In a fight between the big tech companies and the internet provider giants, it can be very tempting to not care who wins and loses. However, in the case of the ISPs’ “fair share” proposals, ISP victory would mean undermining…
Tag: Deeplinks
What Reddit Got Wrong
After weeks of burning through users’ goodwill, Reddit is facing a moderator strike and an exodus of its most important users. It’s the latest example of a social media site making a critical mistake: users aren’t there for the services,…
The FTC Forces Ring to Take User Privacy Seriously
Amazon’s surveillance doorbell company Ring has reached a settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission which will require the company to pay $5.8 million over its inability to keep private footage and audio collected from users’ homes. This action stems…
The California Legislature Must Stay The Course on Broadband Funding
As California, the world’s fifth-largest economy, navigates a changing landscape, including a budget deficit, it’s important that the legislature not take shortcuts that rob the state of future-proof technology. Instead of backing down, the California legislature must continue on the…
To Save the News, We Need an End-to-End Web
This is part five of an ongoing, five-part series. Part one, the introduction, is here. Part two, about breaking up ad-tech companies, is here. Part three, about banning surveillance ads, is here. Part four, about opening up app stores, is…
Supreme Court Sends Bad Spaniels Back to Obedience School, Leaves Rogers Test Mostly Intact
The question of when you can use a trademark is one we see all the time—and one that is often misunderstood. Many of the world’s largest and most powerful companies are fanatical about their trademarks. But that means the public…
China Must Release Program Think Blogger Ruan Xiaohuan, Champion of Free Expression Who Spoke Out Against Censorship and Oppression
As the Chinese government cracked down on online free expression over the last decade, blocking access to information, filtering content, surveilling users for social control, and unleashing malware disproportionately against its own people, there was one steady, anonymous voice on…
EFF and Allies Send Letters to Senate Judiciary Opposing Bill to Require Messaging Platforms to Report Users to the DEA
EFF, the ACLU, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers joined a coalition that sent two letters to the Senate Judiciary Committee to oppose S. 1080, the Cooper Davis Act. The letters point out the privacy, speech, and criminal justice…
Victory! New Jersey Court Rules Police Must Give Defendant the Facial Recognition Algorithms Used to Identify Him
In a victory for transparency in police use of facial recognition, a New Jersey appellate court today ruled that state prosecutors—who charged a man for armed robbery after the technology showed he was a “possible match” for the suspect—must turn…
To Save the News, We Must Open Up App Stores
This is part four of an ongoing, five-part series. Part one, the introduction, is here. Part two, about breaking up ad-tech companies, is here. Part three, about banning surveillance ads, is here. When Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad in 2010,…
Digital Rights Updates with EFFector 35.7
Catch up on the latest news in the digital rights movement with our EFFector newsletter! Our latest issue is out now, and it is jam packed with updates, from decisions made by the Supreme court on Section 230 and fair…
Our Right To Challenge Junk Patents Is Under Threat
The U.S. Patent Office has proposed new rules about who can challenge wrongly granted patents. If the rules become official, they will offer new protections to patent trolls. Challenging patents will become far more onerous, and impossible for some. The…
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Has Made a Mockery of the Constitutional Right to Privacy
The latest evidence that Section 702 of the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act (FISA) must be ended or drastically reformed came last month in the form of a newly unsealed order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) detailing massive violations…
The Right to Repair Is Law in Minnesota. California Should Be Next
Last week, Minnesota governor Tim Walz signed an omnibus bill that includes a comprehensive right to repair law requiring manufacturers to make spare parts, repair information, and tools available to consumers and repair shops. This law builds on smaller, but…
Federal Judge Makes History in Holding That Border Searches of Cell Phones Require a Warrant
With United States v. Smith (S.D.N.Y. May 11, 2023), a district court judge in New York made history by being the first court to rule that a warrant is required for a cell phone search at the border, “absent exigent…
EU’s Proposed Cyber Resilience Act Raises Concerns for Open Source and Cybersecurity
The EU is in the middle of the amendments process for its proposed Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), a law intended to bolster Europe’s defenses against cyber-attacks and improve product security. This law targets a broad swath of products brought to…
To Save the News, We Must Ban Surveillance Advertising
This is part three of an ongoing, five-part series. Part one, the introduction, is here. Part two, about breaking up ad-tech companies, is here. The ad-tech industry is incredibly profitable, raking in hundreds of billions of dollars every year by…
Podcast Episode: Who Inserted the Creepy?
