Online Platforms Should Stop Partnering with Government Agencies to Remove Content
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/08/online-platforms-should-stop-partnering-government-agencies-remove-content
August 12, 2022, 8:34 AM
Government involvement in content moderation raises serious human rights concerns in every context, and these concerns are further troubling when the involvement originates with law enforcement. We recently filed a comment with the Meta Oversight Board urging it to treat this issue seriously.
When sites cooperate with government agencies, it leaves the platform inherently biased in favor of the government's favored positions. It gives government entities outsized influence to manipulate content ...
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How California Reproductive Health Workers Can Protect Information They Submit to the Government
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/08/how-california-reproductive-health-workers-can-protect-information-they-submit
August 10, 2022, 6:56 PM
With the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs reversing long-standing rights to abortion access, workers and volunteers for reproductive health clinics must reevaluate the risks they face (also known as a threat model) and take steps to safeguard their personal information–including information they have submitted to the government.
In 2020, nearly 17% of abortions performed in the United States occured in California, according to data from the Guttmacher Institute, and that number is proje...
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Hacking the Future at DEF CON 30
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/hacking-future-def-con-30
August 8, 2022, 4:51 PM
Over nearly three decades, DEF CON grew and evolved into the world's largest hacker conference for computer security professionals, tinkerers, hobbyists, and more. The EFF staff will return to support the community at the Las Vegas summer security conferences—BSides LV, Black Hat USA, and DEF CON—for the first time since 2019, making the DC30 theme of "Hacker Homecoming" all the more appropriate. We may still be trying to escape the shadow of the pandemic, but the EFF staff will be availab...
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Victory! Federal Court Upholds First Amendment Protections for Student’s Off-Campus Social Media Post
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/08/victory-federal-court-upholds-first-amendment-protections-students-campus-social
August 5, 2022, 7:40 PM
EFF intern Emma Plankey contributed to this blog post.
Students should not have to fear expulsion for expressing themselves on social media after school and off-campus, but that is just what happened to the plaintiff in C1.G v. Siegfried. Last month, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the student’s expulsion violated his First Amendment rights. The court’s opinion affirms what we argued in an amicus brief last year.
We strongly support the Tenth Circuit’s holding that schools cannot...
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The UK Online Safety Bill Attacks Free Speech and Encryption
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/08/uks-online-safety-bill-attacks-free-speech-and-encryption
August 5, 2022, 3:48 PM
The UK government has had more than a year to revise its Online Safety Bill into a proposal that wouldn’t harm users’ basic rights. It has failed to do so, and the bill should be scrapped. The current bill is a threat to free expression, and it undermines the encryption that we all rely on for security and privacy online. 
The government intended to advance and vote on the Online Safety Bill last month, but the scheduled vote was postponed until a new Prime Minister of the UK can be chosen....
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Virtual Vegas Member Week 💻💀⚡️
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/08/defense-digital-freedom
August 4, 2022, 7:44 PM
EFF is celebrating the spirit of Las Vegas hacker summer camp this week and—whether you're online or in person—you're invited to support the movement for digital freedom. Technology touches more of your life every day. Whether you’re telling a friend you’re on the way or you’re finding a new doctor, the modern world makes online access increasingly necessary. But law and policy often lag behind, and even threaten, your freedom online. That’s the reason why EFF exists. And you can he...
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Abortion Information Is Coming Down Across Social Media. What Is Happening and What Next.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/abortion-information-coming-down-across-social-media-what-happening-and-what-next
July 28, 2022, 7:58 PM
Reports have surfaced about the removal of information about abortion from social media. Unfortunately, none of it is unprecedented. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram have long maintained broad and vague community standards that allow them to remove content with little recourse.
What Is Happening
As reported by Vice and followed up on by Wired, posts about abortion receive intense scrutiny online. The difference, one activist told Vice, is simply that more people are seeing their posts remov...
