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
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/comunicado-de-prensa-para-latinoamerica-la-propuesta-de-tratado-de-la-onu-sobre
April 14, 2023, 8:43 PM
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 privacidad que plantea la propuesta de Tratado sobre Delitos Cibernéticos de la ONU, que podría autorizar el uso de programas espía que ya se están desplegando contra periodistas y defensores de los derechos humanos. El tratado, que ha sido ob...
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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
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/eff-international-allies-warn-proposed-un-cybercrime-treaty-rather-making-us-more
April 14, 2023, 7:48 PM
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 States hashing out a new draft text.While we have not yet been allowed to speak on the floor—or even sit in the same room as delegates—that has not stopped us from speaking out for users about the lack of human rights protections, the criminalizat...
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Latam Media Briefing: Proposed UN Cybercrime Treaty Lacks Sufficient Human Rights Safeguards, Exacerbating Threats to Privacy and Civil Liberties in Latam
https://www.eff.org/press/releases/latam-media-briefing-proposed-un-cybercrime-treaty-lacks-sufficient-human-rights
April 14, 2023, 6:15 PM
Proposals for Broad Surveillance Powers Could Authorize Government Spyware, Which is Already Being Used to Target Human Rights Defenders, Journalists in the RegionVIENNA—On Tuesday, April 18, at 10:00 am Pacific Time (1:00 pm Eastern Time), experts from Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and three Latin American digital rights allies will brief reporters about the unique threats to privacy posed by the proposed UN Cybercrime Treaty, which could authorize the use of spyware already being depl...
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Be Skeptical of FBI Warnings About Phone Chargers
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/be-skeptical-fbi-warnings-about-phone-chargers-0
April 14, 2023, 4:48 AM
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 things – chargers , web sites, Bluetooth devices such as earbuds or speakers, Wi-Fi, and even other phones, for instance when sending and receiving text messages. If doing any of these normal phone things can give your phone malwar...
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Join us for EFF's 7th Annual Tech Trivia Night!
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/join-us-effs-7th-annual-tech-trivia-night
April 12, 2023, 2:34 AM
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 and your team battle through rounds of questions—and cutthroat live judging!—to see who will take home the coveted 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place trophies and EFF swag!Register Now$45 for EFF Members • $55 for General AdmissionThursday, April 27th...
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The U.S. Deserves Stronger Spyware Protections Than Biden’s Executive Order
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/us-deserves-stronger-spyware-protections-bidens-executive-order
April 11, 2023, 6:05 PM
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 of malicious software (or malware) which allows someone to gain remote access to a target’s device without the knowledge or consent of the device operator. This includes all of the data on it: messenger logs, photos, files, and contacts. It also gives t...
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An Update on Tornado Cash
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/update-tornado-cash
April 11, 2023, 3:55 PM
As many will remember, in August of 2022 the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) placed what it called “Tornado Cash” along with a list of Ethereum digital wallet addresses, on its “Specially Designated Nationals” (SDN) sanctions list. The goal was to prohibit anyone within the United States from “dealing” with the service, including by sending or receiving money to it.
This unclear order prompted Github to take down the code repository and, within a few ...
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In SAS v. WPL, the Federal Circuit Finally Gets Something Right on Computer Copyright
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/sas-v-wpl-federal-circuit-finally-gets-something-right-computer-copyright
April 10, 2023, 6:10 PM
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 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit solved one piece of that puzzle, by approving a procedural framework for analyzing software copyright cases.
Previously, the Federal Circuit failed miserably at solving that puzzle. It had issued two h...
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UN Cybercrime Draft Treaty Timeline
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/un-cybercrime-treaty-timeline
April 7, 2023, 8:56 PM
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, China, Iran, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Syria, and Venezuela—to set up an international convention to combat cybercrime passes in the UN General Assembly. The resolution was opposed by the US, the EU, and othe...
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Decoding the U.N. Cybercrime Treaty 
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/decoding-uncybercrime-treaty
April 7, 2023, 7:12 PM
As the fifth session of the UN Cybercrime Convention commenced in Vienna this week, EFF is in attendance to raise concerns that the document lacks strong commitments to human rights and detailed conditions and safeguards that are needed to protect the rights of individuals and organizations around the world.
EFF and partners are also organizing a hybrid media briefing on Thursday 13th April at 10:00 am Pacific Time (1:00 pm Eastern Time, 7 pm CEST) to brief reporters on the grave thre...
