Tech giants, including Google, Facebook and Apple, have sent an open letter to President Barack Obama and Congress, calling for tighter controls on the collection and surveillance of personal data, Reuters reports (via The Chicago Tribune). In light of the cables leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, the companies are led by a sense of urgency to call on government to reform electronic privacy laws.  The ACLU has advocated for the Electronic Communications Privacy Act -- a law that was enacted in 1986 -- to be updated to reflect today's growing online privacy concerns. The open letter states:

"The balance in many countries has tipped too far in favor of the state and away from the rights of the individual - rights that are enshrined in our Constitution. This undermines the freedoms we all cherish. It's time for a change."

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The New York Times today published a powerful editorial about a lawsuit brought by the National ACLU and the ACLU of Michigan against the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). The ACLU represents Tamesha Means, who was denied appropriate medical care for her miscarriage at a local Catholic-sponsored hospital -- the only hospital accessible to her in Muskegon, Michigan where she resides. Means was sent home from the hospital after her water had broken at 18 weeks, despite excruciating pain and significant risk to her health, based on religious directives from the USCCB. Because of these directives, the hospital staff did not tell Means that terminating her pregnancy was an option and the safest course for her condition.

How the suit will play out is unclear, but it showcases an important issue. Catholic hospitals account for about 15 percent of the nation’s hospital beds and, in many communities, are the only hospital facilities available. Allowing religious doctrine to prevail over the need for competent emergency care and a woman’s right to complete and accurate information about her condition and treatment choices violates medical ethics and existing law.

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In an opinion piece published in The Chicago Tribune, Cook County Clerk David Orr called for a new, automated and more efficient voter registration system that captures every eligible voter by using every available government database to identify and register Illinois citizens so that they can vote. The ACLU Voting Rights Project's works to increase the ease and accessibility of voting for all eligible voters. In other states, ACLU affiliates have fought against the use of databases to cull out registered voters. Orr writes:

We must do more to encourage participation for future voters. I believe that effort starts with a technology-driven voter registration renaissance. By today's rules voters must actively seek out a method for registering to vote when they turn 18, become a citizen, register for the first time, and every time they move for the rest of their lives. It's an outdated model rife with bureaucratic red tape.

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