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Federal Preemption of State Privacy Law Hurts Everyone
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/federal-preemption-state-privacy-law-hurts-everyone
July 28, 2022, 5:43 PM
There's a lot of discussion right now about how a federal privacy bill, the American Data Privacy Protection Act (H.R.8152), will affect state privacy laws. EFF has a clear position on this: federal privacy laws should not roll back state privacy protections. The ADPPA, as currently written, would override a broad swath of existing state laws and prevent states from future action on those areas, a structure called "preemption." We have expressed disappointment and called on Congress to do better...
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Americans Deserve More Than The Current American Data Privacy Protection Act
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/americans-deserve-more-current-american-data-privacy-protection-act
July 24, 2022, 5:05 PM
EFF is disappointed by the latest draft of the American Data Privacy Protection Act, or the ADPPA (H.R. 8152), a federal comprehensive data privacy bill. The bill passed the U.S. House Energy and Commerce committee on Wednesday, and is headed to the House floor.
We have been closely monitoring the progress of this bill, and carefully watched how negotiations played out. EFF last month sent a public letter to Congress seeking improvements to a prior version of this bill—many of these suggestio...
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Police Are Still Abusing Investigative Exemptions to Shield Surveillance Tech, While Others Move Towards Transparency
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/police-are-still-abusing-investigative-exemptions-shield-surveillance-tech-while-0
July 22, 2022, 4:28 PM
How transparent are police about surveillance technology? It depends on where you look. When it comes to acceptable levels of secrecy around police tools, states have drawn their lines in very different places, resulting in some communities where it is much harder for the public to know what invasive tools are being used.
State public records laws are designed to provide residents a way to learn about their government’s activities. They are variably effective in practice. It is not unusual fo...
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New Amendments to Intermediary Rules threaten Free Speech in India
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/new-amendments-intermediary-rules-threaten-free-speech-india
July 21, 2022, 9:37 PM
EFF joined the Association of Progressive Communications (APC) and other digital rights organizations from around the world, urging the Indian government to withdraw its new amendment to Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code (2021 IT Rules).
EFF has already expressed its concerns about IT Rules’ chilling effect on Internet users’ freedom of expression and privacy. The 2021 IT Rules compel significant social media intermediaries (those with registered users in India above a 5...
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EFF Poker Tournament at DEF CON 30
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/eff-poker-tournament-def-con-30
July 20, 2022, 6:48 PM
The DEF CON hacking conference is back in Las Vegas for its 30th year and we’re going all in on internet freedom. Security expert Tarah Wheeler will host EFF's first charity poker tournament at Bally's Poker Room on Friday, August 12. The event features emcee Jen Easterly and more special guests! This is an official DEF CON 30 contest, but all are welcome to participate in some friendly competition to support civil liberties and human rights online.
Take a break from hacking the Gibson to f...
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Nigerian Twitter Ban Declared Unlawful by Court
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/nigerian-twitter-ban-declared-unlawful-court-victory-eff-and-partners
July 20, 2022, 5:09 PM
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court has ruled that a seven-month ban on Twitter by Nigerian authorities in 2021 was unlawful and infringed freedom of expression and access to media. The court, which is a political and economic union of fifteen West African countries, has directed Nigeria to ensure that the unlawful suspension does not happen again, in an important decision for online rights across the region.  
In June of 2021, Nigerian authorities directed internet se...
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Self-Proclaimed Free Speech Platforms Are Censoring Nude Content. Here’s Why You Should Care
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/self-proclaimed-free-speech-platforms-are-censoring-nude-content-heres-why-you
July 20, 2022, 8:24 AM
If their marketing is to be believed, self-avowed free speech maximalist sites like Parler—“where free speech thrives”—and Frank Speech—“the voice of free speech”—claim they will publish all user content. But the reality is a prohibition of many types of legal content, including legal sexual material. This restriction is all too familiar to queer communities, sex workers, and other marginalized groups—all of whom have experienced censorship for their perfectly legal content els...
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Nominations Open for 2022 EFF Awards!
