< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> Following an FBI raid of his home last year, the freelance journalist Tim Burke has been arrested and indicted in connection with an investigation into leaks of unaired footage from Fox…
Category: Deeplinks
NSA Spying Shirts Are Back Just In Time to Tell Congress to Reform Section 702
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> We’ve been challenging the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance of ordinary people since we first became aware of it nearly twenty years ago. Since then, tens of…
Unregulated, Exploitative, and on the Rise: Vera Institute’s Report on Electronic Monitoring
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Incarceration rates in the United States have long been among the highest in the world, and in response to the systemic flaws and biases unveiled by the…
Defending Access to the Decentralized Web
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Decentralized web technologies have the potential to make the internet more robust and efficient, supporting a new wave of innovation. However, the fundamental technologies and services that…
Don’t Fall for the Latest Changes to the Dangerous Kids Online Safety Act
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> The authors of the dangerous Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) unveiled an amended version this week, but it’s still an unconstitutional censorship bill that continues to empower…
EFF to Court: Strike Down Age Estimation in California But Not Consumer Privacy
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) called on the Ninth Circuit to rule that California’s Age Appropriate Design Code (AADC) violates the First Amendment, while not casting doubt…
Hip Hip Hooray For Hipster Antitrust
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Don’t believe the hype. The undeniable fact is that the FTC has racked up a long list of victories over corporate abuses, like busting a nationwide, decades-long…
Privacy Isn’t Dead. Far From It.
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Welcome! The fact that you’re reading this means that you probably care deeply about the issue of privacy, which warms our hearts. Unfortunately, even though you care…
Voting Against the Surveillance State | EFFector 36.2
EFF is here to keep you up-to-date with the latest news about your digital rights! EFFector 36.2 is out now and covers a ton of the latest news, including: a victory, as Amazon’s Ring will no longer facilitate warrantless footage…
EFF Helps News Organizations Push Back Against Legal Bullying from Cyber Mercenary Group
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Cyber mercenaries present a grave threat to human rights and freedom of expression. They have been implicated in surveillance, torture, and even murder of human rights defenders,…
Draft UN Cybercrime Treaty Could Make Security Research a Crime, Leading 124 Experts to Call on UN Delegates to Fix Flawed Provisions that Weaken Everyone’s Security
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> Security researchers’ work discovering and reporting vulnerabilities in software, firmware, networks, and devices protects people, businesses and governments around the world from malware, theft of critical data, and other cyberattacks. The…
Protect Good Faith Security Research Globally in Proposed UN Cybercrime Treaty
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> < div class=”page” title=”Page 1″> < div class=”layoutArea”> < div class=”column”> Statement to be submitted by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, accredited under operative paragraph No. 9 of…
What is Proposition E and Why Should San Francisco Voters Oppose It?
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> If you live in San Francisco, there is an election on March 5, 2024 during which voters will decide a number of specific local ballot measures—including Proposition…
San Francisco Police’s Live Surveillance Yields Almost 200 Hours of Spying–Including of Music Festivals
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> A new report reveals that in just three months, from July 1 to September 30, 2023, the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) racked up 193 hours and 19 minutes of live…
Worried About AI Voice Clone Scams? Create a Family Password
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Your grandfather receives a call late at night from a person pretending to be you. The caller says that you are in jail or have been kidnapped…
What Apple’s Promise to Support RCS Means for Text Messaging
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> You may have heard recently that Apple is planning to implement Rich Communication Services (RCS) on iPhones, once again igniting the green versus blue bubble debate. RCS…
Dozens of Rogue California Police Agencies Still Sharing Driver Locations with Anti-Abortion States
Civil Liberties Groups Urge Attorney General Bonta to Enforce California's Automated License Plate Reader Laws < div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> SAN FRANCISCO—California Attorney General Rob Bonta should crack down on police agencies…
EFF and Access Now’s Submission to U.N. Expert on Anti-LGBTQ+ Repression
As part of the United Nations (U.N.) Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (IE SOGI) report to the U.N. Human Rights Council, EFF and Access Now have submitted information addressing digital…
In Final Talks on Proposed UN Cybercrime Treaty, EFF Calls on Delegates to Incorporate Protections Against Spying and Restrict Overcriminalization or Reject Convention
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> UN Member States are meeting in New York this week to conclude negotiations over the final text of the UN Cybercrime Treaty, which—despite warnings from hundreds of…
In Final Talks on Proposed UN Cybercrime Treaty, EFF Calls on Delegates to Incorporate Protections Against Spying and Overcriminalization or Reject Convention
