detailed analysis of the Library Awareness Program. Chapter 2 looks at the FBI's documented activities in libraries, including their visits to Columbia University, New York University, the University of Maryland, and the New York Public Library. The role of librarians in surveillance is addressed in chapter 3, which includes discussions of librarians as information filters, as assets, and as potential KGB agents. The final chapter on law and library surveillance, explores the issues of free speech and inquiry, state confidentiality laws, and attempts at legal restraints. The book also surveys the confrontation between the FBI and the library profession and relates the content of numerous disturbing FBI documents, including one that reveals an extended investigation of librarians who criticized the Bureau's program. This timely work will be an essential addition to the collections of both public and academic libraries, as well as a useful resource for courses in special libraries, library ethics, and first amendment issues. (read more)