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/nominations-open-2022-eff-awards
July 19, 2022, 9:10 PM
Nominations are now open for the 2022 EFF Awards! The nomination window will be open until August 2nd at 2:00 PM Pacific time. You could nominate the next winner today!For thirty years, the Electronic Frontier Foundation presented awards to key leaders in the fight for freedom and innovation online. EFF’s annual Pioneer Award Ceremony celebrated the longtime stalwarts working on behalf of technology users, both in the public eye and behind the scenes. Honorees included visionary activist Aaron...
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EFF and Partners Urge the Indian Government to Keep End-to-End Encryption Alive
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/eff-and-partners-urge-indian-government-keep-end-end-encryption-alive
July 18, 2022, 4:41 PM
In a letter to the Indian Government, EFF and partner digital rights organizations from around the world called on the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to withdraw the so-called traceability requirement under its Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code (2021 IT Rules). The Rules compel private end-to-end encrypted messaging services to enable the identification of the “first originator” of information on their platforms. EFF has already expressed its co...
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Ring Reveals They Give Videos to Police Without User Consent or a Warrant
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/ring-reveals-they-give-videos-police-without-user-consent-or-warrant
July 15, 2022, 10:06 PM
Amazon’s Ring devices are not just personal security cameras. They are also police cameras—whether you want them to be or not. The company now admits there are “emergency” instances when police can get warrantless access to Ring personal devices without the owner’s permission. This dangerous policy allows police, in conjunction with Ring, to decide when access should be granted to private video. The footage is given in “​​cases involving imminent danger of death or serious physic...
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EFF and ACLU File Amicus Brief Objecting to Warrantless, Suspicionless Electronic Device Searches at the Border
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/eff-and-aclu-file-amicus-brief-objecting-warrantless-suspicionless-electronic
July 14, 2022, 11:49 PM
In the past couple of decades, EFF has argued that when it comes to suspicionless and warrantless searches at the border, electronic devices like cell phones are not the same as a piece of luggage. Although certain searches at the border are permitted without a warrant, the search of a digital device while crossing into or out of the United States has been dubbed by judges to be “highly intrusive” and impacts the “dignity and privacy interests” of travelers. Digital device searches there...
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Impact Litigation in Action: Building the Caselaw Behind a Win for Free Speech
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/impact-litigation-action-building-caselaw-behind-win-free-speech
July 13, 2022, 11:23 PM
A recent District Court decision in In re DMCA 512(h) Subpoena to Twitter, Inc. is a great win for free speech. The Court firmly rejected the argument that copyright law creates a shortcut around the First Amendment’s protections for anonymous critics. In the case, a company tried to use copyright law and the DMCA processes to force Twitter to identify an anonymous critic of private equity billionaire Brian Sheth. Twitter thankfully resisted the demand for its user’s identity, and EFF filed ...
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The Department of Defense Should Disclose When it Purchases User Data
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/department-defense-should-disclose-when-it-purchases-user-data
July 13, 2022, 10:57 PM
Congress must pass the Jacobs-Davidson Amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the yearly funding bill for national security and the military. It would require the Department of Defense to disclose, both to Congress and the public, information about when it purchases geolocation data collected by cell phones or digital communications and internet metadata on internet usage.
This important amendment would bring more transparency to a glaring and growing privacy problem. The a...
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Congress Probes How Location Data Brokers Threaten Reproductive Privacy
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/congress-probes-how-location-data-brokers-threaten-reproductive-privacy
July 12, 2022, 8:37 PM
Data brokers harvest location information from our phone apps, then sell access to the highest bidder, including government. This is a way sheriffs and bounty hunters in anti-abortion states may try to identify and punish people seeking and providing abortion.
Some good news: three members of Congress are investigating this problem, and have sent letters to five location data brokers. The legislators are Rep. Maloney, chair of the House Oversight Committee; Rep. Krishnamoorthi, chair of the Cons...