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> UN Member States are meeting in New York this week to conclude negotiations over the final text of the UN Cybercrime Treaty, which—despite warnings from hundreds of…
More Than a Decade Later, Site-Blocking Is Still Censorship
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> We’re taking part in Copyright Week, a series of actions and discussions supporting key principles that should guide copyright policy. Every day this week, various groups are…
Save your Twitter Account
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> We’re taking part in Copyright Week, a series of actions and discussions supporting key principles that should guide copyright policy. Every day this week, various groups are taking on different elements…
Tell the FTC: It’s Time to Act on the Right to Repair
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> Do you care about being able to fix and modify your stuff? Then it’s time to speak up and tell the Federal Trade Commission that you care about your right to…
San Francisco: Vote No on Proposition E to Stop Police from Testing Dangerous Surveillance Technology on You
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> San Francisco voters will confront a looming threat to their privacy and civil liberties on the March 5, 2024 ballot. If Proposition E passes, we can expect…
What Home Videotaping Can Tell Us About Generative AI
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> We’re taking part in Copyright Week, a series of actions and discussions supporting key principles that should guide copyright policy. Every day this week, various groups are…
Victory! Ring Announces It Will No Longer Facilitate Police Requests for Footage from Users
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> Amazon’s Ring has announced that it will no longer facilitate police’s warrantless requests for footage from Ring users. This is a victory in a long fight, not just against blanket police…
Fragging: The Subscription Model Comes for Gamers
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> We’re taking part in Copyright Week, a series of actions and discussions supporting key principles that should guide copyright policy. Every day this week, various groups are…
FTC Bars X-Mode from Selling Sensitive Location Data
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Update, January 23, 2024: Another week, another win! The FTC announced a successful enforcement action against another location data broker, InMarket. Phone app location data brokers are…
EFF and More Than 100+ NGOS Set Non-Negotiable Redlines Ahead of UN Cybercrime Treaty Negotiations
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> EFF has joined forces with 110 NGOs today in a joint statement delivered to the United Nations Ad Hoc Committee, clearly outlining civil society non-negotiable redlines for the proposed UN Cybercrime Treaty,…
The Public Domain Benefits Everyone – But Sometimes Copyright Holders Won’t Let Go
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Every January, we celebrate the addition of formerly copyrighted works to the public domain. You’ve likely heard that this year’s crop of public domain newcomers includes Steamboat…
The PRESS Act Will Protect Journalists When They Need It Most
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Our government shouldn’t be spying on journalists. Nor should law enforcement agencies force journalists to identify their confidential sources or go to prison. To fix this, we need…
It’s Copyright Week 2024: Join Us in the Fight for Better Copyright Law and Policy
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> We’re taking part in Copyright Week, a series of actions and discussions supporting key principles that should guide copyright policy. Every day this week, various groups are…
Tools to Protect Your Privacy Online | EFFector 36.1
New year, but EFF is still here to keep you up to date with the latest digital rights happenings! Be sure to check out our latest newsletter, EFFector 36.1, which covers topics ranging from: our thoughts on AI watermarking, changes…
The No AI Fraud Act Creates Way More Problems Than It Solves
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Creators have reason to be wary of the generative AI future. For one thing, while GenAI can be a valuable tool for creativity, it may also be used to…
Companies Make it Too Easy for Thieves to Impersonate Police and Steal Our Data
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> For years, people have been impersonating police online in order to get companies to hand over incredibly sensitive personal information. Reporting by 404 Media recently revealed that…
EFF’s 2024 In/Out List
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Since EFF was formed in 1990, we’ve been working hard to protect digital rights for all. And as each year passes, we’ve come to understand the challenges…
FTC Bars X-Mode from Selling Sensitive Location Data
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Phone app location data brokers are a growing menace to our privacy and safety. All you did was click a box while downloading an app. Now the…
EFF Unveils Its New Street Level Surveillance Hub
The Updated and Expanded Hub Sheds New Light on the Digital Surveillance Dragnet that Law Enforcement Deploys Against Everyone < div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> SAN FRANCISCO—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today unveiled…
Privacy Badger Puts You in Control of Widgets
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> The latest version of Privacy Badger 1 replaces embedded tweets with click-to-activate placeholders. This is part of Privacy Badger’s widget replacement feature, where certain potentially useful widgets are blocked…
UAE Confirms Trial Against 84 Detainees; Ahmed Mansoor Suspected Among Them