Writers sit watching a stranger’s search engine terms being typed in real time, a voyeuristic peek into that person’s most private thoughts. A woman lands a dream job at a powerful tech company but uncovers an agenda affecting the lives…
Californians: Speak Up To Protect People Seeking Repro and Gender-Affirming Care
We need your help to advance A.B. 793, a bill authored by Assemblymember Mia Bonta to protect people seeking abortion and gender-affirming care from dragnet-style digital surveillance. It’s facing law enforcement opposition as it heads to the Assembly floor for…
EFF at RightsCon 2023
After three years of virtual gatherings, RightsCon is back! The 12th edition of the world’s leading summit on human rights in the digital age will be a hybrid convening taking place online through the RightsCon platform and in San José,…
Victory in California! Police Instructors Can’t Claim Copyright Protections to Block Release of Use-of-Force and Other Training Materials
After a two-year legal battle, the state agency that certifies police officers in California has agreed to EFF’s demand that it stop using copyright concerns as a predicate to withhold law enforcement training materials from public scrutiny. The immediate impact…
Civil Liberties Groups Demand California Police Stop Sharing Drivers’ Location Data With Police In Anti-Abortion States
This sharing by 71 CA police agencies violates state law and could be used by other states to identify and prosecute abortion seekers and providers. SAN FRANCISCO—Seventy-one California police agencies in 22 counties must immediately stop sharing automated license plate…
Congress Must Exercise Caution in AI Regulation
Artificial intelligence technologies (AI) are all the rage in Washington D.C. these days. Policymakers are hearing stories of utopian opportunities and certain doom from technologists, CEOs, and public interest groups and trying to figure out when and how Congress should…
To Save the News, We Must Shatter Ad-Tech
The news is in trouble. It’s not just the mass closures of newsrooms – it’s also the physical and ideological attacks on journalists.News websites are plastered with ads, but more than half of the money those ads generate is siphoned…
What the Supreme Court’s Decision in Warhol Means for Fair Use
The Supreme Court has issued its long-awaited decision in Andy Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith, a fair use case that raised fundamental questions about rights and obligations of commercial artists. The Court’s opinion did not answer many of those questions, but…
SFPD Obtained Live Access to Business Camera Network in Anticipation of Tyre Nichols Protest
New documents EFF received through public records requests have revealed that the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) received live access to the hundreds of surveillance cameras that comprise the Union Square Business Improvement District’s (USBID) camera network in anticipation of…
Newly Public FISC Opinion is The Best Evidence For Why Congress Must End Section 702
A surveillance court order unsealed last week that details massive violations of Americans’ privacy by the FBI underscores why Congress must end or radically change the unconstitutional spying program enabled by Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).…
EFF to Court: California’s Public Records Law Must Remain a Check on Police Use of Drones
An increasing number of cities are adding drone flights to their law enforcement tool kit. Public access to appropriately redacted video footage from those flights can provide oversight of police surveillance and help ensure cities are living up to their…
From Past Lessons to Future Protections: EFF’s Advice to the EU Commission on Extended Reality Governance
EFF, in partnership with Access Now and the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL), has responded to the European Commission’s consultation, “Virtual Worlds (Metaverses) – A Vision for Openness, Safety, and Respect.” This follows our joint statement on International Human…
10 Years After Snowden: Some Things Are Better, Some We’re Still Fighting For
On May 20, 2013, a young government contractor with an EFF sticker on his laptop disembarked a plane in Hong Kong carrying with him evidence confirming, among other things, that the United States government had been conducting mass surveillance on…
The Internet Dodges Censorship by the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court today refused to weaken one of the key laws supporting free expression online, and recognized that digital platforms are not usually liable for their users’ illegal acts, ensuring that everyone can continue to use those services to…
Support the “My Body, My Data” Act