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Victory! Another Court Protects the Right to Record Police
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/victory-another-court-protects-right-record-police
July 12, 2022, 8:10 PM
When people fear that the police are about to break the law, they pull out their phones and hit “record.” Doing so promotes police accountability and public discussion of important issues. So, it is great news that yet another federal appellate court has ruled that people have a First Amendment right to record on-duty police. With this ruling, the Tenth Circuit has joined six other federal appellate courts: the First, Third, Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits.
The case is Irizarry...
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State by State, We’re Making Progress Against Anti-Speech Lawsuits
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/state-state-were-making-progress-against-anti-speech-lawsuits
July 11, 2022, 10:12 PM
The First Amendment grants us all the right to say our piece. The government can’t shut down our rights to speak out, protest, and publish. At EFF, we’ve been making sure that we have strong First Amendment rights in the online world for more than 30 years. 
Government repression isn’t the only threat to free speech, though. Well-funded corporations and individuals have been able to abuse our court system to quash the constitutional rights of those they disagree with, by filing Strategic ...
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✨ Happy Birthday to EFF!
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/happy-birthday-eff
July 10, 2022, 4:35 PM
Today at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, we’re celebrating 32 years of fighting for technology users around the world. If you were online back in the 90s, you might remember that it was pretty wild. We had bulletin boards, FTP, Gopher, and, a few years later, homespun websites. You could glimpse a future where anyone, anywhere in the world could access information, float new ideas, and reach each other across vast distances. It was exciting and the possibilities seemed endless.
But the fou...
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San Francisco Coalition Fights SFPD’s Proposal to Co-Opt Private Surveillance Cameras
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/san-francisco-coalition-fights-sfpds-proposal-co-opt-private-surveillance-cameras
July 8, 2022, 9:36 PM
A large coalition of community and civil rights organizations have sent a letter urging the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to oppose or significantly amend a San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) proposal that would drastically increase their surveillance powers— threatening the privacy and safety of San Franciscans.
The SFPD’s proposal would give the police the ability to access thousands of private surveillance cameras—including those outside of residences and businesses, as well a...
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EFF and Partners Call on the Indonesia Government to Repeal Invasive Content Moderation Rules
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/eff-and-partners-call-indonesia-repeal-invasive-content-moderation
July 8, 2022, 5:13 PM
EFF joined SAFEnet and a dozen digital rights organizations in urging the Indonesian Minister of Communication and Information to repeal its invasive content moderation rules, known as the Ministerial Regulation Number 5 (MR5) and its amendment, Ministerial Regulation Number 10 (MR10).  EFF has already sounded the alarm about MR5’s chilling effect on human rights, from forcing online platforms to proactively monitor  user-generated content to turning them into government enforcers and making...
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Internet Archive Seeks Summary Judgment in Federal Lawsuit Filed By Publishing Companies
https://www.eff.org/press/releases/internet-archive-seeks-summary-judgment-federal-lawsuit-filed-publishing-companies
July 8, 2022, 4:20 PM
Internet Archive’s Controlled Digital Lending Program Is Lawful Fair Use That Preserves Traditional Library Lending in the Digital WorldSAN FRANCISCO—The Internet Archive has asked a federal judge to rule in its favor and end a radical lawsuit, filed by four major publishing companies, that aims to criminalize library lending.
The Internet Archive, headquartered in San Francisco, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit library which preserves and provides access to cultural artifacts of all kinds in elect...
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For the Love of the Wild Web 🖤
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/do-it-love-wild-web
July 6, 2022, 2:29 PM
There is a traditional Japanese concept called wabi-sabi that recognizes the world as impermanent, evolving, and unfinished. You could call it the beauty of embracing imperfection. Despite the sleek, otherworldly look of today’s tech devices, the internet itself is still chaotic, inspirational, dynamic, necessary, worrisome, and, yes, beautiful.
With that love for the wild web, EFF works hands-on to protect your privacy, security, and free expression rights no matter how technologies change.�...
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EFF Statement on EU Parliament’s Adoption of Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act
https://www.eff.org/press/releases/eff-statement-eu-parliaments-formal-approval-digital-services-act-and-digital-markets
July 5, 2022, 3:45 PM
The laws have important tools to make the internet a fairer place, but there are implementation challenges ahead.SAN FRANCISCO–The European Union reached another milestone by approving the “Digital Services Act package” this week. The Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act are intended to create a safer and more competitive digital space.
