wyden

Sen. Ron Wyden: Protecting mobile privacy (Q&A)

It may come as a surprise to know that police generally need a warrant to search your house, but not to track your whereabouts through your cell phone.

This is what Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who has become the Senate's leading champion of electronic privacy, wants to change. Wyden recently spoke with CNET in an interview transcribed below about his forthcoming legislation.

It's hardly Wyden's first foray into technology. In 2006, he introduced a pro-Net neutrality bill, opposed a renewal of the Patriot Act, and proposed restrictions on the Bush administration's controversial Total Information … Read more

Senator proposes mobile-privacy legislation

Federal law needs to be updated to halt the common police practice of tracking the whereabouts of Americans' mobile devices without a search warrant, a Democratic senator said today.

Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, said it was time for Congress to put an end to this privacy-intrusive practice, which the Obama Justice Department has sought to defend in court.

In an luncheon speech at the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., Wyden said his staff was drafting legislation to restore "the balance necessary to protect individual rights" by requiring police to obtain a search warrant signed by … Read more

Senator who opposes antipiracy bill under pressure?

Supporters of an antipiracy bill introduced into the Senate last year appear ready to put some pressure on one of the legislation's chief opponents.

Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, was instrumental in blocking the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) late last year. COICA was introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and passed in that committee unanimously. But it was derailed when Wyden opposed it. Individual senators can place holds on pending legislation.

Since the legislation was introduced very late in the prior congressional session, Wyden's opposition forced supporters … Read more