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 over our privacy. Worse, the boundaries between corporate surveillance … | Continue reading
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 over a decade ago, social media was celebrated widely as a booster—if not a catalyst— … | Continue reading
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 to identify everyone who searched the internet for a specific term or phrase. In a weak a … | Continue reading
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 the government spying law Section 702 and why it must end; our fight against the Kids Online Safety Act, … | Continue reading
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 Relations, Maritza Grooms, and exciting projects are coming down the pike! Ma … | Continue reading
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 2024 Internet Governance Forum (IGF), and to conduct a review of the process that led to … | Continue reading
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 services. It is a principle that must be upheld to protect the open Internet. The idea … | Continue reading
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 to threaten thousands of small businesses since 2001. In just one 18-month period, the … | Continue reading
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? Californians now enjoy the right to repair. S.B. 244, authored by California Sen. Susan … | Continue reading
We trust companies with our information every day. But many companies—even those that hold our most revealing information—are using it not just to provide the services we ask for, but to amp up their profits at the cost of our privacy. That's why EFF has joined a campaign, led by … | Continue reading
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 speech that falls within the state’s particular definition of “hateful conduct” unconstitutional. The statute itself requires cove … | Continue reading
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 17 legal and legislative victories, and an average of 78 press mentions per day globally. EFF spoke with the power of 34,500 mem … | Continue reading
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 has the added benefit of being constitutional—unlike the flurry of laws that restrict conten … | Continue reading
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 the European Commission, European Parliament, and Spain’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation to reconsider th … | Continue reading
Chihuahua state officials and a notorious Mexican security contractor broke ground last summer on the Torre Centinela (Sentinel Tower), an ominous, 20-story high-rise in downtown Ciudad Juarez that will serve as the central node of a new AI-enhanced surveillance regime. With tent … | Continue reading
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 inadequate and nonexistent rules for how federa … | Continue reading
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 to exacerbate inequalities by directing police to already massivel … | Continue reading
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 implications for LGBTQ+ rights. Part II provides a closer look at how cybercrime laws might specifically impact the LGBT … | Continue reading
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 year, and it was great to see so many new and familiar faces. This year w … | Continue reading
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 two years, Congress has been trying to revise the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) to address crit … | Continue reading
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 around the world and in the U.S. The PCLOB agreed with EFF and organ … | Continue reading
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 for the D.C. Circuit urging the court to reverse a lower court ruling that upheld the censorship of public comment … | Continue reading
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 what the company is now calling "Topics." Topics is a response to pushback against Google … | Continue reading
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. The Oversight Board was created by Meta in 2020 as an appellate body and has 22 members from around the world who r … | Continue reading
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 STOP CSAM Act. This bill threatens encrypted communications and free speech online, and would actively harm LGBTQ+ people, … | Continue reading
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 on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa) between 27-29 September 2023. FIFAfrica is a landmark eve … | Continue reading
With so much happening in the digital rights movement, it can be difficult to keep up. But EFF has you covered with our EFFector newsletter, containing a collection of the latest headlines! The latest issue is out now and covers a new update to our Privacy Badger browser extensio … | Continue reading
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 FBI is asking for an additional $53 million in funding to aid in the collection, organization, and maintenance of its Combined … | Continue reading
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 by the heroes just in time for them to fight the new monster in the following episode. Keeping up with the Inte … | Continue reading
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 threaten others’ work. Some politicians are proposing to make that bad situation worse. Rather than tak … | Continue reading
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 British users. The bill could empower the government to unde … | Continue reading
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. federal employees … | Continue reading
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. Privacy Badger now also removes tra … | Continue reading
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, such as the treaty's overall scope of ap … | Continue reading
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 Supreme Court to find that warrantless drone surveillance of a home viola … | Continue reading
Cell-site simulators (CSS)—also known as IMSI Catchers and Stingrays—are a tool that law enforcement and governments use to track the location of phones, intercept or disrupt communications, spy on foreign governments, or even install malware. Cell-site simulators are also used b … | Continue reading
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 activists in the Middle East and No … | Continue reading
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 law can … | Continue reading
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 and other in … | Continue reading
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 the EFF Awa … | Continue reading
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 to discuss ma … | Continue reading
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 the EFF Awa … | Continue reading
Astrella and Kohno Bring Wealth of Experience in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Security Research and Data PrivacySAN FRANCISCO—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is honored to announce today that Erica Astrella, Head of Technology at Parkwood Entertainment and a leading voi … | Continue reading
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 use government-appro … | Continue reading
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 re-hearing. The amicus brief filed … | Continue reading
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 the EFF Awa … | Continue reading
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 … | Continue reading
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 goes over the terrible Protecting Kids on S … | Continue reading