By setting out new responsibilities for online platforms, the Digital Services Act (DSA) was supposed to rein in the power of Facebook, Google,...
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Cheers to EFF's 14th Annual Cyberlaw Trivia Winners!
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/cheers-effs-15th-annual-cyberlaw-trivia-winners
July 5, 2022, 7:00 AM
The best legal minds in the Bay Area returned after two years to once again gather in-person for EFF's 14th Annual Cyberlaw Trivia Night on June 16th. Participants from technology law firms and internet companies throughout the Bay Area attended for a night filled with obscure tech law trivia, delicious food, and just a dash of pop culture!After attendees had piled their plates high with chicken and waffles in preparation for the evening's competition, the teams set their sights on the coveted C...
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New Ipandetec’s Report Features ISPs’ Privacy Best Practices and Flaws in Panamá
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/new-ipandetecs-report-features-isps-privacy-best-practices-and-flaws-panama
July 1, 2022, 4:00 AM
Panamá’s mobile internet service providers have improved their commitments to transparency and user privacy, according to the new edition of IPANDETEC’s ¿Quien Defiende Tus Datos? (“Who Defends Your Data?”) report. The third edition, published today shows general progress in companies’ data protection policies and their public commitment to assess the legal grounds of law enforcement requests before handing over user data to the authorities. As in the last edition, IPANDETEC evaluate...
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Should You Really Delete Your Period Tracking App?
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/should-you-really-delete-your-period-tracking-app
June 30, 2022, 9:16 PM
Since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision depriving people of the right to abortion leaked last month, some have advised deleting period tracking apps to prevent that data from being used to target people seeking abortion care. But it’s useful to distinguish between the security and privacy threats that abortion seekers are actively experiencing now versus threats that may come in the future. Dragnet surveillance of period tracking apps in order to identify people with menstrual irregularitie...
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EFF Files Amicus Brief in First U.S. Case Challenging Dragnet Keyword Warrant
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/eff-file-amicus-brief-first-us-case-challenging-dragnet-keyword-warrant
June 30, 2022, 8:43 PM
Should the police be able to ask Google for the name of everyone who searched for the address of an abortion provider in a state where abortions are now illegal? Or who searched for the drug mifepristone? What about people who searched for gender-affirming healthcare providers in a state that has equated such care with child abuse? Or everyone who searched for a dispensary in a state that has legalized cannabis but where the federal government still considers it illegal?
The answer is no. And in...
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Digital Rights Updates with EFFector 34.4
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/digital-rights-updates-effector-344
June 30, 2022, 5:29 PM
Want the latest news on your digital rights? Well, you're in luck! Version 34, 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 version below. This issue covers EFF's current work on reproductive rights issues, including digital safety tips for those seeking an abortion and why we support the "My Body, My Data" Act.
LISTEN ON YouTube
EFFECTOR 34.4 - My Body, My Data
Make sure you never miss an issue by signing up b...
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Keeping Your Smart Home Secure & Private
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/keeping-your-smart-home-secure-private
June 30, 2022, 3:05 PM
Here at EFF, we fight hard to ensure your security and privacy rights are maintained in the digital world. Back when we were founded in 1990, a dream of a world united by the internet was accompanied by forward-thinking visions of connected devices of all kinds making our lives more convenient and luxurious. The last two decades have seen the internet move from living-room and office terminals to our phones, watches, appliances and lighting fixtures. And although so-called smart devices and the ...
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The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act Will Produce Neither Competition Nor Preservation
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/journalism-competition-and-preservation-act-will-produce-neither-competition-nor
June 29, 2022, 10:14 PM
In response to the very real pressures that online news outlets are facing, Congress continues to believe the very flawed Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) is a magic solution. It is not. In fact, it is actively dangerous. And there’s a better solution available.
