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Tag: We the people

  • The White House Just Responded to the Pardon Edward Snowden Petition – Two Years Later

    It only took two years, but the White House has finally gotten around to providing a response to a petition asking for the pardon of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

    Official answer: nope.

    “As the President said in announcing recent intelligence reforms, ‘We have to make some important decisions about how to protect ourselves and sustain our leadership in the world, while upholding the civil liberties and privacy protections that our ideals and our Constitution require.’ Instead of constructively addressing these issues, Mr. Snowden’s dangerous decision to steal and disclose classified information had severe consequences for the security of our country and the people who work day in and day out to protect it,” says Lisa Monaco, President Obama’s Advisor on Homeland Security and Counterterrorism.

    “If he felt his actions were consistent with civil disobedience, then he should do what those who have taken issue with their own government do: Challenge it, speak out, engage in a constructive act of protest, and — importantly – accept the consequences of his actions. He should come home to the United States, and be judged by a jury of his peers – not hide behind the cover of an authoritarian regime. Right now, he’s running away from the consequences of his actions.”

    The original petition, on the White House’ We The People site, was published on June 9th, 2013. Here’s what it says:

    Edward Snowden is a national hero and should be immediately issued a a full, free, and absolute pardon for any crimes he has committed or may have committed related to blowing the whistle on secret NSA surveillance programs.

    The petition has garnered nearly 168,000 signatures, although it’s been closed for a while.

    “We will do our best to respond to petitions that cross the signature threshold in a timely fashion, however, depending on the topic and the overall volume of petitions from We the People, responses may be delayed,” the White House says on the site.

    This usually means 60 days from when said petition hits the signature threshold – which is 100,000 in 30 days.

    But as we’ve seen for many years, the White House isn’t that punctual.

    It did take the administration only three months to respond to the deport Justin Bieber petition, however.

  • White House Petition Site We The People Has Seen Over 363,000 Petitions in Three Years

    We the People, the White House’s oft-beleaguered but still culturally relevant and surprisingly popular online petition site, just turned three. So, how’s it doing?

    Pretty good, in terms of participation. The White House has just released the numbers and in three years, We the People has seen 363,908 total petitions, garnering 21,882,419 total signatures, from over 15 million total users.

    The site receives 20,594 signatures a day on average.

    “It’s three years later, and We the People remains incredibly popular: More than 15 million users have participated, collecting more than 22 million signatures on more than 360,000 petitions. To date, we’ve issued nearly 250 responses to petitions on a wide range of topics, including maintaining an open and innovative internet, reducing student loan debt, improving our economy, and even building a ‘Death Star,’” says White House Deputy Director of Email and Petitions Ezra Mechaber.

    “The We the People platform has led directly to policy changes and provided new opportunities for dialogue between citizens and their government. That’s part of the reason why, over the course of 2014, an average of response surveys showed a majority of signers thought it was ‘helpful to hear the Administration’s response,’ even if they didn’t agree. Nearly 80 percent said they would use We the People again.”

    But as I’ve said before, the problem with We the People has never been interest. The main problems with the White House’s online petition site have always been joke petitions (which are often funny, but in the end undermine any attempt to enact any meaningful change via this medium) and the administration’s tendency to just ignore a bunch of petitions.

    As of right now, there are 28 petitions that have hit their signature threshold that have yet to receive an official White House response.

    Still, the White House has issued almost 250 responses, and at least a couple have had far-reaching effects – most notably the one that kickstarted the cellphone unlocking movement.

    In the end, however, it’s hard to look at We the People as an agent of change. It is a place to at least have some sort of dialogue with the White House, as well as try (and fail) to finally get Justin Bieber deported. You’re silly and ultimately worthless, We the People, but we still love you.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • ‘Mike Brown Law’ Petition to Make All Cops Wear Cameras Tops White House Threshold

    A petition to require all state, county, and local police officers to wear body cameras has blown past the signature threshold on The White House’s We The People online petition site in just a week. This prompts The White House, at least in theory, to craft a response.

    Petition creator J.C. from Hephzibah, Georgia (petitioners on the We The People site are anonymous) proposes a “Mike Brown Law,” referencing the unarmed teenager that was shot and killed by Ferguson, Missouri police nearly two weeks ago, prompting this mess. Images and videos of a heavily militarized police force roaming the streets of Ferguson have permeated the national dialogue over the past 10 days.

    The petition asks the Obama administration to…

    Create a bill, sign into law, and set aside funds to require all state,county, and local police, to wear a camera. Due to the latest accounts of deadly encounters with police, We the People, petition for the Mike Brown Law. Create a bill, sign into law, and set aside funds to require all state,county, and local police, to wear a camera. The law shall be made in an effort to not only detour police misconduct (i.e. brutality, profiling, abuse of power), but to ensure that all police are following procedure, and to remove all question, from normally questionable police encounters. As well, as help to hold all parties within a police investigation, accountable for their actions.

    The petition currently boasts over 135,000 signatures out of the 100,000 required to generate an official response.

    In other petition news, a Change.org petition with a more specific goal – to force Ferguson and St. Louis County police to wear body cameras – is nearing its 50,000 -signature threshold.

    The City of Ferguson has promised to “raise funds to secure dash and vest cams for our patrol cars.”

    Forcing police to wear vest cams isn’t an entirely new idea. A select number of police forces around the country have begun to equip all officers with cameras – most notably the force in Rialto, California.

