News & Commentary

Last year, in an interview with the news weekly Seven Days, the director of operations at the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles said a new high-tech facial recognition system bought with a $900,000 grant from the federal Department of Homeland Security would not be used for law enforcement purposes. Well, a year later, the director, Michael Smith, says "things have changed" and the high-tech drivers' license photo system is indeed being utilized to help police departments in police investigations.

Edward Snowden, a former undercover CIA employee, has stepped forward as the person who provided documents to the Washington Post and The Guardian detailing the National Security Agency's broad telecommunications surveillance. The acknowledgement came as criticism of the NSA program continued, despite arguments by government officials that all legal requirements had been followed.

For the first time since the creation of the World Wide Web, Congress has made it clear that all private communications online require a search warrant based on probable cause. That's the word from ACLU legislative counsel Christopher Calabrese in Washington following a vote Thursday by the Senate Judiciary Committee to send the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 2013 to the Senate floor. The prime mover on the bill has been Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, who was in the Senate when the first ECPA law was passed -- in 1986. How long ago was that? Mark Zuckerberg was in day care.

ALPRs may not have been intended to be sophisticated surveillance tools, but that's how they can be used. And that's why the ACLU is concerned about their proliferation in Vermont.

The role of money in elections was certainly one of the big stories of 2012. But it's been hard to know exactly what the impact of ramped-up spending was. The independent news Web site, Pro Publica, has been investigating the issue. Reporters there have come up with some surprising information. The site's latest story concludes that so-called "dark money" helped Democrats hold a key Senate seat. "With control of the Senate at stake," says Pro Publica, "liberals hit the streets and bought ads for a libertarian candidate who likely siphoned crucial votes away from the Republican challenger."

Vermont Supreme Court OK's Limits on Electronic SearchesThe Vermont Supreme Court gave electronic privacy a big boost Friday when it approved restrictions placed upon police when conducting searches of electronic devices.

Vermont law enforcement has taken yet another step down the road of closing off police investigation records. This time, though, law enforcement has taken its fight to within the courts, claiming that information needed by a lawyer in a lawsuit can't be subpoenaed.

Our electronic medical records are supposed to be protected by layers of security, and violators who breach the security are to receive stiff punishments. But a Bennington woman -- after her e-medical records were illegally accessed more than 100 times over a 12-year period -- says privacy policies provide a false sense of security and penalties to deter breaches need to be much stronger.

Reporters at VtDigger.org and other Vermont news outlets have faced a raft of criticism for reporting on Gov. Shumlin's property dealings in the town of East Montpelier. In 47 other states, this wouldn't have happened. That's because financial disclosure -- including reporting of property holdings -- is required of statewide candidates and office-holders.