< 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…
Category: Deeplinks
Victory! Montana’s Unprecedented TikTok Ban is Unconstitutional
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> A federal court on Thursday blocked Montana’s effort to ban TikTok from the state, ruling that the law violated users’ First Amendment rights to speak and to…
U.S. Senator: What Do Our Cars Know? And Who Do They Share that Information With?
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> U.S. Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts has sent a much-needed letter to car manufacturers asking them to clarify a surprisingly hard question to answer: what data cars collect? Who has the…
Latest Draft of UN Cybercrime Treaty Is A Big Step Backward
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> A new draft of the controversial United Nations cybercrime treaty has only heightened concerns that the treaty will criminalize expression and dissent, create extensive surveillance powers, and…
The Intelligence Committees’ Proposals for a 702 Reauthorization Bill are Beyond Bad
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Both congressional intelligence committees have now released proposals for reauthorizing the government’s Section 702 spying powers, largely as-is, and in the face of repeated abuse. The House…
The Government Shouldn’t Prosecute People With Unreliable “Black Box” Technology
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> On Tuesday, EFF urged the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the highest court in that state, to affirm that a witness who has no knowledge of the proprietary…
Speaking Freely: Ron Deibert
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Ron Deibert is a Canadian professor of political science, a philosopher, an author, and the founder of the renowned Citizen Lab, situated in the Munk School of…
Let Them Know It’s Time to Power Up
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> Power Up Your Donation Week is here! Right now, your contribution will have double the impact on digital privacy, security, and free speech rights for everyone. Power Up! Donate to EFF…
How We Fundraise
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Hello from the fundraising team at EFF! If you are reading this, you are probably already a donor to EFF (thank you!) or are considering supporting us…
Digital Rights Updates with EFFector 35.15
With the holiday season upon us, it can be difficult to keep track of the latest digital rights news. Lucky for you, EFF’s EFFector newsletter has you covered with the latest happenings, from a breakdown of our latest Privacy Badger…
Alaa Abd El-Fattah: Letter to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
< 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 signed on to the following letter alongside 33 other organizations in support of a submission to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD),…
The Eyes on the Board Act Is Yet Another Misguided Attempt to Limit Social Media for Teens
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Young people’s access to social media continues to be under attack by overreaching politicians. The latest effort, Senator Ted Cruz’s blunt “Eyes on the Board” Act, aims…
Protecting Kids on Social Media Act: Amended and Still Problematic
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Senators who believe that children and teens must be shielded from social media have updated the problematic Protecting Kids on Social Media Act, though it remains an…
On His 42nd Birthday, Alaa Abd El Fattah’s Family Files UN Petition for His Release
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Today is the birthday of Alaa Abd El Fattah, a prominent Egyptian-British coder, blogger, activist, and one of the most high-profile political prisoners in the entire Arab world.…
EFF to Supreme Court: Fifth Amendment Protects People from Being Forced to Enter or Hand Over Cell Phone Passcodes to the Police
Lower Court Ruling Undermining Protections Against Self Incrimination Should Be Reversed < 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) today asked the Supreme Court to overturn a ruling undermining…
To Best Serve Students, Schools Shouldn’t Try to Block Generative AI, or Use Faulty AI Detection Tools
< 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 gained widespread attention earlier this year, but one group has had to reckon with it more quickly than most: educators. Teachers and school administrators have…
Speaking Freely: Agustina Del Campo
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Agustina Del Campo is the Director at the Center for Studies on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information (CELE) at the University of Palermo in Buenos…
Low Budget Should Not Mean High Risk: Kids’ Tablet Came Preloaded with Sketchyware
< 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 get Android devices from online vendors like Amazon at different price points. Unfortunately, it is also easy to end up with an Android device…
EFF Urges FTC to Address American Resellers of Malware on Android TV Set-Top Boxes
Regulators must step in to halt the sale to consumers of devices that are known to be compromised by malware. < 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 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) must…
To Address Online Harms, We Must Consider Privacy First