    Those cameras have been recording for about a year – with drastic results. Apparently, incidents of ‘use of force’ by police dropped 60 percent, and the number of complaints against officers fell 88 percent.

    People behave differently when they know they’re being watched. And this is relevant for both the police and the citizen population. Proponents of officer cams argue that not only will the cameras help to ‘police the police’, if you will, but will also help to protect the police from things like false claims of brutality.

    The shooting of Mike Brown and the subsequent craziness in Ferguson, MO, have put police tactics at the forefront of the American conversation. It’s clear by the quick support of these petitions that people are concerned about police action and police accountability going forward. The White House is not required by law or anything to respond to petitions that succeed, but they say they “plan to respond to each petition that crosses the signature threshold.”

    As we know, they’re often a little slower than some would like when it comes to crafting those responses.

    Image via Thinkstock

  • Tim Howard National Airport Has a Nice Ring to It, So Do Your Patriotic Duty and Sign This Petition

    It’s the morning after a USA World Cup loss so you’re understandably a bit depressed. It was such a good run and we came so close to somehow pulling out the victory over Belgium. But look at it this way – how exciting is 2018 going to be, right? Not only that, but we have plenty of USMNT soccer to look forward to between now and the next World Cup. So have an extra cup of coffee and cheer up.

    One thing we can all be happy about is the play of U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard, who made up for a relatively porous USA defense with a breathtaking game – recording 16 saves, the most ever recorded in a FIFA World Cup match (dating back to the 60s when they started keeping records).

    Now, do your patriotic duty and honor this true American by helping get an airport named after him.

    Ok, this isn’t going to work. But it’s funny.

    WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:
    Change the name of Washington National Airport (DCA) to “Tim Howard National Airport”

    Whereas Tim Howard has shown himself to be a national treasure, Minister of Defense, Friend of Joe Biden, and the holder for the record of most saves in a World Cup match; Therefore, we politely request that we rename the airport to recognize his accomplishments, and meritorious service to the United States of America.

    That’s what currently appears on the White House’s We The People online petition site. And who would argue that Tim Howard National Airport doesn’t sound a lot better than Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport?

    So, go sign this damn petition. It’s even easier now.

    Image via reddit

  • White House Makes It Easier to Sign Petitions

    The White House’s online petition site We The People, despite its many flaws and shortcomings, is pretty damn popular. According to the White House, it has over 14 million users and has logged over 21 million signatures in the couple of years it’s been up and running. Last year, they had to up the signature threshold to 100,000 for a response, due to the site’s popularity and the relative ease at which wacky petitions from secessionists could gain the then-required 25,000 signatures.

    But in order to sign any petition, We The People has always forced you to create an account. Today, that changes.

    “Since launch, we’ve heard from users who wanted a simpler, more streamlined way to sign petitions without creating an account and logging in every time. This latest update makes that a reality,” says Ezra Mechaber, the White House digital Strategy Office’s Deputy Director of Email and Petitions (yep, it’s a thing).

    “We’re calling it ‘simplified signing’ and it takes the account creation step out of signing a petition. As of today, just enter your basic information, confirm your signature via email and you’re done. That’s it. No account to create, no logging in, no passwords to remember.”

    So, it’s not going to be as easy as replying as AssButts420 at the email address assbutts420@goforkyourself.com, but a simple email confirmation to sign is less laborious than the account creation process, and will likely encourage more signatures.

    We The People’s biggest issue has never been interest, however. The main problems with the White House’s online petition initiative have always been joke petitions and the tendency to just ignore a bunch of petitions.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Deport Justin Bieber Petition Gets a Non-Response Response

    It took the White House nearly three months to respond to one of the most popular petitions to ever hit the We The People online petition site–and they didn’t really respond at all, unless you count “no response” as a response. I mean, it’s kind of a response.

    For any Justin Bieber haters out there that thought the Obama administration would act to remove the Canadian pop star/leather pants aficionado from these United States, I’m sorry to tell you that your hopes have been dashed. The White House has finally posted a response to the popular “Deport Justin Bieber and Revoke His Green Card” petition that hit the We The People site back in January.

    “Thanks for your petition and your participation in We the People…Sorry to disappoint, but we won’t be commenting on this one,” says the White House.

    Ok.

    From the response:

    The We the People terms of participation state that, “to avoid the appearance of improper influence, the White House may decline to address certain procurement, law enforcement, adjudicatory, or similar matters properly within the jurisdiction of federal departments or agencies, federal courts, or state and local government in its response to a petition.”

    So we’ll leave it to others to comment on Mr. Bieber’s case, but we’re glad you care about immigration issues. Because our current system is broken. Too many employers game the system by hiring undocumented workers, and 11 million people are living in the shadows.

    That status quo isn’t good for our economy or our country. We need common-sense immigration reform to make sure everyone plays by the same set of rules.

    Not only is it the right thing to do morally, it’s the right thing for our country: Independent economists say immigration reform will grow our economy and shrink our deficits by almost $1 trillion in the next 20 years. For those of you counting at home, that’s 12.5 billion concert tickets — or 100 billion copies of Mr. Bieber’s debut album.

    It’s a nice deflect into an immigration reform discussion.

    The petition currently sports over 273,000 signatures. It claims that “We the people of the United States feel that we are being wrongly represented in the world of pop culture. We would like to see the dangerous, reckless, destructive, and drug abusing, Justin Bieber deported and his green card revoked. He is not only threatening the safety of our people but he is also a terrible influence on our nations youth. We the people would like to remove Justin Bieber from our society.”