EFF supports Rep. Sara Jacobs’ “My Body, My Data” Act, which will protect the privacy and safety of people seeking reproductive health care. The bill was reintroduced this week. Privacy fears should never stand in the way of healthcare. That’s…
How to Enable Advanced Data Protection on iOS, and Why You Should
Apple has long used end-to-end encryption for some of the information on your iPhone, like passwords or health data, but the company neglected to offer a way to better protect other crucial data, including iCloud backups, until recently. This came…
Saving the News From Big Tech
Media is in crisis: newsrooms all over the world are shuttering and the very profession of journalism is under sustained ideological and physical assault. Freedom of the press is a hollow doctrine if the only news media is written or…
Don’t Mess With Texas’ Anti-SLAPP Law
Over the past few decades, we’ve seen the rise of civil lawsuits that are meant to harass and silence defendants, rather than resolve legitimate disputes. These lawsuits have become known as Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, or SLAPPs. Some states’…
Digital Privacy Legislation is Civil Rights Legislation
Our personal data and the ways private companies harvest and monetize it plays an increasingly powerful role in modern life. Corporate databases are vast, interconnected, and opaque. The movement and use of our data is difficult to understand, let alone…
Podcast Episode: People With Disabilities Are The Original Hackers
People with disabilities were the original hackers. The world can feel closed to them, so they often have had to be self-reliant in how they interact with society. And that creativity and ingenuity is an unappreciated resource. %3Ciframe%20scrolling%3D%22no%22%20seamless%3D%22%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fplayer.simplecast.com%2F3a41f44e-6468-48d9-a138-4a208b2f29b9%3Fdark%3Dtrue%26amp%3Bcolor%3D000000%22%20width%3D%22100%25%22%20height%3D%2252px%22%20frameborder%3D%22no%22%20allow%3D%22autoplay%22%3E%3C%2Fiframe%3E Privacy info.…
Digital Rights Updates with EFFector 35.6
Hey, look! The latest issue of our EFFector newsletter is out! Catch up on the latest digital civil liberties news, from our fights against dangerous anti-encryption and anti-speech bills, to some good news about fair use and security research tools.…
Eight Years Holding ISPs to Account in Latin America: A Comparative Outlook of Victories and Challenges for User Privacy
Latin American and Spanish telecommunications companies have made important advances in their privacy policies and practices, but persistent gaps and worrying trends pose potential risks for internet and mobile phone users, according to a new consolidated report published today by…
The Law Should Not Require Parental Consent for All Minors to Access Social Media
Numerous state laws passed this year, and bills proposed in Congress, would set onerous new restrictions on what young people can do online, depriving teenagers of their First Amendment rights to express themselves, access protected speech, engage in anonymous speech,…
The UK Online Safety Bill Must Not Violate Our Rights to Free Speech And Private Communication
As the UK’s Online Safety Bill moves through negotiations in the House of Lords, EFF, Open Rights Group, Wikimedia UK, and Index on Censorship have submitted a briefing urging the Lords to uphold the right to private messaging, and protect…
Neighborhood Watch Out: Cops Are Incorporating Private Cameras Into Their Real-Time Surveillance Networks
Police have their sights set on every surveillance camera in every business, on every porch, in all the cities and counties of the country. Grocery store trips, walks down the street, and otherwise minding your own business when outside your…
The STOP CSAM Act: Improved But Still Problematic
Last month, we expressed concerns about how the STOP CSAM Act threatens encrypted communications and free speech online. New amendments to the bill have some improvements, but our concerns remain. The STOP CSAM Act Should Not Use the EARN IT…
Android TV Boxes Sold on Amazon Come Pre-Loaded with Malware
Certain Android TV Box models from manufacturers AllWinner and RockChip, available for purchase on Amazon, come pre-loaded with malware from the BianLian family, a variant of which we investigated last year. The malware, discovered by security researcher Daniel Milisic, adds…
Federal Appeals Court Gets It: Fair Use Protects Security Research Tools
In a refreshingly direct opinion, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that creating and selling virtualization software for security research is a fair use. Along the way, it provides a kind of master class in applying copyright’s fair…
Dangerous EARN IT Bill Advances Out of Committee, but Several Senators Offer Objections
Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted, for a third time, to advance the dangerous EARN IT bill (S. 1207)—a law that could lead to suspicionless scans of every online message, photo, and hosted file. In the name of fighting…
Court Accepts EFF’s Amicus Brief on the Right to Publish Code in Tornado Cash Case
Protecting the First Amendment rights of coders to develop and publish code is a core EFF value. It’s also one where we’ve played a central role in developing the law. So, we were happy that the court in the Tornado…
As Platforms Decay, Let’s Put Users First
The net’s long decline into “five giant websites, each filled with screenshots of the other four” isn’t a mystery. Nor was it by any means a forgone conclusion. Instead, we got here through a series of conscious actions by big…
Suit by Renowned Saudi Human Rights Activist Details Harms Caused by Export of U.S. Cybersurveillance Technology and Training to Repressive Regimes
“Companies that employ spyware on behalf of oppressive governments must be held accountable for the resulting human rights abuses.” PORTLAND, OR – The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the Center for Justice & Accountability (CJA), and Foley Hoag LLP on Monday…
The Kids Online Safety Act is Still A Huge Danger to Our Rights Online
Congress has resurrected the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a bill that would increase surveillance and restrict access to information in the name of protecting children online. KOSA was introduced in 2022 but failed to gain traction, and today its…
EFF to Congress: Oppose the EARN IT Act and the STOP CSAM Act
The Senate Judiciary Committee is about to debate multiple bills that will lead to peoples’ private messages being scanned and reported to the government. We oppose these bills, and we have sent a letter urging the Committee to vote No. …
Why Is the U.S. Solicitor General Trying To Change The Law To Benefit Patent Trolls?
For more than two decades now, developers and users of software have been plagued by a flood of bad patents. Software patents that describe everyday practices like watching an ad online, publishing nutrition information, meeting people nearby, or teaching a…
EFF letter to Congress: Oppose the EARN IT Act and the STOP CSAM Act
The Senate Judiciary Committee is about to debate multiple bills that will lead to peoples’ private messages being scanned and reported to the government. We oppose these bills, and we have sent a letter urging the Committee to vote No. …
Podcast Episode: Dr. Seuss Warned Us
Dr. Seuss wrote a story about a Hawtch-Hawtcher Bee-Watcher whose job it is to watch his town’s one lazy bee, because “a bee that is watched will work harder, you see.” But that doesn’t seem to work, so another Hawtch-Hawtcher…
Stupid Patent of the Month: Trying to Get U.S. Patents On An AI Program
Only people can get patents. There’s a good reason for that, which is that the patent grant—a temporary monopoly granted by the government—is supposed to be given out only to “promote the progress of science and useful arts.” Just like…
At Congressional Hearing, PCLOB Members Suggest Bare Minimum of 702 Reforms
Last week, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance held a hearing on “Fixing FISA: How a Law Designed to Protect Americans Has Been Weaponized Against Them,” ahead of the December 2023 expiration of the Section 702…
Appeals Court Should Reconsider Letting The FBI Block Twitter’s Surveillance Transparency Report
Today, EFF and ACLU filed a brief in support of Twitter’s effort to get an appeals court to reconsider its dangerous opinion enforcing a government gag order on Twitter’s 2013 transparency report. In this long-running and important case, Twitter tried…
Maine Gets Another (Necessary) Opportunity to Defund Its Local Intelligence Fusion Center
Maine State Senator Pinny Beebe-Center has introduced S.P. 527, or An Act to End the Maine Information and Analysis Center Program, a bill that would defund the Maine Information and Analysis Center (MIAC), also known as Maine’s only fusion center.…
Greenpeace Stands Up Against SLAPPs And Wins
The U.S. litigation system is meant to resolve serious disputes. Unfortunately, the high cost of litigation can be weaponized as a means of harassment and censorship. That’s become all too common, and the last few decades have seen the rise…
Texas Should Leave Its Anti-SLAPP Law Alone
The Texas Citizens Participation Act, or TCPA, has been one of the strongest laws in the nation protecting citizens against lawsuits intended to silence or punish individuals who speak up on public matters. But HB 2781, a bill making its…
Internal Documents Show How Little the FBI Did to Correct Misuse of Section 702 Databases
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released internal documents used to guide agency personnel on how to search the massive databases of information collected under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, including communications collected without a warrant under Section 702.…