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> The UAE confirmed this week that it has placed 84 detainees on trial, on charges of “establishing another secret organization for the purpose of committing acts of…
Craig Newmark Philanthropies – Celebrating 30 Years of Support for Digital Rights
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> EFF has been awarded a new $200,000 grant from Craig Newmark Philanthropies to strengthen our cybersecurity work in 2024. We are especially grateful this year, as it…
AI Watermarking Won’t Curb Disinformation
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Generative AI allows people to produce piles upon piles of images and words very quickly. It would be nice if there were some way to reliably distinguish…
EFF Urges Pennsylvania Supreme Court to Find Keyword Search Warrant Unconstitutional
These Dragnet Searches Violate the Privacy of Millions of Americans < div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> SAN FRANCISCO—Keyword warrants that let police indiscriminately sift through search engine databases are unconstitutional dragnets that target…
EFF Asks Court to Uphold Federal Law That Protects Online Video Viewers’ Privacy and Free Expression
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> As millions of internet users watch videos online for news and entertainment, it is essential to uphold a federal privacy law that protects against the disclosure of everyone’s viewing history, EFF…
Victory! Police Drone Footage is Not Categorically Exempt From California’s Public Records Law
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Video footage captured by police drones sent in response to 911 calls cannot be kept entirely secret from the public, a California appellate court ruled last week.…
Year In Review: Google’s Corporate Paternalism in The Browser
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> It’s a big year for the oozing creep of corporate paternalism and ad-tracking technology online. Google and its subsidiary companies have tightened their grips on the throat…
Digital Rights for LGBTQ+ People: 2023 Year in Review
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> An increase in anti-LGBTQ+ intolerance is impacting individuals and communities both online and offline across the globe. Throughout 2023, several countries sought to pass explicitly anti-LGBTQ+ initiatives…
Taking Back the Web with Decentralization: 2023 in Review
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> When a system becomes too tightly-controlled and centralized, the people being squeezed tend to push back to reclaim their lost autonomy. The internet is no exception. While…
How To Fight Bad Patents: 2023 Year In Review
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> At EFF, we believe that all the rights we have in the offline world–to speak freely, create culture, play games, build things and do business–must hold up…
States Attack Young People’s Constitutional Right to Use Social Media: 2023 Year in Review
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Legislatures in more than half of the country targeted young people’s use of social media this year, with many of the proposals blocking adults’ ability to access…
Fighting European Threats to Encryption: 2023 Year in Review
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> Private communication is a fundamental human right. In the online world, the best tool we have to defend this right is end-to-end encryption. Yet throughout 2023, politicians across Europe attempted to…
In the Trenches of Broadband Policy: 2023 Year In Review
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> EFF has long advocated for affordable, accessible, future-proof internet access for all. Nearly 80% of Americans already consider internet access to be as essential as water and…
Fighting For Your Digital Rights Across the Country: Year in Review 2023
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> EFF works every year to improve policy in ways that protect your digital rights in states across the country. Thanks to the messages of hundreds of EFF members across the country,…
First, Let’s Talk About Consumer Privacy: 2023 Year in Review
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Whatever online harms you want to alleviate on the internet today, you can do it better—with a broader impact—if you enact strong consumer data privacy legislation first.…
The Atlas of Surveillance Hits Major Milestones: 2023 in Review
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> “The EFF are relentless.” That’s what a New York Police Department lieutenant wrote on LinkedIn after someone sent him a link to the Atlas of Surveillance, EFF’s…
Kids Online Safety Shouldn’t Require Massive Online Censorship and Surveillance: Year in Review 2023
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> There’s been plenty of bad news regarding federal legislation in 2023. For starters, Congress has failed to pass meaningful comprehensive data privacy reforms. Instead, legislators have spent…
Protecting Students from Faulty Software and Legislation: 2023 Year in Review
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Lawmakers, schools districts, educational technology companies and others keep rolling out legislation and software that threatens students’ privacy, free speech, and access to social media, in the name of…
Equitable Access to the Law Got Stronger: 2023 Year in Review
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> It seems like a no-brainer that everyone should be able to read, copy, and share the laws we all must follow, but few things are simple in…
International Threats to Freedom of Expression: 2023 Year in Review
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> 2023 has been an unfortunate reminder that the right to free expression is most fragile for groups on the margins, and that it can quickly become a casualty during global conflicts.…
Just a Little Does a Whole Lot