    The White House will often respond to some of the sillier petitions to gain popularity and ignore many of the more important ones. Though the White House has refused to make any statements on this clearly important issue, I guess another agency will have to figure out something.

    I mean, we did lose the bet.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Comedian Petitions Obama to Formally Label Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni a ‘Ding-Dong-Boob-Poopy’

    Comedian Eugene Mirman has pretty solid proposal for how President Obama should handle Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

    He should publicly call him a “ding-dong-boob-poopy.”

    Oh yeah, and then he should spend a little bit of time trying to convince the controversial leader to off himself.

    It’s all right there in an official petition on the White House’s We The People online petition site called “Tell Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni that he is a Ding-Dong-Boob-Poopy and request he kill himself.” There you go.

    Of course, Yoweri Museveni is in fact a ding dong boob poopy–so the petition has that going for it. The Ugandan President recently signed morally bankrupt legislation that imposes incredibly harsh punishments for homosexual behavior in his country.

    “We are disgusted by Uganda’s backwards, human rights betraying anti-gay law that passed recently. Knowing that it is not appropriate for the President to swear in front of children on television (even HBO), we ask that Barack Obama calls Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni a ‘ding-dong-boob-poopy’ over and over and then sincerely for five to ten minutes, tries to convince him to commit suicide. We’d then like Obama to sternly request that everyone involved with passage of that law puts “their ding-dongs into their own hoo-hoos for up to forty-five minutes,” says petition creator, E.M. of Brooklyn.

    The White House petition site doesn’t post full names of petitioners, but we’re pretty confident that Mirman is behind this one.

    Ok, fully confident.

    Mirman had tried a similar petition earlier, one asking Obama to tell Uganda to go fuck itself. That one was unfortunately removed.

    The new petition would have to hit the 100,000 signature threshold to garner an official response from the administration. It still has a long way to go with just over 200 signatures. But if this petition can get over 263,000 signatures, well, anything is possible.

    Image via YouTube

  • The Deport Justin Bieber White House Petition Tops 100,000 Signatures

    Over one hundred thousand people want Canadian pop star Justin Bieber to go back to Canada. Well, not exactly “go back” on his own volition – it’s more like they hope he is forcibly removed by the U.S. government.

    A “Deport Justin Bieber and Revoke His Green Card” petition popped up on the White House’s We The People online petition site late last week, and it has hit its required signature threshold in just 6 days. As of right now, the petition has just over 111,000 signatures, meaning it will elicit an official response from the Obama administration.

    Well, maybe. Probably not. Who knows? The White House says that any petitions that meet both the terms of participation requirements and the signature threshold will get an official response. Of course:

    To avoid the appearance of improper influence, the White House may decline to address certain procurement, law enforcement, adjudicatory, or similar matters properly within the jurisdiction of federal departments or agencies, federal courts, or state and local government in its response to a petition.

    The White House reserves the right to change the time limits and signature thresholds…

    There’s also that giant backlog of petitions that The White House is just ignoring…just…sitting…there. Mr. Snowden is still waiting on a response.

    “We the people of the United States feel that we are being wrongly represented in the world of pop culture. We would like to see the dangerous, reckless, destructive, and drug abusing, Justin Bieber deported and his green card revoked. He is not only threatening the safety of our people but he is also a terrible influence on our nations youth. We the people would like to remove Justin Bieber from our society,” says the petition’s creator, J.A. from Detroit, Michigan.

    It’s not the only petition of its kind either. Another DEPORT JUSTIN BEIBER petition currently has just shy of 6,000 signatures.

    On the other side, there’s the “Stop Justin Bieber from getting deported” cause “he’s a human being and he makes mistakes.” Apparently, he also “does not deserve this.”

    Yeah, because he’s actually going to get deported. I figure that’s what Obama should have led with at last night’s State of the Union Address – it would have probably boosted his approval ratings.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • 6-Year-Old Tries to Save NASA with White House Petition

    6-Year-Old Tries to Save NASA with White House Petition

    With NASA budget cuts looming, one 6-year-old kid is taking as direct a route as he can to ask President Obama to save the nation’s space program.

    Connor Johnson of Denver, Colorado loves space and hopes to be an astronaut one day.

    “The whole reason I want to be an astronaut so I can discover, like, new worlds and discover, like, asteroids or stuff that I could build stuff out of,” he says.

    But he quickly realized that the $10.41 in his piggy bank wasn’t going to make up for the 2014 fiscal year shortfall about to hit NASA, so he decided to petition the White House to increase funding.

    “Increase NASA funding. So we can discover new worlds, protect us from danger and to make dreams come true,” reads the petition. “Increase the funding for NASA so that children can dream of exploring the universe. Science funding is the future of our country.”

    The petition currently boasts about 10,000 signatures, and it needs 90,000 more by December 29th to hit the signature threshold and (hopefully) for an official White House response.

    The White House previously requested $17.7 billion in 2014 funding for NASA, but lawmakers are looking to slash nearly $1 billion from NASA’s budget. As of now, NASA’s exact 2014 funding remains up in the air.

    This kid is cute, and his point is more than valid – we all need the promise of space exploration to make dreams come true – and it’s not like we’re giving NASA anything significant anyway. You lose more money in your couch every week than you give to NASA in taxes. Still, little Connor is just 6 years old, and has yet to fully realize just how futile an exercise posting a petition to the White House’s site really is.