Your Messaging Service Should Not Be a DEA Informant
A new U.S. Senate bill would require private messaging services, social media companies, and even cloud providers to report their users to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) if they find out about certain illegal drug sales. This would lead to…
California Bill to Stop Dragnet Surveillance of People Seeking Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Care Passes Key Committees
A.B. 793, a bill authored by Assemblymember Mia Bonta to protect people seeking abortion and gender-affirming care from dragnet-style digital surveillance, has passed two key committees in the California Assembly. EFF is a proud co-sponsor of A.B. 793, along with…
First US Appellate Court to Decide Finds Geofence Warrant Unconstitutional
The California Court of Appeal has held that a geofence warrant seeking information on all devices located within several densely-populated areas in Los Angeles violated the Fourth Amendment. This is the first time an appellate court in the United States…
EFF and ECNL’s Comment to the Meta Oversight Board on the Term ‘Shaheed’
EFF Intern Reema Moussa authored this post. EFF recently submitted comments in partnership with the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL) in response to the Oversight Board’s request for input on the moderation of the Arabic word “shaheed.” The Oversight…
Stop This Dangerous Bill That Would Normalize Face Surveillance in California
Californians: It’s time to speak out against government use of face surveillance. While several California cities have banned government use of face recognition technology, state lawmakers haven’t taken the same approach. A new bill this session, A.B. 642—authored by Assemblymember…
The STOP CSAM Act Would Put Security and Free Speech at Risk
A new U.S. Senate bill introduced this week threatens security and free speech on the internet. EFF urges Congress to reject the STOP CSAM Act of 2023, which would undermine the viability of services offering end-to-end encryption, and force internet…
The EARN IT Bill Is Back, Seeking To Scan Our Messages and Photos
In a free society, people should not have their private correspondence constantly examined. U.S. lawmakers, we would hope, understand that individuals have the right to a private conversation without the government looking over their shoulder. So it’s dismaying to see…
Digital Rights Updates with EFFector 35.5
Keeping up on the latest in digital freedoms can be quite a challenge, but we’re here to help catch you up to speed! The latest issue of our EFFector newsletter is out now, and you can learn more about our…
Podcast Episode: Safer Sex Work Makes a Safer Internet
An internet that is safe for sex workers is an internet that is safer for everyone. Though the effects of stigmatization and criminalization run deep, the sex worker community exemplifies how technology can help people reduce harm, share support, and…
Comunicado de prensa para Latinoamérica: La propuesta de tratado de la ONU sobre ciberdelincuencia carece de suficientes salvaguardias de derechos humanos, lo que agrava las amenazas a la privacidad y las libertades civiles en Latinoamérica
VIENA-El martes 18 de abril, a las 10:00 am hora del Pacífico (1:00 pm hora del Este), expertos de Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) y tres aliados latinoamericanos de derechos digitales informarán a los reporteros sobre las amenazas únicas a la…
EFF, International Allies Warn That Proposed UN Cybercrime Treaty, Rather Than Making Us More Secure, Could Legitimize Intrusive Surveillance and Drag Down Global Privacy and Free Expression Standards
EFF and international allies Access Now, Article 19, Epicenter, and Global Partners Digital are in Vienna this week and next for the fifth round of negotiations on the proposed UN Cybercrime Treaty, along with the over 100 representatives of Member…
Latam Media Briefing: Proposed UN Cybercrime Treaty Lacks Sufficient Human Rights Safeguards, Exacerbating Threats to Privacy and Civil Liberties in Latam
Proposals for Broad Surveillance Powers Could Authorize Government Spyware, Which is Already Being Used to Target Human Rights Defenders, Journalists in the Region VIENNA—On Tuesday, April 18, at 10:00 am Pacific Time (1:00 pm Eastern Time), experts from Electronic Frontier…
Be Skeptical of FBI Warnings About Phone Chargers
Every few years, an unsourced report circulates that “the FBI says plugging into public charging kiosks is dangerous.” Here’s why you should ignore the freakout and install software updates regularly. Your phone is designed to communicate safely with lots of…
Join us for EFF’s 7th Annual Tech Trivia Night!