You might’ve heard that most of EFF’s funding comes from regular people’s modest donations—we’re proud of that. But did you know that EFF members who donate $10 or less each month raised over $400,000 for digital rights this year? That…
2023 Year in Review: The U.S. Supreme Court’s Busy Year of Free Speech and Tech Cases
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> The U.S. Supreme Court has taken an unusually active interest in internet free speech issues. EFF participated as amicus in a whopping nine cases before the court…
EFF Membership: 2023 Year In Review
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> Throughout the many years that EFF has been around, our goal has remained consistent: creating a future where you have your rights when you go online, and one where they are…
Surveillance Self-Defense: 2023 Year in Review
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> It’s been a big year for Surveillance Self-Defense (SSD), our repository of self-help resources for helping better protect you and your friends from online spying. We’ve done a…
Recent Surveillance Revelations, Enduring Latin American Issues: 2023 Year in Review
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> The challenges in ensuring strong privacy safeguards, proper oversight of surveillance powers, and effective remedy for those arbitrarily affected continued during 2023 in Latin America. Let’s take…
The Last Mile of Encrypting the Web: 2023 Year in Review
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> At the start of 2023, we sunsetted the HTTPS Everywhere web extension. It encrypted browser communications with websites and made sure users benefited from the protection of…
Corporate Spy Tech and Inequality: 2023 Year in Review
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> Our personal data and the ways private companies harvest and monetize it plays an increasingly powerful role in modern life. Throughout 2023, corporations have continued to collect our personal data, sell…
Protecting Encryption And Privacy In The US: 2023 Year in Review
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> EFF believes you have the right to have a private conversation–in the physical world, and in the digital world. The best technology to protect that right is…
Sketchy and Dangerous Android Children’s Tablets and TV Set-Top Boxes: 2023 in Review
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> You may want to save your receipts if you gifted any low-end Android TV set-top boxes or children’s tablets to a friend or loved one this holiday…
Electronic Frontier Alliance Comes Back Strong: 2023 in Review
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> The Electronic Frontier Alliance (EFA) is a loose network of local groups fighting for digital rights in the United States, chaired by EFF. Members’ efforts have been…
Artificial Intelligence and Policing: Year in Review 2023
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Machine learning, artificial intelligence, algorithmic decision making–regardless of what you call it, and there is hot debate over that, this technology has been touted as a supposed…
EFF Continues Fight Against Unconstitutional Geofence and Keyword Search Warrants: 2023 Year in Review
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> EFF continues to fight back against high-tech general warrants that compel companies to search broad swaths of users’ personal data. In 2023, we saw victory and setbacks…
Stupid Patent of the Month: Selfie Contests
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Patents are supposed to be an incentive to invent. Too often, they end up being a way to try to claim “ownership” of what should be basic…
EFF Has a Guiding Star 🌠
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> Do you ever look at something once and then get targeted ads? Have you ever been exposed in some company’s data breach? Have you ever heard a lawmaker push restrictions on…
EFF Urges Supreme Court to Set Standard for How Government Can and Can’t Talk to Social Media Sites About Censoring Users’ Posts
First Amendment Bars Coercive Censorship Demands But Some Communications Are Permissible < div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> WASHINGTON, DC—The Supreme Court should clarify standards for determining if the government permissibly advised or convinced…
EFF Has a Guiding Star 🌠
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> Do you ever look at something once and then get targeted ads? Have you ever been exposed in some company’s data breach? Have you ever heard a lawmaker push restrictions on…
The Great Interoperability Convergence: 2023 Year in Review
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> It’s easy to feel hopeless about the collapse of the tech sector into a group 0f monopolistic silos that harvest and exploit our data, hold our communities…
EFF Has a Guiding Star 🌠
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> Do you ever look at something once and then get targeted ads? Have you ever been exposed in some company’s data breach? Have you ever heard a lawmaker push restrictions on…
2023 Year in Review
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> At the end of every year, we look back at the last 12 months and evaluate what has changed for the better (and worse) for digital rights. …
FTC’s Rite Aid Ruling Rightly Renews Scrutiny of Face Recognition
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday announced action against the pharmacy chain Rite Aid for its use of face recognition technology in hundreds of stores. The regulator…
Victory: Utah Supreme Court Upholds Right to Refuse to Tell Cops Your Passcode
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Last week, the Utah Supreme Court ruled that prosecutors violated a defendant’s Fifth Amendment privilege against self incrimination when they presented testimony about his refusal to give…
Does Less Consumer Tracking Lead to Less Fraud?