  • Default Porn-Blocking Is Your Hilarious White House Petition of the Day

    It’s been a while since I’ve looked at We The People, the U.S. Government’s online petition site that’s, well, whatever is worse than an exercise in futility. Think of something that could be described as that, and then think of something worse. Then add a shiny layer of platitudes. Ok, now you’re close. The site wasn’t up during the government shutdown, so I kind of forgot it existed.

    But I kid the White House, with love. There have been a couple of moments in the past where the White House has made an important response to a popular petition. Those moments are here and here. That’s it. If you want to take a look at all of the petitions that The White House are ignoring – someone made a whole site devoted to it. There are currently 25 unanswered petitions that have successfully hit the signature requirements, and the average waiting time on those responses is 308 days.

    Because of this, the We the People site is generally used by me (and many others) as a place to find humor. You know, what kind of wacky stuff are people demanding now? Over the past year or so, we’ve seen people ask Obama to recreate a Frozone scene from the Incredibles, make Google keep Google Reader alive, make R. Kelly’s Ignition (Remix) the national anthem, and various Star Wars–related demands. Oh, and some people wanted to secede. That was fun.

    Ok, so now someone has petitioned the White House to block all of our porn by default. You’ve gone too far, M.G. of Greenbrae, California.

    “Require Porn to be an “Opt In” feature with Internet Service Providers rather than a standard feature,” they say.

    In its current state, Internet porn seeks out users by email solicitations and massive amounts of free content throughout Internet browser searches. The average person, even children, can type in the word “cat” or “home” or “soup” and instantly be inundated with offensive and disturbing pornographic images. Parents and individuals have to go to great lengths to install Internet filters that often don’t weed out all porn. We are asking for greater protection and responsibility from Internet Service providers and our country. We are asking that people who are interested in porn should have to seek it and choose it. They should have to “Opt In” for it by making arrangements to receive it with their Internet Service Provider. Everyone else should be free from it and assumed “Opt Out”.

    Meanwhile, this petition concerning NSA leaker Edward Snowden has been sitting well across the threshold barrier, totally ignored, since the summer. Good thing we finally have an official response on what it means to be truly gluten-free…on a petition that never actually crossed the signature threshold.

    It’s clear that the UK-inspired opt-in porn system is doomed to fail. For one, it’s on the We the People site – so that’s reason enough. Also, it’s only on pace to get about 15,000 signatures or so – maybe. That’s not going to cut it, anti-porn crusaders.

    Still, part of me hopes it hits the 100,000 signature threshold. I’d love to see a response, and the day-after headlines. “Obama wants your kids to have easy access to gay porn.” Thank you, We the People, for continuing to amuse me at every turn.

    Image via WhiteHouse.gov

  • The White House Is Ignoring a Bunch of Petitions, and This Site Tracks Them

    There’s a new single-serving site that lets you know which We The People online petitions the White House is ignoring.

    Since the We The People site launched back in 2011, it has seen 232 petitions meet their signature threshold (5,000 at first, increased to 25,000 and then 100,000 as the site gained popularity). In that time, the White House has officially responded to 202 of them (87%).

    That means that there are a few dozen petitions that the White House has ignored, despite that fact that they’ve met their signature threshold. And you can track them all via WHPetitions.info.

    I noted the fact that the White House had a bunch of forgotten petitions back in December of last year. At that time, I counted 48 threshold-reaching petitions without official responses. The White House has been called out for ignoring so many successful petitions. A couple of months ago, they actually responded to a petition on the site that asked the administration to “actually take these petitions seriously instead of just using them as an excuse to pretend you are listening.”

    “We’re listening. Seriously,” said Director of the Office of Digital Strategy and Obama special assistant Macon Phillips.

    “From the beginning, we promised that every petition that crosses the signature threshold will be reviewed by policy experts in the Administration. Each of the 97 petitions that have crossed the signature threshold so far have been carefully reviewed by experts here at the White House and in agencies across the federal government, and the majority have already been answered, with more coming every week,” he said.

    But there are still a substantial number of petitions that have crossed their signature threshold and have yet to receive an official response from the White House. According to the new petition tracking site, that number is 30.

    Many of these are petitions that broke a lower signature threshold – 5,000 or 25,000. Most of these are over a year old. Don’t hold your breath on responses to those. But there are 7 petitions that have crossed the newest threshold of 100,000 signatures and are still unanswered.

    • We ask American Congress to make The Act of Alexander Dolmatov to punish all Dutch officials responsible for his death.
    • Invest and deport Jasmine Sun who was the main suspect of a famous Thallium poison murder case (victim:Zhu Lin) in China.
    • Democracy crisis in Malaysia: foreign workers were employed for fraud voting in Malaysian General Election.
    • Provide necessary assistance to prevent Taiwanese people from being murdered by Philippines and rebuild friendship.
    • Allow Tesla Motors to sell directly to consumers in all 50 states.
    • Pardon Edward Snowden.
    • Declare Muslim Brotherhood organization as a terrorist group.

    If the White House is to be believed, they have people reviewing these specific petitions and we can expect some sort of response at some point in the future. But most of these petitions are more than two months old. It appears that there are some topics that the White House would like to shy away from, no matter how many signatures a petition receives.

