[Infowarrior] - In Voter Privacy Case, EPIC Files for Temporary Restraining Order

[Richard Forno]

https://epic.org/2017/07/in-voter-privacy-case-epic-fil.html

In Voter Privacy Case, EPIC Files for Temporary Restraining Order

EPIC today filed for a Temporary Restraining Order to block a demand from a Presidential Commission for millions of state voter records. In papers filed in federal district court in Washington, D.C., EPIC explained that the Commission failed to produce and publish a Privacy Impact Assessment, required by Federal law. EPIC also charged that the Commission’s demand for detailed voter histories violated the Constitutional right to privacy. And EPIC explained that the Commission had already committed two egregious security blunders—(1) directing state election officials to send voter records to an unsecure web site and (2) proposing to publish partial SSNs that would enable identity theft and financial fraud. The Court gave the government until Wednesday, July 5 to file an opposition. EPIC will then file a reply. A ruling is expected by the end of the week. The EPIC lawsuit follows a letter from 50 voting experts and 20 privacy organizations urging state election officials to oppose the Commission’s demand. The case is EPIC v. Commission, No. 17-1320 (D.D.C. filed July 3, 2017).