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> Every year, we encounter new, often ill-conceived, bills written by state, federal, and international regulators to tackle a broad set of digital topics ranging from child safety to artificial intelligence. These…
Reauthorizing Mass Surveillance Shouldn’t be Tied to Funding the Government
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Section 702 is the controversial and much-abused mass surveillance authority that expires in December unless Congress renews it. EFF and others have been working hard to get…
S.T.O.P.: Putting a Check on Unchecked Local N.Y. Government Surveillance
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> Recently I got the chance to speak with longtime Electronic Frontier Alliance member Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.). They’ve got a new Advocacy Manager, Kat Phan, and exciting projects are coming…
Debunking the Myth of “Anonymous” Data
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Today, almost everything about our lives is digitally recorded and stored somewhere. Each credit card purchase, personal medical diagnosis, and preference about music and books is recorded…
It’s Time to Oppose the New San Francisco Policing Ballot Measure
< 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 Mayor London Breed has filed a ballot initiative on surveillance and policing that, if approved, would greatly erode our privacy rights, endanger marginalized communities, and…
Platforms Must Stop Unjustified Takedowns of Posts By and About Palestinians
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> Legal intern Muhammad Essa Fasih contributed to this post. Social media is a crucial means of communication in times of conflict—it’s where communities connect to share updates, find help, locate loved…
Speaking Freely: David Kaye
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> David Kaye is a clinical professor of law at the University of California, Irvine, the co-director of the university’s Fair Elections and Free Speech Center, and the…
This Month, The EU Parliament Can Take Action To Stop The Attack On Encryption
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> A key European parliamentary committee has taken an important step to defend user privacy, including end-to-end encryption. The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE)…
Introducing Badger Swarm: New Project Helps Privacy Badger Block Ever More Trackers
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> < p class=”subhead”>Today we are introducing Badger Swarm, a new tool for Privacy Badger that runs distributed Badger Sett scans in the cloud. Badger Swarm helps us…
Observation Mission Stresses Key Elements of Ola Bini’s Case for Upholding 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”> Despite an Ecuadorian court’s unanimous acquittal of security expert Ola Bini in January this year due to complete lack of evidence, Ecuador’s attorney general’s office has moved…
Article 45 Will Roll Back Web Security by 12 Years
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> The EU is poised to pass a sweeping new regulation, eIDAS 2.0. Buried deep in the text is Article 45, which returns us to the dark ages…
The Government Surveillance Reform Act Would Rein in Some of the Worst Abuses of 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”> With Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) set to expire at the end of the year, Congress is considering whether to reauthorize the law…
EFF to Ninth Circuit: Activists’ Personal Information Unconstitutionally Collected by DHS Must Be Expunged
EFF filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in a case that has serious implications for people’s First Amendment rights to engage in cross-border journalism and advocacy. In 2019, the local San Diego…
Digital Rights Updates with EFFector 35.14
There’s been lots of news and updates recently in the realm of digital rights, from EFF’s recent investigation (and quiz!) into the student monitoring tool GoGuardian, to a recent victory in California regarding law enforcement’s sharing of ALPR data outside…
Congress Shouldn’t Limit The Public’s Right To Fight Bad Patents
The U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Intellectual Property will debate a bill this week that would dramatically limit the public’s right to challenge bad granted patents. The PREVAIL Act, S. 2220 would bar most people from petitioning the U.S. Patent and…
EFF to Supreme Court: Reverse Dangerous Prior Restraint Ruling Upholding FBI Gag on X’s Surveillance Transparency Report
Ninth Circuit Ruling Gives Government Unilateral Power to Suppress Speech WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged the Supreme Court today to review and reverse a dangerous ruling allowing the Justice Department to censor X’s ability to publish information about…
EFF to Copyright Office: Copyright Is Indeed a Hammer, But Don’t Be Too Hasty to Nail Generative AI
Generative AI has sparked a great deal of hype, fear, and speculation. Courts are just beginning to analyze how traditional copyright laws apply to the creation and use of these technologies. Into this breach has stepped the United States Copyright…
VICTORY! California Department of Justice Declares Out-of-State Sharing of License Plate Data Unlawful
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has issued a legal interpretation and guidance for law enforcement agencies around the state that confirms what privacy advocates have been saying for years: It is against the law for police to share data collected…
You Wanna Break Up With Your Bank? The CFPB Wants to Help You Do It.