    [h/t Daily Dot]

  • Petition Asks Obama to Recreate Frozone Scene from The Incredibles

    The White House’s We The People online petition site is a truly wonderful place. Not because it gives citizens the ability to voice legitimate concerns and possibly help to enact real change. No, we know that’s not what’s happening.

    It’s great because anyone (who signs up) can create their own petition. Couple this with the relatively low signature threshold for petitions to appear on the site and what you get is a hodgepodge of requests – both serious and not-so-serious.

    It’s the not-so-serious that grabbed my attention today.

    You see, we’ve often highlighted some of the sillier White House petitions to grace the site over the last couple of years. For instance, that time someone petitioned the Obama administration to make R. Kelly’s “Ignition (Remix)” the national anthem. Or that time people wanted the White House to build our own functioning Death Star (they even responded to that one). Remember all of those wacky secession petitions? Classic.

    Well, a recent petition is now my new favorite. Ladies and Gents, may I submit for your consideration: “Have Obama re-enact the scene from The Incredibles where Frozone is looking for his supersuit.”

    We all like The Incredibles. I’m sure the President does too. The world would be complete by having Barack and Michelle re-enact this famous scene.

    Indeed. Is this ridiculous? Absolutely. Just slightly inappropriate? I don’t know, I’m sure it could be construed that way. Would we all like to see it? You bet your sweet ass we would.

    The petition only has 5,100 signatures, but it garnered those in just 48 hours. If it can get 100,000 total signatures by July 15th, well, the administration will have to respond.

    Is this a poor use of the process? Of course it is. But apparently the people want it. Look – this is from 6 months ago:

  • Do The Privacy Implications Of Google Glass Scare You?

    Google Glass has some people spooked. They think that Glass turns those who wear the technology into a surveillance cyborg. Now some groups are calling upon the government to take action.

    Do you think Google Glass should be banned? Let us know in the comments.

    TechDirt reports that a new We The People petition submitted on May 3, a man from Seattle, Washington is requesting that the government “Ban Google Glass from use in the USA until clear limitations are placed to prevent indecent public surveillance.” As the title suggets, those who have signed are scared of the privacy implications:

    Google Glass is a new twist on technology which hasn’t had clearly stated limits on the locations in US communities where it can and cannot be used. In order to protect our communities we need limitations to prevent indecent public surveillance of our friends, children, and families.

    It is hard to prevent it because the hardware gives no notification that it is recording an individual at any given time.

    Aside from the admittedly weak (only 34 signatures in a week) petition, a group called Stop the Cyborgs has sprung up in recent months in protest of Google Glass. It’s not like they hate Google or Glass though. They also don’t want a ban. Instead, the group argues that they just want consumers to think about what they buy and the implications of technology:

  • That there is a social, commercial and technological trend towards ubiquitous surveillance and monitoring. This trend gives a few corporations and government agencies an unprecedented amount of information about individuals and society as a whole.
  • That human decisions are becoming increasingly influenced technological systems the internal workings of which are secret and which are difficult to challenge. This trend gives a few corporations and governments an unprecedented ability to manipulate society.
  • That initiatives like internet of things, smart cities and government 2.0 are replacing the democratic process with technical systems which will be difficult to change.
  • Even if organisations do not abuse their power. The combination of wearable computing & biometrics allows everything to be linked to a single identity available to anyone you interact with. Thus for example it becomes impossible to separate your professional and personal life; it becomes impossible to be politically active without your political affiliation being known to everyone you interact with; it becomes impossible to keep your relationships private; it becomes impossible to speak or behave freely in the moment without considering how your actions might be perceived in all future contexts and all future audiences.

    • As for its specific beef with Google Glass, the group lists a number of problems it has with the technology:

  • The camera is always pointing at head height and only needs to be electronically activated to record. This allows the possibility of accidental or remote activation.
  • The devices are hands free so the person does not need to take on the role of cameraman but rather just happens to be recording. This encourages people to record data and makes it harder to tell if someone is recording compared to them pointing a camera or smart phone at you.
  • Heads up displays allow people to be fed information without others knowing they are receiving it.
  • The devices are typically tied into a central server, which aggregates and stores information.

    • Their concerns may be legitimate as hackers with early access to Glass say its relatively easy to turn the device into a surveillance tool. The obvious first thought is that people can use Glass to spy on others, but the real threat is that hackers could use Glass to spy on the person wearing them. Jay Freeman explains:

    Once the attacker has root on your Glass, they have much more power than if they had access to your phone or even your computer: they have control over a camera and a microphone that are attached to your head. A bugged Glass doesn’t just watch your every move: it watches everything you are looking at (intentionally or furtively) and hears everything you do. The only thing it doesn’t know are your thoughts.

    The obvious problem, of course, is that you might be using it in fairly private situations. Yesterday, Robert Scoble demonstrated on his Google+ feed that it survived being in the shower with him. Thankfully (for him, and possibly for us), this extreme dedication to around-the-clock usage of Glass also protects him from malicious attacks: good luck getting even a minute alone with his hardware ;P.

    However, a more subtle issue is that, in a way, it also hacks into every device you interact with. It knows all your passwords, for example, as it can watch you type them. It even manages to monitor your usage of otherwise safe, old-fashioned technology: it watches you enter door codes, it takes pictures of your keys, and it records what you write using a pen and paper. Nothing is safe once your Glass has been hacked.

    Do you think fears of Google Glass are overblown? Or do you think hackers could wreak havoc on those who choose to wear Glass? Let us know in the comments.