Join us in San Francisco on April 27th for EFF’s 7th annual Tech Trivia Night! Explore the obscure minutiae of digital security, online rights, and internet culture. Enjoy delicious tacos, churros, and complimentary adult beverages and soft drinks as you…
The U.S. Deserves Stronger Spyware Protections Than Biden’s Executive Order
U.S. President Joe Biden has signed an executive order that limits U.S. government agencies from using commercially available spyware – but that doesn’t mean there will be no government use of spyware in the United States. Spyware is a type…
In SAS v. WPL, the Federal Circuit Finally Gets Something Right on Computer Copyright
Figuring out the correct boundaries of software copyright protection is a difficult task. As several judges have put it, “applying copyright law to computer programs is like assembling a jigsaw puzzle whose pieces do not quite fit.” Last week, the…
UN Cybercrime Draft Treaty Timeline
October 2017The Russian Federation presents a letter to the UN General Assembly containing a draft of the United Nations Convention on Cooperation in Combating Cybercrime, intended for circulation to Member States. November 2019A resolution, sponsored by Russia—along with Belarus, Cambodia,…
UN Cybercrime Treaty Timeline
October 2017The Russian Federation presents a letter to the UN General Assembly containing a draft of the United Nations Convention on Cooperation in Combating Cybercrime, intended for circulation to Member States. November 2019A resolution, sponsored by Russia—along with Belarus, Cambodia,…
Decoding the U.N. Cybercrime Treaty
Negotiations for a proposed U.N.Cybercrime Treaty commenced in 2017 but began to take shape in 2022—and there’s a lot at stake. The draft treaty has the potential to rewrite criminal laws around the world, possibly adding over 30 criminal offenses…
EFF to Ninth Circuit: Twitter Has First Amendment Right to Ban Users, Including Presidents
Time and time again, we have said–and courts have ruled–that social media platforms have the First Amendment right to ban users. We have argued that banned users cannot successfully sue platforms for acting as government censors without showing that the…
Media Briefing: Proposed UN Cybercrime Treaty Negotiations Headed in Troubling Direction, Sidestepping Human Rights Protections and Threatening Free Expression, EFF and Allies Warn
Proposals for Broad Surveillance Powers and Criminalization of Speech Put Journalists, Human Rights Defenders, and Dissidents at Risk San Francisco—On Thursday, April 13, at 10:00 am Pacific Time (1:00 pm Eastern Time, 7 pm CEST), experts with Electronic Frontier Foundation…
New York City Is Dismantling Low-Cost Community Broadband
New York City is in the process of dismantling low-cost community broadband infrastructure in public housing that, if supported, could provide quality access to the internet for hundreds of thousands of families. It’s being replaced by a $90 million, three-year…
Enough is Enough. Tell Congress to Ban Federal Use of Face Recognition
Cities and counties across the country have banned government use of face surveillance technology, and many more are weighing proposals to do so. From Boston to San Francisco, Jackson, Mississippi to Minneapolis, elected officials and activists know that face surveillance…
Smart locks endanger tenants’ privacy and should be regulated
The growing deployment of smart locks in apartments, often installed without tenants’ permission, has created a new stream of sensitive location data for law enforcement, landlords, and private companies. Tenants should not be forced to submit to tracking just to…
The Broad, Vague RESTRICT Act is a Dangerous Substitute for Comprehensive Data Privacy Legislation
The recently introduced RESTRICT Act (S. 686, Sen. Warner and Sen. Thune) rightfully is causing a lot of concern. This bill is being called a “TikTok ban,” but it’s more complicated than that. As we wrote in our initial review…
Podcast Episode: Losing Until We Win: Realistic Revolution in Science Fiction
When a science-fiction villain is defeated, we often see the heroes take their victory lap and then everyone lives happily ever after. But that’s not how real struggles work: In real life, victories are followed by repairs, rebuilding, and reparations,…