The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau has proposed a new “Personal Financial Data Rights” rule that will force your bank to make it easy for you to extract your financial data so that you can use it to comparison shop for…
Young People May Be The Biggest Target for Online Censorship and Surveillance—and the Strongest Weapon Against Them
Over the last year, state and federal legislatures have tried to pass—and in some cases succeeded in passing—legislation that bars young people from digital spaces, censors what they are allowed to see and share online, and monitors and controls when…
How GoGuardian Invades Student Privacy
This post was co-authored by legal intern Kate Prince. Jump to our detailed report about GoGuardian and student monitoring tools. GoGuardian is a student monitoring tool that watches over twenty-seven million students across ten thousand schools, but what it does exactly,…
What the !#@% is a Passkey?
This is part 1 of our series on passkeys. Part 2, on privacy, is here. A new login technique is becoming available in 2023: the passkey. The passkey promises to solve phishing and prevent password reuse. But lots of smart…
Passkeys and Privacy
This is part 2 of our series on passkeys. See part 1 here. In our previous article we described what a passkey is: a few hundred bytes of data stored in your password manager, security key, or elsewhere, which allows…
Celebrating the Internet Freedom Movement at the EFF Awards
“It would be easy to see the world as all doom and gloom when you’re tackling these issues… But we do this work because we CAN fix the internet. Our dream is that everyone in this room will not only…
Access to Law Should Be Fully Open: Tell Congress Not to Be Fooled by the Pro Codes Act
< div> < div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> It’s Open Access Week in the United States, which means it’s a chance to celebrate the accomplishments of the Open Access movement—and reinforce the need to keep fighting. We’ve…
What’s the Goal and How Do We Get There? Crucial Issues in Brazil’s Take on Saving the News from Big Tech
< div> < div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> Amidst the global wave of countries looking at Big Tech revenues and how they relate to the growing news media crisis, many are asking whether and how tech companies…
Internet Access Shouldn’t Be a Bargaining Chip In Geopolitical Battles
< div> < div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> We at EFF are horrified by the events transpiring in the Middle East: Hamas’ deadly attack on southern Israel last weekend and Israel’s ongoing retributive military attack and siege…
What to Do If You’re Concerned About the 23andMe Breach
< div> < div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> In early October, a bad actor claimed they were selling account details from the genetic testing service, 23andMe, which included alleged data of one million users of Ashkenazi Jewish…
Privacy Advocates to TSA: Slow Down Plans for mDLs
< div> < div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> A digital form of identification should have the same privacy and security protections as physical ones. More so, because the standards governing them are so new and untested. This…
Adtech Surveillance and Government Surveillance are Often the Same Surveillance
< div> < div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> In the absence of comprehensive federal privacy legislation in the United States, the targeted advertising industry, fueled by personal information harvested from our cell phone applications, has run roughshod…
Social Media Platforms Must Do Better When Handling Misinformation, Especially During Moments of Conflict
< div> < div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> In moments of political tension and social conflict, people have turned to social media to share information, speak truth to power, and report uncensored information from their communities. Just…
Colorado Supreme Court Upholds Keyword Search Warrant
< div> < div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> Today, the Colorado Supreme Court became the first state supreme court in the country to address the constitutionality of a keyword warrant—a digital dragnet tool that allows law enforcement…
CCTV Cambridge: Nurturing Community with Tools for Speech and Civic Engagement
< div> < div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> Recently I got the chance to speak with longtime Electronic Frontier Alliance member Cambridge Community Television (CCTV). Their membership is growing, they’ve got a new Associate Director of Community…
Digital Rights Updates with EFFector 35.13
< div> < div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> It’s spooky season 🎃 But don’t let the latest digital rights news scare you—we’ve got a breakdown of the latest headlines with our EFFector newsletter. This latest issue covers…
EFF and 45 Organizations Tell UN: Reverse Decision to Host IGF in Saudi Arabia
< div> < div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> EFF joins 45 digital and human rights organizations in calling on the UN Secretary-General and other decision-makers to reverse their recent decision to grant Saudi Arabia host status for…
The FCC Expected to Propose the The FCC is Expected to Propose the Return of Net Neutrality Protections Oct 19th – Let’s Hope They Get it Right!