    I think most can agree that hardware like Glass shouldn’t be allowed in certain places. It’s totally reasonable to ban its use at bars, strip clubs and other places that respect client confidentiality. It should also probably be banned from the workplace or other locations that handle sensitive data.

    That being said, the consumer version of Glass is at least a year away. That gives Google and developers enough time to ensure that Glass respects privacy while potentially ushering in a new era of wearable computing.

    Despite all of the fear circulating around Google Glass, you probably won’t have to worry about people abusing the technology. Those who use Glass will either be too busy taking selfies in the shower or being punched in the face.

    Is Google Glass a revolution in wearable computing? Or is it a surveillance nightmare? Let us know in the comments.

  • White House Finally Responds To CISPA Petition, Says Cybersecurity Legislation Must Respect Privacy

    CISPA is all but dead once again, and the Senate is moving ahead with its own cybersecurity legislation. That doesn’t mean the fight is over though. In fact, the Senate might just propose a bill that’s worse, but the White House says that it won’t let that happen.

    In an official response to the “Stop CISPA” petition on the We The People Web site, the White House says that any new cybersecurity legislation “must not violate Americans’ right to privacy.” The administration says that’s the reason why it issued a veto threat against CISPA earlier this month. That veto threat may led to CISPA’s death, but the White House says it’s still open to working with everybody to pass cybersecurity legislation.

    To that end, the White House says that cybersecurity legislation is a must to counter the “constant threat of cyber crime, espionage, and attacks.” The administration, unlike the House, does admit there are already tools in place, however, to facilitate cooperation between the government and private companies to share threat information. It just feels that the current tools in place aren’t enough:

    But you might ask, “Isn’t this collaboration already happening?” The simple answer is yes, but inefficiently. When it comes to information sharing, we need clearer rules to promote collaboration and protect privacy. Right now, each company has to work out an individual arrangement with the government and other companies on what information to share about cyberthreats. This ambiguity can lead to harmful delays.

    There is broad consensus on the need for more threat-related information sharing — including among the leading privacy advocates we regularly engage on the issue. The essential question on which people across the spectrum disagree isn’t if we can share cybersecurity information and preserve the principles of privacy and liberty that make the United States a free and open society — but how.

    The White House has admirable goals, but we’ve heard all of this before from the House. We were promised that CISPA would respect privacy and civil liberties, but that obviously wasn’t the case in the end.

    To allieve the concerns of citizens, the White House says that it will only support cybersecurity legislation that adheres to these three principles:

    It’s important that any information shared under a new cybersecurity law must be limited to what’s relevant and necessary for cybersecurity purposes. That also means minimizing information that can be used to identify specific individuals. For example, if a utility company is looking for government assistance to respond to a cyber attack, it is unlikely that it needs to share the personal information of its customers, like contact information or energy-use history, with the government.

    Cybersecurity legislation needs to preserve the traditional roles for civilian and intelligence agencies that we all understand. Specifically, if legislation authorizes new information sharing between the private sector and the government, then that new information should enter the government through a civilian department rather than an intelligence agency. That doesn’t mean breaking the existing mechanisms that already work. For example, victims of cyber crime ought to continue to report those violations to federal law enforcement agencies and public-private information-sharing relationships that already exist should be preserved.

    Any new legislation ought to provide legal clarity for companies that follow the rules and appropriately share data with the government. But it should not provide broad immunity for businesses and organizations that act in ways likely to cause damage to third parties or result in the unwarranted disclosure of personal information.

    In short, the above takes care of pretty much every complaint privacy advocates had with the original CISPA. The White House says it will continue to apply the above principles in its on-going discussions with those in the Senate currently crafting cybersecurity legislation.

    CISPA may be dead, but the issue of cybersecurity is far from over. We’ll continue to follow the Senate’s efforts as it works on its own cybersecurity legislation.

  • White House Announces Second ‘We The People’ Hackathon

    The White House has just announced its second National Day of Civic Hacking, to take place at the White House. It will take place on June 1st.

    “For the National Day of Civic Hacking, participants will focus on producing full, production ready apps and visualization tools that will be featured on the We the People website and made available under an open source license.”

    The first hack day took place in February, and out of it came various uses of the We The People API including “Where the People,” a visualization of zip codes where petitions are being signed, weighted for signatures by percentage of population, and “Widget the People,” which gives petition creators an embeddable gauge of how many signatures the petition needs before it reaches the response threshold.

    “This API is part of an effort, not only to broaden the conversation taking place via We the People, but to make the medium of that conversation as flexible, open, and transparent as possible. By building and releasing applications that leverage the API, and by making it possible for other platforms to connect with We the People, you’ll be making it easier for others to take part in that conversation,” says Peter Welsch on the White House blog.

    The White House launched the We The People online petition site back in 2011. Since then, the site has seen nearly 10 million signatures on close to 150,000 thousand individual petitions. It hasn’t been without its criticisms, and its share of ridiculous petitions – but recently, since upping the signature threshold, the White House has responded on a couple of important tech issues like CISPA and cellphone unlocking.

    If you’re interested, you can apply here. The deadline for applications is 5:00 pm on Friday, April 19th.

  • Another Star Wars Petition Hits White House Site, This Time Calling for National R2-D2 Day

    Over the half year or so that the White House has been operating their We The People online petition site, we’ve seen that it can be used in a variety of ways.

