Most nude content is legal, and engaging with such material online provides individuals with a safe and open framework to explore their identities, build communities, and discover new interests. However, social networks and payment processors are intervening to become the arbiter … | Continue reading
California’s legislators took their oaths of office for a fresh two-year session last week. As we prepared for a new session, it’s worth looking back at the past session—in which, with your help, EFF was able to advocate successfully for digital rights victories. California is of … | Continue reading
In 2022, cyber-attacks on government databases and systems broke into headlines in several Latin American countries. These attacks have exposed government systems’ vulnerabilities—including sometimes basic ones, like failing to keep software updated with critical patches—and show … | Continue reading
The majority of federal agencies — including law enforcement agencies like Customs and Border Protection — are refusing to release some of the most basic guidance materials used by their Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) offices: procedures for how they do their jobs. Government … | Continue reading
Every year, Congress must follow through on an enormous and complicated task: agreeing on how to fund the government for the following year. The wrangling over spending often comes down to the wire, and this year, some Senators are considering shoehorning a controversial and unco … | Continue reading
The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) is the world's largest and most successful annual charity campaign for U.S. federal employees and retirees. The pledge period for this year's campaign ends on January 14, 2023, and you can donate to support EFF's mission in fighting for digital … | Continue reading
The general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued an important memo that calls for regulators to protect workers against what she described as “unlawful electronic surveillance and automated management practices.” The NLRB is the independent federal agency c … | Continue reading
Want the latest news on your digital rights? Well, you're in luck! Version 34, issue 6 of our EFFector newsletter is out now. Catch up on the latest EFF news by reading our newsletter or listening to the audio version below. This issue covers a collection of EFF's latest victorie … | Continue reading
H.E. Ms. Faouzia Boumaiza MebarkiChairperson Ad Hoc Committee to Elaborate a Comprehensive International Convention on Countering the Use of Information and Communication Technologies for Criminal Purposes Your Excellency: We, the undersigned organizations and academics, work to … | Continue reading
Independent journalists increasingly gather newsworthy information and publish it on social media, often without the involvement of traditional news media. They make important contributions to public discourse and are often the first to report newsworthy events. Courts must scrup … | Continue reading
Targeted advertising’s days may be numbered. The Wall Street Journal and Reuters report that the European Data Protection Board has ruled that Meta cannot continue targeting ads based on user’s online activity without affirmative, opt-in consent. This ruling is based on the Europ … | Continue reading
The Council of the European Union this week adopted new language for regulations governing internet systems that may put the security of your browser at greater risk. The new language affects the EU’s electronic identification, authentication and trust services (eIDAS) rules, whi … | Continue reading
In recent months, Delaware-based U.S. District Court Judge Colm Connolly started an inquiry into some patent trolling companies that have filed dozens of lawsuits in his court. Last month, lawyers for the patent troll companies appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federa … | Continue reading
Today Apple announced it will provide fully encrypted iCloud backups, meeting a longstanding demand by EFF and other privacy-focused organizations. We applaud Apple for listening to experts, child advocates, and users who want to protect their most sensitive data. Encryption is … | Continue reading
In the 21st century, it is difficult to lead a life without a cell phone. It is also difficult to change your number—you’ve given it to all your friends, family, doctors, children’s schools, and so on. It’s especially difficult if you are trying to leave an abusive relationship w … | Continue reading
The Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit has issued a disappointing ruling in the case of Green v. DOJ. The ruling left intact a law that has stifled speech and innovation for decades and forced researchers, advocates, teachers, and tinkerers to beg for government permission to do … | Continue reading
In a stunning 8-to-3 vote yesterday, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors banned the SFPD from using deadly force with remote-controlled robots. The Board also sent the killer robot policy back to its Rules Committee for revisions and more public comment. This is a big reversal … | Continue reading
Network usage fees, the idea that certain types of companies should pay internet service providers (ISPs) for the ability to deliver their content to consumers, both hurts consumers and breaks the status quo that has facilitated the rapid spread of the global internet. ISPs claim … | Continue reading
Lawsuits claiming that online services aid terrorist organizations just by hosting their content or having users who espouse the organizations’ views potentially could censor a vast amount of protected expression online, EFF and a coalition of other civil society groups argued in … | Continue reading
EFF is announcing a letter signed by 44 community groups who stand united in opposition to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors authorizing the San Francisco Police Department to deploy deadly force with remote-control robots. The signers include racial justice groups, civil ri … | Continue reading
If you get sued, you should be able to figure out who sued you. Remarkably, though, people and companies who are accused of patent infringement in federal court often have no idea who is truly behind the lawsuit. Patent trolls, companies whose main business is extorting others ov … | Continue reading
Privacy and online free expression are once again under threat in India, thanks to vaguely worded cybersecurity directions—promulgated by India’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) earlier this year—that impose draconian mass surveillance obligations on internet services, … | Continue reading
The recent chaos at Twitter is a reminder that when you rely on a social media platform, you’re putting your voice, your privacy, and your safety in the hands of the people who run that system. Many people are looking to Mastodon as a backup or replacement for Twitter, and this g … | Continue reading
Except in Rare Cases, Intervening to Block Sites or Remove Content Can Harm UsersSan Francisco—Internet infrastructure services—the heart of a secure and resilient internet where free speech and expression flows—should continue to focus their energy on making the web an essential … | Continue reading