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Here’s another reason to block digital surveillance: it might reduce financial fraud. That’s the upshot of a small but promising study published as a National Bureau of…
Digital Rights Updates with EFFector 35.16
Have no fear, it’s the final EFFector of the year! Be the digital freedom expert for your family and friends during the holidays by catching up on the latest online rights issues with EFFector 35.16. This issue of our newsletter…
EFF Joins Forces with 20+ Organizations in the Coalition #MigrarSinVigilancia
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Today, EFF joins more than 25 civil society organizations to launch the Coalition #MigrarSinVigilancia (“To Migrate Without Surveillance”). The Latin American coalition’s aim is to oppose arbitrary…
The Surveillance Showdown That Fizzled
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Like the weather rapidly getting colder outside, the fight over renewing, reforming, or sunsetting the mass surveillance power of Section 702 has been put on ice until…
Internet Archive Files Appeal Brief Defending Libraries and Digital Lending From Big Publishers’ Legal Attack
The Archive’s Controlled Digital Lending Program is a Lawful Fair Use that Preserves Traditional Library Lending in the Digital World < div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> SAN FRANCISCO—A cartel of major publishing companies…
Is This the End of Geofence Warrants?
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Google announced this week that it will be making several important changes to the way it handles users’ “Location History” data. These changes would appear to make…
Speaking Freely: Dr. Carolina Are
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Dr. Carolina Are is an Innovation Fellow at Northumbria University Centre for Digital Citizens. Her research primarily focuses on the intersection between online abuse and censorship. Her…
Without Interoperability, Apple Customers Will Never Be Secure
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> Every internet user should have the ability to privately communicate with the people that matter to them, in a secure fashion, using the tools and protocols of their choosing. Apple’s iMessage…
No Robots(.txt): How to Ask ChatGPT and Google Bard to Not Use Your Website for Training
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Both OpenAI and Google have released guidance for website owners who do not want the two companies using the content of their sites to train the company’s…
The House Intelligence Committee’s Surveillance ‘Reform’ Bill is a Farce
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Earlier this week, both the House Committee on the Judiciary (HJC) and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) marked up two very different bills (H.R.…
In Landmark Battle Over Free Speech, EFF Urges Supreme Court to Strike Down Texas and Florida Laws that Let States Dictate What Speech Social Media Sites Must Publish
Laws Violate First Amendment Protections that Help Create Diverse Forums for Users’ Free Expression < div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> WASHINGTON D.C.—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and five organizations defending free speech urged…
Think Twice Before Giving Surveillance for the Holidays
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> With the holidays upon us, it’s easy to default to giving the tech gifts that retailers tend to push on us this time of year: smart speakers,…
EFF Reminds the Supreme Court That Copyright Trolls Are Still a Problem
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> At EFF, we spend a lot of time calling out the harm caused by copyright trolls and protecting internet users from their abuses. Copyright trolls are serial…
Meta Announces End-to-End Encryption by Default in Messenger
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Yesterday Meta announced that they have begun rolling out default end-to-end encryption for one-to-one messages and voice calls on Messenger and Facebook. While there remain some privacy concerns…
Speaking Freely: Alison Macrina
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Cohn: Alright, we’re doing a Speaking Freely Interview with Alison- Alison why don’t you say your name? Alison Macrina, like Ballerina Cohn: From the Library Freedom Project-…
The Combined Federal Campaign Pledge Period is Closing Soon!
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) closes on January 15, 2024! U.S. federal employees and retirees can make a pledge to help support EFF’s lawyers, activists, and technologists…
Digital Rights Groups Urge Meta to Stop Silencing Palestine
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Legal intern Muhammad Essa Fasih contributed to this post. In the wake of the October 7 attack on Israel and the ensuing backlash on Palestine, Meta has…
Our “How to Fix the Internet” Podcast is an Anthem Awards Finalist— Help Make It a Winner!
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> EFF’s “How to Fix the Internet” podcast is a finalist in the Anthem Awards Community Voice competition, and we need YOUR help to put it over the…
How to Secure Your Kid’s Android Device
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> After finding risky software on an Android (Google’s mobile operating system) device marketed for kids, we wanted to put together some tips to help better secure your…
Tor University Challenge: First Semester Report Card
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> In August of 2023 EFF announced the Tor University Challenge, a campaign to get more universities around the world to operate Tor relays. The primary goal of…