AI Art Generators and the Online Image Market
Now that computer-generated imaging is accessible to anyone with a weird idea and an internet connection, the creation of “AI art” is raising questions—and lawsuits. The key questions seem to be 1) how does it actually work, 2) what work…
How We Think About Copyright and AI Art
Artists are understandably concerned about the possibility that automatic image generators like Stable Diffusion will undercut the market for their work. We live in a society that does not support people who are automated out of a job, and being…
Bad Content Moderation Is Bad, And Government Interference Can Make It Even Worse
This week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing titled “Preserving Free Speech and Reining in Big Tech Censorship.” Lawmakers at the hearing trotted out the usual misunderstandings of these concepts, and placed the blame on Section 230,…
Stupid Patent of the Month: Traxcell Tech Gets Ordered To Pay Attorneys’ Fees
If someone loses a patent lawsuit very badly—to the point where they face orders to pay attorneys’ fees—you wouldn’t think they would be eager to come back to court with a nearly identical lawsuit. But that’s what has happened with…
After Students Challenged Proctoring Software, French Court Slaps TestWe App With a Suspension
In a preliminary victory in the continuing fight against privacy-invasive software that “watches” students taking tests remotely, a French administrative court outside Paris suspended a university’s use of the e-proctoring platform TestWe, which monitors students through facial recognition and algorithmic…
Digital Rights Updates with EFFector 35.4
We’ve got you covered with a collection of updates on your digital rights! Version 35, issue 4 of our EFFector newsletter is out now. Catch up on the latest EFF news by reading our newsletter or listening to the audio…
Victory at the Ninth Circuit: Twitter’s Content Moderation is Not “State Action”
Earlier this month, the Ninth Circuit held that Twitter did not act as the government by banning a user months after a government agency flagged for Twitter one of his tweets on alleged election fraud. O’Handley v. Weber is the…
Courts Should Let You Sue Federal Officials Who Violate Your Right to Record
Intern Katie Farr contributed to this blog post. Late last year, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed Dustin Dyer’s lawsuit against Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers who ordered him to stop recording their pat-down search of his husband. The…
Civil Rights Organizations File Amicus Brief in Support of EFF Lawsuit Against Discriminatory SFPD Surveillance
Intern Taylor Fox contributed to this blog post. At the height of the George Floyd protests in 2020, the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) spied on thousands of demonstrators in real time by using a business district’s network of over…
Podcast Episode: So You Think You’re A Critical Thinker
The promise of the internet was that it would be a tool to melt barriers and aid truth-seekers everywhere. But it feels like polarization has worsened in recent years, and more internet users are being misled into embracing conspiracies and…
EU Lawmakers Must Reject This Proposal To Scan Private Chats
Having a private conversation is a basic human right. Like the rest of our rights, we shouldn’t lose it when we go online. But a new proposal by the European Union could throw our privacy rights out the window. LEARN…
Sign The Petition And Tell EU Legislators: Don’t Scan Us
The European Parliament is debating a proposal that, if it passes, could be disastrous for privacy worldwide. Every message, photo, or hosted file could be scanned, with the results sent to government agencies. We don’t need “bugs in our pockets.”…
CBP Is Expanding Its Surveillance Tower Program at the U.S.-Mexico Border–And We’re Mapping It
To provide researchers with the tools they need to analyze the impact of U.S. border security policy, EFF is releasing a new map and dataset of more than 290 surveillance towers installed by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) along the…