    There are the ridiculous petitions – the ones that have absolutely no basis in reality but I’m sure some people think they do. This would include the ones designed to have the Obama administration deport talk show hosts and let states secede because they’re unhappy about election results.

    Then there are the meaningful petitions that deserve White House responses. This would include recent petitions like the one asking the Obama Administration to make cellphone unlocking legal or this anti-CISPA one.

    Then, of course, there are the Stars Wars-related petitions. For a cultural phenomenon as powerful as Star Wars, it’s actually hard to believe that there aren’t more like this. You may remember the people’s attempt to get the U.S. government to build a fully functioning Death Star. It actually succeed, crossing the signature threshold and forcing an official White House response. But alas, the White House said that they do not support blowing up planets.

    Today’s Star Wars-related governmental petition is a little more reasonable. It asks the Obama administration to “Create a national R2-D2 Day whose motto is ‘selfless not selfish’ and commemorates under appreciated heroes.”

    Cute.

    Here’s what creator S.M. from Alexandria, Virginia, has to say.

    In the iconic Star Wars saga, R2-D2 always seems to save the day, getting his Jedi masters and the forces of the Republic out of harm’s way, and doing so with grace and humor. But the astromech droid never gets the full credit or honors he deserves for his deeds.

    In that sense, R2 is a stand-in for all of the under appreciated and unheralded heroes in our everyday lives — in our workplaces, schools and communities.

    We should all join together on a national holiday to pay homage to those who, like R2, live by the “selfless, not selfish” creed.

    America sure does have some under-appreciated heroes. Sounds like a good idea to me.

  • Petition to Force Congress to Wear NASCAR-Style Suits with Corporate Logos Gains Steam

    Ever since the White House changed the rules on their We The People petition site, forcing petitions to reach the 100,000-signature threshold before warranting an official response, “successful” petitions have been a lot more scarce. Only a handful of petitions have crossed the barrier, the most recent being two important tech petitions – this one asking the White House to legalize cellphone unlocking and this one attacking CISPA.

    Today another one nears that 100,000-signature mark, and it’s a little bit funnier than the aforementioned petitions – but no less important, really.

    With nearly 80,000 signatures and over three weeks to grab the remaining 20,000 over 20,000 signatures and three weeks to grab the remaining 75,000+, it looks like the petition titled “Require Congressmen & Senators to wear logos of their financial backers on their clothing, much like NASCAR drivers do” may receive an official response from the Obama administration.

    Here’s what the petition’s creator, J.S. of St. Louis, Missouri, has to say:

    Since most politicians’ campaigns are largely funded by wealthy companies and individuals, it would give voters a better sense of who the candidate they are voting for is actually representing if the company’s logo, or individual’s name, was prominently displayed upon the candidate’s clothing at all public appearances and campaign events. Once elected, the candidate would be required to continue to wear those “sponsor’s” names during all official duties and visits to constituents. The size of a logo or name would vary with the size of a donation. For example, a $1 million dollar contribution would warrant a patch of about 4″ by 8″ on the chest, while a free meal from a lobbyist would be represented by a quarter-sized button. Individual donations under $1000 are exempt.

    Sure, we’ve been hearing this joke for years – the ol’ sponsorship suit for Senators. But who out there (other than the Congresspeople and their contributors) would say that this isn’t a great idea.

    Completely unrealistic or not, I hope the petition succeeds just so I can see an official response.

    [BoingBoing, photo via mtsofan, Flickr]

  • Google Reader Shutdown Prompts Plethora of Petitions

    As you may have heard, Google has just announced that they are closing the doors on their 8-year-old RSS aggregator Google Reader. The company cites declining usage and a need to focus on other products as reasons for the shutdown. Google Reader will officially go dark on July 1st, giving users over 3 months to migrate to another service for their RSS needs.

    Although Reader isn’t the only Google product getting the axe in this round of Spring Cleaning, it’s the product with the most impact. And people aren’t happy. Sure, Google can cite declining usage and we believe them. The hard truth about RSS is that it’s a useful technology that definitely has a strong following, but never permeated the culture in the way that social media has over the past few years.

    But that doesn’t mean that loyal Google Reader users don’t have a gripe here. And they are taking their gripes and turning them into online petitions.

    Probably the fastest-growing petition to save Google Reader is this one, hosted on change.org. As of the writing of this article, it’s gaining a few hundred signatures every few minutes. Right now it’s fast approaching the 50,000 signatures it needs to hit its threshold.

    The petition, titled “Google: Keep Google Reader Running,” makes this argument:

    So, please don’t destroy that trust. You’re a huge corporation, with a market cap which rivals the GDP of nations. You’re able to dedicate 20% of your time to products which may never seen the light of day. You experiment in self-driving cars and really cool eyewear which we trust (trust!) you’ll use in a manner respectful to our needs, interests, etc.

    Show us you care.

    Don’t kill Google Reader.

    That’s not the only petition housed on change.org. There are others, including this one with a few thousand signatures that plainly asks Google “please do not shut down Reader.”

    “Many of us use Google Reader on a daily basis to keep track of our favorite blogs, archive tweets, keep updated on specific craigslist searches, and for many other uses. Its simplicity is its strength,” says the petition.

    Moving away from petition-hosting sites, we have this new single-serving site dedicated to keeping Google Reader alive. It’s called keepgooglereader.com and the entire site serves as a petition platform that allows users to sign and comment. As of right now, it’s up to around 19,000 signatures.