Take Action
Tell Congress to Reject Link Taxes
The way the JCPA is supposed to work is by giving an antitrust exemption to news sites, allowing them to negotiate as a bloc with sites like Google and Facebook, with the...
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EFF to European Court: Keep Encryption Alive
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/eff-european-court-keep-encryption-alive
June 28, 2022, 9:52 PM
While encryption has been under attack in recent days, it’s still essential for private and secure electronic communications, especially for human rights defenders and journalists. EFF and our partners recently argued for the essentiality of encryption in a case before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).  
In Telegram Messenger LLP and Telegram Messenger Inc. v. Russia, the company behind the popular messaging app Telegram refused to hand over confidential private user information to...
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EFF's Statement on Dobbs Abortion Ruling
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/effs-statement-dobbs-abortion-ruling
June 24, 2022, 2:59 PM
Today's decision deprives millions of people of a fundamental right, and also underscores the importance of fair and meaningful protections for data privacy. Everyone deserves to have strong controls over the collection and use of information they necessarily leave behind as they go about their normal activities, like using apps, search engine queries, posting on social media, texting friends, and so on. But those seeking, offering, or facilitating abortion access must now assume that any data t...
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The Bipartisan Digital Advertising Act Would Break Up Big Trackers
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/bipartisan-digital-advertising-act-would-break-big-trackers
June 23, 2022, 7:27 PM
In May, Senators Mike Lee, Amy Klobuchar, Ted Cruz, and Richard Blumenthal introduced the “Competition and Transparency in Digital Advertising Act.” The bill, also called the “Digital Advertising Act” or just “DAA” for short, is an ambitious attempt to regulate, and even break up, the biggest online advertising companies in the world.
The biggest trackers on the internet, including Google, Facebook, and Amazon, are all vertically integrated. This means they own multiple parts of a s...
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Security and Privacy Tips for People Seeking An Abortion
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/security-and-privacy-tips-people-seeking-abortion
June 23, 2022, 6:56 PM
Given the shifting state of the law, people seeking an abortion, or any kind of reproductive healthcare that might end with the termination of a pregnancy,  may need to pay close attention to their digital privacy and security. We've previously covered how those involved in the abortion access movement can keep themselves and their communities safe. We've also laid out a principled guide for platforms to respect user privacy and rights to bodily autonomy. This post is a guide specifically for a...
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Westlaw Must Face Antitrust Claims in a Case That Could Boost Competitive Compatibility
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/westlaw-must-face-antitrust-claims-case-could-boost-competitive-compatibility
June 22, 2022, 5:10 PM
Westlaw, the world’s largest legal research service, is very likely to face antitrust liability. A federal court has ruled that ROSS Intelligence, a tiny rival offering new research tools (which Westlaw forced out of business with a copyright infringement suit) could proceed with claims that Westlaw uses exclusionary and anticompetitive practices to maintain its monopoly over the legal research market. 
The ruling is a significant step in an antitrust case about Westlaw’s conduct as an entr...
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Victory! Court Rules That DMCA Does Not Override First Amendment’s Anonymous Speech Protections
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/victory-court-rules-dmca-does-not-override-first-amendments-anonymous-speech
June 21, 2022, 11:29 PM
Copyright law cannot be used as a shortcut around the First Amendment’s strong protections for anonymous internet users, a federal trial court ruled on Tuesday.
The decision by a judge in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California confirms that copyright holders issuing subpoenas under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act must still meet the Constitution’s test before identifying anonymous speakers.
The case is an effort to unmask an anonymous Twitter user (@Cal...
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When “Jawboning” Creates Private Liability
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/when-jawboning-creates-private-liability
June 21, 2022, 8:55 PM
A (Very) Narrow Path to Holding Social Media Companies Legally Liable for Collaborating with Government in Content Moderation
For the last several years we have seen numerous arguments that social media platforms are "state actors" that “must carry” all user speech. According to this argument, they are legally required to publish all user speech and treat it equally. Under U.S. law, this is almost always incorrect. The First Amendment generally requires only governments to honor free speech ...