< div> < div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> Network neutrality is the idea that internet service providers (ISPs) should treat all data that travels over their networks fairly, without discrimination in favor of particular apps, sites or…
The FCC is Expected to Propose the Return of Net Neutrality Protections Oct 19th – Let’s Hope They Get it Right!
< div> < div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> Network neutrality is the idea that internet service providers (ISPs) should treat all data that travels over their networks fairly, without discrimination in favor of particular apps, sites or…
California Takes Some Big Steps for Digital Rights
< div> < div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> California often sets the bar for technology legislation across the country. This year, the state enacted several laws that strengthen consumer digital rights. The first big win to celebrate?…
Is Landmark Technology’s Two-Decade Patent Assault On E-Commerce Finally Over?
< div> < div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> Landmark Technology’s U.S. Patent No. 7,010,508, and its predecessor, are very likely two of the most-abused patents in U.S. history. These patents, under two different owners, have been used…
EFF Urges Second Circuit to Affirm Injunction of New York’s Dangerous Online “Hateful Conduct” Law
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> EFF, along with the ACLU, urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to find a New York statute that compels platforms to moderate online…
See What We Accomplished Together in EFF’s 2022 Annual Report
< 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 here! EFF’s 2022 Annual Report is live and highlights our work powered by digital freedom supporters around the world. 2022 was a big year: we had…
Is Your State’s Child Safety Law Unconstitutional? Try Comprehensive Data Privacy Instead
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Comprehensive data privacy legislation is the best way to hold tech companies accountable in our surveillance age, including for harm they do to children. Well-written privacy legislation…
EFF And Other Experts Join in Pointing Out Pitfalls of Proposed EU Cyber-Resilience Act
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Today we join a set of 56 experts from organizations such as Google, Panasonic, Citizen Lab, Trend Micro and many others in an open letter calling on…
GAO Report Shows the Government Uses Face Recognition with No Accountability, Transparency, or Training
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> Federal agents are using face recognition software without training, policies, or oversight, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The government watchdog issued yet another report this month about the dangerously…
The State of Chihuahua Is Building a 20-Story Tower in Ciudad Juarez to Surveil 13 Cities–and Texas Will Also Be Watching
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> EFF Special Advisor Paul Tepper and EFF intern Michael Rubio contributed research to this report. Chihuahua state officials and a notorious Mexican security contractor broke ground last…
Cities Should Act NOW to Ban Predictive Policing…and Stop Using ShotSpotter, Too
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Sound Thinking, the company behind ShotSpotter—an acoustic gunshot detection technology that is rife with problems—is reportedly buying Geolitica, the company behind PredPol, a predictive policing technology known…
The Growing Threat of Cybercrime Law Abuse: LGBTQ+ Rights in MENA and the UN Cybercrime Draft Convention
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> This is Part II of a series examining the proposed UN Cybercrime Treaty in the context of LGBTQ+ communities. Part I looks at the draft Convention’s potential…
Watch EFF’s Talks from DEF CON 31
EFF had a blast at DEF CON 31! Thank you to everyone who came and supported EFF at the membership booth, participated in our contests, and checked out our various talks. We had a lot of things going on this…
Get Real, Congress: Censoring Search Results or Recommendations 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”> Are you a young person fighting back against bad bills like KOSA? Become an EFF member at a new, discounted Neon membership level specifically for you–stickers included! For the past…
The Federal Government’s Privacy Watchdog Concedes: 702 Must Change
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) has released its much-anticipated report on Section 702, a legal authority that allows the government to collect a massive amount of digital communications…
EFF to D.C. Circuit: Animal Rights Activists Shouldn’t Be Censored on Government Social Media Pages Because Agency Disagrees With Their Viewpoint
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Intern Muhammad Essa contributed to this post. EFF, along with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), filed a brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals…