A company harvested your personal data, but failed to take basic steps to secure it. So thieves stole it. Now you’ve lost control of your data, and you’re at greater risk of identity theft. But when you sue the negligent company, they say you haven’t really been injured, so you d … | Continue reading
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Nov. 29 voted 8 to 3 to approve on first reading a policy that would formally authorize the San Francisco Police Department to deploy deadly force via remote-controlled robots. The majority fell down the rabbit hole of security theater: d … | Continue reading
Yesterday, nearly 100 organizations have asked Congress not to pass the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which would “force providers to use invasive filtering and monitoring tools; jeopardize private, secure communications; incentivize increased data collection on children and adu … | Continue reading
Power Up Your Donation Week is here! Right now, your contribution to the Electronic Frontier Foundation will have double the impact on digital privacy, security, and free speech rights for everyone. Power Up! Give today and get an automatic 2X match A group of passionate EFF supp … | Continue reading
The U.S.-Mexico border is one of the most politicized technological spaces in the country, with leaders in both political parties supporting massive spending on border security and the so-called "Virtual Wall." Yet we see little debate over the negative impacts for human rights o … | Continue reading
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors will vote soon on a policy that would allow the San Francisco Police Department to use deadly force by arming its many robots. This is a spectacularly dangerous idea and EFF’s stance is clear: police should not arm robots. Police technology … | Continue reading
The British Parliament may start debating the Online Safety Bill again as soon as this week. The bill is a deeply flawed censorship proposal that would allow U.K. residents to be thrown in jail for what they say online. It would also force online service providers to use governme … | Continue reading
We all should have the ability to have a private conversation, and it follows that we need ways to communicate privately online as well. In the digital world, end-to-end encryption is our best chance to maintain our privacy and security. In the fraught legal landscape following … | Continue reading
EFF intern Izzy Simon contributed to this blog post. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects the right to free expression and prohibits the government from “abridging the freedom of speech.” This includes protecting an individual's right to make jokes online—even ba … | Continue reading
EFF's 2021 Annual Report is out now! Enjoy highlights of our work during the calendar year, along with a financial report covering our fiscal year of July 2020 - June 2021. EFF leveraged over $15M in public support to defend civil liberties and encourage innovation in the digita … | Continue reading
EFF on Monday joined Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, ACLU California Action, Oakland Privacy, Media Alliance and the Consumer Federation of America in submitting comments to the California Privacy Protection Agency. The Agency is currently writing rules for the California Consumer … | Continue reading
EFF filed comments with the Federal Trade Commission Monday, in response to the Commission’s request for public comment addressing harmful commercial surveillance and lax data security. EFF laid out many of its core principles on data privacy regulation in ways that fall in line … | Continue reading
In the 21st century, it is difficult to lead a life without a cell phone. It is also difficult to change your number—you’ve given it to all your friends, family, doctors, children’s schools, and so on. It’s especially difficult if you are trying to leave an abusive relationship w … | Continue reading
Billionaire Elon Musk says Twitter can be an “incredibly valuable service to the world,” a global forum where ideas and debates flourish. Yet, much of what he has done since taking over the company suggests that he doesn’t understand how to accomplish this, doesn’t appreciate the … | Continue reading
A wave of people have announced that they're leaving Twitter to check out something called Mastodon, and that leaves many wondering, what is Mastodon anyway? More importantly, what is the “fediverse” and what is “ActivityPub”? This explainer will help you make heads or tails of t … | Continue reading
The latest version of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is focused on removing online information that people need to see—people of all ages. Letting governments—state or federal—decide what information anyone needs to see is a dangerous endeavor. On top of that, this bill, suppo … | Continue reading
This post is part of a series on Mastodon and the fediverse. We also have a post on why the fediverse will be great—if we don't screw it up, and more are on the way. With so many users migrating to Mastodon as their micro-blogging service of choice, a lot of questions are being r … | Continue reading
This post is part of a series on Mastodon and the fediverse. We also have a post on security and privacy on Mastodon, and more are on the way. Something remarkable is happening. For the past two weeks, people have been leaving Twitter. Many others are reducing their reliance on i … | Continue reading
This weekend, EFF is celebrating the life and work of programmer, activist, and entrepreneur Aaron Swartz by participating in the 2022 Aaron Swartz Day and Hackathon. This year, the event will be held in person at the Internet Archive in San Francisco on Nov. 12 and Nov. 13. It w … | Continue reading
Should the government be allowed to collect your DNA—and retain it indefinitely—if you’re arrested for a low-level offense like shoplifting a tube of lipstick, driving without a valid license, or walking your dog off leash? We don’t think so. As we argue in an amicus brief filed … | Continue reading
In August, the Tulsa police department held a press conference about how its new Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs), a controversial piece of surveillance technology, was the policing equivalent of “turning the lights on” for the first time. In Ontario, California, the city … | Continue reading
For over thirty years, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has awarded those paving the way for freedom and innovation in the digital world. Countless luminaries working in digital privacy and free speech gathered for this Pioneer Award Ceremony in San Francisco over the dec … | Continue reading
The Sacramento County Utility District (SMUD) and the Sacramento Police Department are running an illegal data sharing scheme, with the police making bulk requests for customers’ energy usage data to enforce a cannabis grow ordinance, according to a new EFF lawsuit.The secret dat … | Continue reading
Among its many other problems, the Strengthening Measures to Advance Rights Technologies Copyright Act would mandate a slew of filtering technologies that online service providers must "accommodate." And that mandate is broad, so poorly-conceived, and so technically misguided tha … | Continue reading