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Pass the "My Body, My Data" Act
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/pass-my-body-my-data-act
June 21, 2022, 5:37 PM
EFF supports Rep. Sara Jacobs’ “My Body, My Data" Act, which will protect the privacy and safety of people seeking reproductive health care.
Privacy fears should never stand in the way of healthcare. That's why this common-sense bill will require businesses and non-governmental organizations to act responsibly with personal information concerning reproductive health care. Specifically, it restricts them from collecting, using, retaining, or disclosing reproductive health information that isn...
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Daycare Apps Are Dangerously Insecure
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/daycare-apps-are-dangerously-insecure
June 21, 2022, 5:10 PM
Last year, several parents at EFF enrolled kids into daycare and were instantly told to download an application for managing their children’s care. Daycare and preschool applications frequently include notifications of feedings, diaper changes, pictures, activities, and which guardian picked-up/dropped-off the child—potentially useful features for overcoming separation anxiety of newly enrolled children and their anxious parents. Working at a privacy-oriented organization as we do, we asked ...
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EFF Warns Another Court About the Dangers of Broad Site-Blocking Orders
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/eff-warns-another-court-about-dangers-broad-site-blocking-orders
June 17, 2022, 7:25 PM
A copyright holder can’t use a court order against the owner of an infringing website to conscript every intermediary service on the internet into helping make that website disappear, EFF and the Computer & Communications Industry Association argued in an amicus brief.
The brief, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, defends Cloudflare, a San Francisco-based global cloud services provider.
United King Film Distribution - a movie, television, sports and ne...
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Copyright "Small Claims" Quasi-Court Opens. Here's Why Many Defendants Will Opt Out.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/copyright-small-claims-quasi-court-opens-heres-why-many-defendants-will-opt-out
June 17, 2022, 6:22 PM
A new quasi-court for copyright, with nationwide reach, began accepting cases this week. The “Copyright Claims Board” or “CCB,” housed within the Copyright Office in Washington DC, will rule on private copyright infringement lawsuits from around the country and award damages of up to $30,000 per case. Though it’s billed as an “efficient and user-friendly” alternative to federal litigation, the CCB is likely to disadvantage many people who are accused of copyright infringement, espe...
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Our Digital Lives Rest on a Robust, Flexible, and Stable Fair Use Regime
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/our-digital-lives-rest-robust-flexible-and-stable-fair-use-regime
June 17, 2022, 5:19 PM
Much of what we do online involves reproducing copyrightable material, changing it, and/or making new works. Technically, pretty much every original tweet is copyrightable. And the vast majority of memes are based on copyrighted works. Your funny edits, mashups, and photoshopped jokes manipulate copyrighted works into new ones. Effective communication has always included a shared reference pool to make points clearly understood. And now we do that online.
In other words, as the digital world has...
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First Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds Eight Months of Warrantless 24/7 Video Surveillance
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/first-circuit-court-appeals-upholds-eight-months-warrantless-247-video
June 16, 2022, 9:18 PM
EFF Legal Intern Talya Nevins contributed to the drafting of this blog post.
A federal appellate court in Massachusetts has issued a ruling that effectively allows federal agents in Puerto Rico and most of New England to secretly watch and videorecord all activity in front of anyone’s home 24 hours a day, for as long as they want—and all without a warrant. This case, United States v. Moore-Bush, conflicts with a ruling from Massachusetts’s highest court, which held in 2020 in Commonwealth ...
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Facebook Says Apple is Too Powerful. They're Right.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/facebook-says-apple-too-powerful-theyre-right
June 16, 2022, 6:22 AM
In December, 2020, Apple did something insanely great. They changed how iOS, their mobile operating system, handled users’ privacy preferences, so that owners of iPhones and other iOS devices could indicate that they don’t want to be tracked by any of the apps on their devices. If they did, Apple would block those apps from harvesting users’ data.
This made Facebook really, really mad.
As far as Apple -and Facebook, and Google, and other large tech companies - are concerned, we’re entitl...
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