How To Turn Off Google’s “Privacy Sandbox” Ad Tracking—and Why You Should
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> Google has rolled out “Privacy Sandbox,” a Chrome feature first announced back in 2019 that, among other things, exchanges third-party cookies—the most common form of tracking technology—for…
EFF’s Comment to the Meta Oversight Board on Polish Anti-Trans Facebook Post
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> EFF recently submitted comments in response to the Meta Oversight Board’s request for input on a Facebook post in Polish from April 2023 that targeted trans people.…
EFF, ACLU and 59 Other Organizations Demand Congress Protect Digital Privacy and Free Speech
< 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, EFF joined the ACLU and 59 partner organizations to send a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urging the Senate to reject the…
EFF at FIFAfrica 2023
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> EFF is excited to be in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania for this year’s iteration of the Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa (FIFAfrica), organized by CIPESA (Collaboration…
The U.S. Government’s Database of Immigrant DNA Has Hit Scary, Astronomical Proportions
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> The FBI recently released its proposed budget for 2024, and its request for a massive increase in funding for its DNA database should concern us all. The…
Don’t Fall for the Intelligence Community’s Monster of the Week Justifications
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> In the beloved episodic television shows of yesteryear, the antagonists were often “monsters of the week”: villains who would show up for one episode and get vanquished…
This Bill Would Revive The Worst Patents On Software—And Human Genes
< div class=”field field–name-body field–type-text-with-summary field–label-hidden”> < div class=”field__items”> < div class=”field__item even”> The majority of high-tech patent lawsuits are brought by patent trolls—companies that exist not to provide products or services, but primarily have a business using patents to…
Today The UK Parliament Undermined The Privacy, Security, And Freedom Of All Internet Users
The U.K. Parliament has passed the Online Safety Bill (OSB), which says it will make the U.K. “the safest place” in the world to be online. In reality, the OSB will lead to a much more censored, locked-down internet for…
We Want YOU (U.S. Federal Employees) to Stand for Digital Freedoms
It’s that time of the year again! U.S. federal employees and retirees can support the digital freedom movement through the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). The Combined Federal Campaign is the world’s largest and most successful annual charity campaign for U.S.…
New Privacy Badger Prevents Google From Mangling More of Your Links and Invading Your Privacy
We released a new version of Privacy Badger that updates how we fight “link tracking” across a number of Google products. With this update Privacy Badger removes tracking from links in Google Docs, Gmail, Google Maps, and Google Images results.…
UN Cybercrime Treaty Talks End Without Consensus on Scope And Deep Divides About Surveillance Powers
As the latest negotiating session on the proposed UN Cybercrime Treaty wrapped up in New York earlier this month, one thing was clear: with time running out to finalize the text, little progress and consensus was reached on crucial points,…
EFF to Michigan Court: Governments Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Use a Drone to Spy on You Without a Warrant
Should the government have to get a warrant before using a drone to spy on your home and backyard? We think so, and in an amicus brief filed last Friday in Long Lake Township v. Maxon, we urged the Michigan…
UN’s Cybercrime Convention Draft: A Slippery Slope for LGBTQ+ and Gender Rights
This post is divided into two parts. Part I looks at the draft UN’s Cybercrime Convention and its potential implications for LGBTQ+ rights. Part II provides a closer look at how cybercrime laws might specifically impact the LGBTQ+ community and…
Appeals Court Upholds Public.Resource.Org’s Right to Post Public Laws and Regulations Online
Our laws belong to all of us, and we should be able to find, read, and share them free of registration requirements, fees, and other roadblocks. SAN FRANCISCO—Technical standards—like fire and electrical codes—developed by private organizations but incorporated into public…
Federal Judge Upholds State Department Rule Requiring Visa Applicants to Disclose Social Media Information
Since 2019, people applying for a visa to the United States have had to register their social media accounts with the U.S. government as part of the application process. Two U.S.-based documentary film organizations that regularly collaborate with non-U.S. filmmakers…
EFF Award Winner: Signal Foundation
