1.12 Protection of Privacy

The individual's right to privacy must not be infringed. Governments must not use electronic or other means of covert surveillance of an individual's actions or private property without the express consent of the owner or occupant. Correspondence, financial transactions and records, medical records, legal records, employment records, and the like must not be open to review without the express consent of all parties involved in those actions.

We support the natural rights of individuals to be secure in their persons and property against unreasonable searches and seizures and oppose any government use of search warrants to examine or seize materials belonging to innocent third parties. We also oppose and call for the abolition of police roadblocks and practices of testing drivers for intoxicants, stopping mass transit vehicles and searching passengers, and Terry stops (also called “stop-and-frisk”) in the absence of probable cause.

All federal, state, local, and other government compilations of data must be conducted only with the express consent of the persons from whom the data is sought. To this end, we call for the abolition of the National Security Agency and any other agencies that conduct unwarranted mass surveillance; the abolition of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which rubber-stamps secret warrants that can't be challenged; and the abolition of the USA PATRIOT Act, USA FREEDOM Act, Alien and Sedition Acts, Espionage Act, and any other legislation, executive orders, or regulations which authorize violations of rights.

We support the rights of people to develop, sell, and use encryption technology and distributed software that allows users to protect their privacy. Specifically, we oppose any requirement for disclosure of encryption methods or keys (“back doors”) and any requirement for use of government-specified devices or protocols. We also oppose government classification of civilian research on encryption methods, and we oppose any attempts to regulate virtual currencies.

When government agencies violate privacy rights, people who are knowledgeable of these violations have a duty to inform the public. To that end, we support protections for whistleblowers and oppose efforts to charge whistleblowers with espionage for exposing governmental wrongdoing.

If a private employer screens prospective or current employees for drugs or medical conditions, that is a term of that employee's labor contract with the employer. Such screening does not violate the rights of employees, who have the right to boycott such employers if they choose. Private contractual arrangements, including labor contracts, must be founded on mutual consent and agreement in a society that upholds freedom of association. We oppose any use of such screening by government; we also oppose mandating it of private employers.

We oppose the requirement to possess an identity card, for any purpose, such as employment, voting, or border crossing, and call upon the Congress to repeal REAL ID which in effect creates a national identification system.

We further oppose the nearly universal requirement for use of Social Security number(s) as personal identification codes, whether by government agencies or by intimidation of private companies by governments.