    Up until just recently, a petition existed on the White House’s We The People petition site that asked the Obama Administration to ask Google to consider keeping Reader alive. Of course, the Federal Government is not going to intervene in the decisions of a company like Google with regards to which products they shutter.

    That petition was removed for violation of the site’s terms. Most likely, due to this clause:

    “You agree not to create petitions that fall outside this limited purpose – for example, petitions that advertise or call for the endorsement or purchase of commercial goods or services.”

    This outpouring of support for the doomed Google product isn’t surprising. Google knows that Reader has a loyal following and they said that this was a hard decision. Petitions or not, it’s hard to see Google reversing course on this one. Since 2011, Google has canned 70 different products of services during various “spring cleaning” exercises.

    [Image via byrion, Flickr]

  • Anti-CISPA White House Petition Crosses 100,000 Signature Threshold

    After CISPA returned in February, privacy advocates started a “We The People” petition asking the White House to stand against the controversial legislation. It’s been a month since the petition was created, and advocates are one step closer to a response.

    The “Stop CISPA” petition on the We The People petition site has crosses the recently instated 100,000 threshold required for a response from the Obama administration. The petition asks the administration to reject CISPA for its overly broad language:

    CISPA is about information sharing. It creates broad legal exemptions that allow the government to share “cyber threat intelligence” with private companies, and companies to share “cyber threat information” with the government, for the purposes of enhancing cybersecurity. The problems arise from the definitions of these terms, especially when it comes to companies sharing data with the feds.

    It will be interesting to see if, and how, the administration responds to this petition. President Obama has already signed an executive order that accomplishes what CISPA aims to do without the civil liberty violations. The President acknowledged, however, that an executive order isn’t enough and called upon Congress to pass cybersecurity legislation.

    That’s going to be the hard part, though, as Congress proved last year that it can’t agree on cybersecurity measures. Privacy advocates may not even have to bother the White House if the House and Senate can’t come to any sort of agreement. Even if they do, the White House promised to stand against CISPA last year. Unless something changes, the White House will stand against CISPA again.

    [h/t: TechDirt]

  • Hate Daylight Saving Time? Here’s a Petition for You

    If you woke up this morning in a haze and needed an extra cup or four of coffee to get going, you can probably blame Daylight Saving Time. Or your hangover. But probably DST.

    On Sunday morning at 2:00am our clocks jumped an hour ahead, forcing millions to lose out on a crucial hour of weekend sleep. If you think that the practice of springing forward and falling back is archaic and unnecessary, you’re not alone. And there’s a White House petition that I’d like to bring to your attention.

    Hosted on the White House’s We The People online petition site, “Eliminate the bi-annual time change caused by Daylight Savings Time” has garnered over 19,000 signatures in less than a week. If it can get 100,000 by April 4th, it will warrant an official response from the Obama administration.

    Here’s the argument proposed by creator C.D. from Loveland, Ohio:

    Daylight Savings Time is an archaic practice in our modern society.

    The original reasons for the policies are no longer applicable, and the most cited reason for keeping DST (energy savings) has never been shown to be true.

    Some industries still like DST (like sporting equipment retailers), but there are many more who dislike the changed hours (like television).

    The real issue, however is not the later hours or extra sunlight. Studies have shown that changing the clocks is responsible for health problems (including increased heart attack and vehicular accident risks) and leads to hundreds of thousands of hours of lost productivity in workplaces across the country. Also: It’s really annoying.

    We should either eliminate DST or make it the year-round standard time for the whole country.

    The L.A. Times calls today one of “the most dangerous days of the year,” according to numerous reports that say that the Monday after the start of Daylight Saving Time is a very bad day for most of the country. Different reports from various studies have tied the onset of DST to more heart attacks, more traffic accidents, more accidents in the workplace, and more.

    You can believe that or not, it’s up to you. But I’m sure most of us can agree that losing an hour of your weekend around the beginning of Springtime each year is just plain annoying. What do you think?

  • Petition to Make R. Kelly’s ‘Ignition (Remix)’ the National Anthem Is the Most Important Petition

    In the past, I’ve been critical of some of the more frivolous petitions to hit the White House’s “We the People” online petition site. A petition to build a functioning Death Star becoming so popular that it receives an official response? Not that exciting.

    Then you have the totally batsh*t petitions like the ones from states that asked to secede from the Union or to deport Piers Morgan for expressing a view about gun control. What a waste of the platform, even if the platform is shallow and patronizing.

    This petition does not qualify as frivolous. This is important.

    A new petition with just over 5,300 signatures wants to change the U.S. National Anthem from the tired old Star Spangled Banner to R. Kelly’s 2003 hit “Ignition (Remix).

    And they make a compelling argument:

    We, the undersigned, would like the Obama administration to recognize the need for a new national anthem, one that even a decade after its creation, is still hot and fresh out the kitchen. America has changed since Francis Scott Key penned our current anthem in 1814. Since then, we have realized that after the show, it’s the afterparty, and that after the party, it’s the hotel lobby, and–perhaps most importantly–that ’round about four, you’ve got to clear the lobby, at which point it’s strongly recommended that you take it to the room and freak somebody. President Obama: we ask you to recognize the evolution of this beautiful country and give us an anthem that better suits the glorious nation we have become.

    Since the White House recently raised the signature threshold to 100,000, we’re going to have to do some hard work to make this a success. I know we can do it guys.