In 1992 EFF presented our very first awards recognizing key leaders and organizations advancing innovation and championing digital rights. Now in 2023 we are continuing to celebrate the accomplishments of people working toward a better future for technology users with…
Arkansas Lawmakers Could Wreck A 50-Year-Old FOIA Law This Week
Arkansas residents right now are facing a sudden and serious attempt to block their access to important government information. In a special session of the state legislature, announced Friday by Gov. Sarah Sanders and convened Monday morning, lawmakers are expected…
Arkansas Shouldn’t Use a Hastily-Called Special Session To Make FOIA Less Functional
Arkansas residents right now are facing a sudden and serious attempt to block their access to important government information. In a special session of the state legislature, announced Friday by Gov. Sarah Sanders and convened Monday morning, lawmakers are expected…
EFF Award Winner: Library Freedom Project
In 1992 EFF presented our very first awards recognizing key leaders and organizations advancing innovation and championing digital rights. Now in 2023 we are continuing to celebrate the accomplishments of people working toward a better future for technology users with…
EFF Welcomes Erica Astrella and Yoshi Kohno to Its Board of Directors
Astrella and Kohno Bring Wealth of Experience in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Security Research and Data Privacy SAN FRANCISCO—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is honored to announce today that Erica Astrella, Head of Technology at Parkwood Entertainment and a leading voice…
The UK Government Knows How Extreme The Online Safety Bill Is
The U.K.’s Online Safety Bill (OSB) has passed a critical final stage in the House of Lords, and envisions a potentially vast scheme to surveil internet users. The bill would empower the U.K. government, in certain situations, to demand that online platforms…
EFF Urges Appeals Court to Re-hear Case over Trump’s X Account
A federal appeals court undermined more than a century of First Amendment law by upholding a gag order that kept X—formerly known as Twitter—from discussing the government’s demand for Donald Trump’s account data, EFF argued in a brief urging a…
California’s Middle Mile Network Must Bridge the Digital Divide, Not Reinforce It
When California unanimously passed S.B. 156 in 2021, we embarked on a multi-year, multi-billion dollar endeavor to bring affordable, 21st-century fiber to every Californian. Done correctly, this nearly $7 billion investment—further supplemented by $ 1.8 billion in federal funding—would help…
EFF Award Winner: Alexandra Asanova Elbakyan
In 1992 EFF presented our very first awards recognizing key leaders and organizations advancing innovation and championing digital rights. Now in 2023 we are continuing to celebrate the accomplishments of people working toward a better future for technology users with…
Digital Rights Updates with EFFector 35.11
Summer break is over, so it’s time to catch up on the latest news in digital freedoms! There’s no better way to learn about what’s happening with digital privacy and free expression than with EFF’s EFFector newsletter. This latest issue…
UK Online Safety Bill Will Mandate Dangerous Age Verification for Much of the Web
This blog post was co-written by Dr. Monica Horten of Open Rights Group. Under new age verification rules in the UK’s massive Online Safety Bill, all internet platforms with UK users will have to stop minors from accessing ‘harmful’ content,…
Montana’s New Genetic Privacy Law Caps Off Ten Years of Innovative State Privacy Protections
Over the last 10+ years, Montana has, with little fanfare or national attention, steadily pushed to protect its residents’ privacy interests through sensible laws that recognize the unique threats posed by new technologies. Now Montana has passed one of the…
Podcast Episode Rerelease: Securing the Vote
This episode was first published on May 24, 2022. %3Ciframe%20height%3D%2252px%22%20width%3D%22100%25%22%20frameborder%3D%22no%22%20scrolling%3D%22no%22%20seamless%3D%22%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fplayer.simplecast.com%2Fc967800f-4f19-45df-91ce-cd044555c79e%3Fdark%3Dtrue%26amp%3Bcolor%3D000000%22%20allow%3D%22autoplay%22%3E%3C%2Fiframe%3E Privacy info. This embed will serve content from simplecast.com U.S. democracy is at an inflection point, and how we administer and verify our elections is more important than ever. From…
ISPs Should Not Police Online Speech—No Matter How Awful It Is.
Entrusting our speech to multiple different corporate actors is always risky. Yet given how most of the internet is currently structured, our online expression largely depends on a set of private companies ranging from our direct Internet service providers and…
Apple, Long a Critic of Right to Repair, Comes Out in Support of California Bill
Apple has announced a surprising stance in support of California’s Right to Repair Act (S.B. 244). This is a sign that the public’s strong support of the right to repair has forced Apple to change its position, and now is…