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EFF to Ninth Circuit: Twitter Has First Amendment Right to Ban Users, Including Presidents
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/eff-ninth-circuit-twitter-has-first-amendment-right-ban-users-including-presidents
April 7, 2023, 5:00 PM
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 platforms willfully and fully ceded their editorial discretion to the government. But nevertheless, the lawsuits keep getting filed.This time, former President Trump is the lead plaintiff in yet another “must carry” lawsuit, this one agai...
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Media Briefing: Proposed UN Cybercrime Treaty Negotiations Headed in Troubling Direction, Sidestepping Human Rights Protections and Threatening Free Expression, EFF and Allies Warn
https://www.eff.org/press/releases/media-briefing-proposed-un-cybercrime-treaty-negotiations-headed-troubling-direction
April 6, 2023, 4:49 PM
Proposals for Broad Surveillance Powers and Criminalization of Speech Put Journalists, Human Rights Defenders, and Dissidents at RiskSan Francisco—On Thursday, April 13, at 10:00 am Pacific Time (1:00 pm Eastern Time, 7 pm CEST), experts with Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and four international allies will brief reporters on the grave threat to human rights posed by ongoing UN Cybercrime Treaty negotiations that could lead to broad surveillance powers, criminalizing online speech, and e...
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New York City Is Dismantling Low-Cost Community Broadband
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/new-york-city-dismantling-low-cost-community-broadband-2
April 5, 2023, 8:23 PM
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 government subsidy, called “Big Apple Connect” that instead gives a contract to big internet providers Optimum and Spectrum Communications (Charter).
This existing broadband network was built in 2021 mainly by three community cooper...
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Enough is Enough. Tell Congress to Ban Federal Use of Face Recognition
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/enough-enough-tell-congress-ban-federal-use-face-recognition
April 4, 2023, 10:17 PM
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 gives police the power to track us wherever we go. It also disproportionately impacts people of color, turns us all into perpetual suspects, increases the likelihood of being falsely arrested, and chills people’s willingness ...
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Smart Locks Endanger Tenants’ Privacy and Should Be Regulated
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/smart-locks-endanger-tenants-privacy-and-should-be-regulated
April 4, 2023, 8:27 PM
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 enter their home. At minimum, we need privacy laws that require consent to collect this data, a warrant for police access, and strong data minimization.
Smart locks come in many forms. At the most basic level, they are physical locks ...
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The Broad, Vague RESTRICT Act Is a Dangerous Substitute for Comprehensive Data Privacy Legislation
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/broad-vague-restrict-act-dangerous-substitute-comprehensive-data-privacy
April 4, 2023, 5:11 PM
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 of the bill, the RESTRICT Act would authorize the executive branch to block “transactions” and “holdings” of “foreign adversaries” that involve “information and communication technology” and create “undue or unacceptable risk” to national security...
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Podcast Episode: Losing Until We Win: Realistic Revolution in Science Fiction
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/podcast-episode-losing-until-we-win-realistic-revolution-science-fiction
April 4, 2023, 7:01 AM
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, by analysis and introspection, and often, by new battles.  


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How We Think About Copyright and AI Art
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/how-we-think-about-copyright-and-ai-art-0
April 3, 2023, 7:53 PM
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 a visual artist is an already precarious career.
In this context, it’s natural to look to copyright law, because copyright is supposed to help ensure that artists get paid for their work. Unfortunately, one copyright theory advanced in a class-action l...
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AI Art Generators and the Online Image Market
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/ai-art-generators-and-online-image-market
April 3, 2023, 7:53 PM
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 can it replace, and 3) how can the labor of artists be respected through this change?
The lawsuits over AI turn, in large part, on copyright. These copyright issues are so complex that we’ve devoted a whole, separate post to them. Here, we focus on thorn...
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Bad Content Moderation Is Bad, And Government Interference Can Make It Even Worse
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/bad-content-moderation-bad-and-government-interference-can-make-it-even-worse
March 31, 2023, 11:34 PM
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, the law that actually promotes free speech online.
However, buried in these misunderstandings from Congress, and most of the witnesses called to testify, was a genuinely serious problem: Government officials keep asking online services to re...
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Stupid Patent of the Month: Traxcell Tech Gets Ordered To Pay Attorneys’ Fees 
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/stupid-patent-month-traxcell-tech-gets-ordered-pay-attorneys-fees
March 31, 2023, 8:58 PM
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 this month’s patent. What’s more, the lawyer representing the patent owner, William Ramey, has been ordered to pay attorneys' fees no fewer than five times in recent years. 
U.S. Patent No. 10,820,147 is owned by Traxcell Technologies. It’s not clear wh...
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Without Verification, What Is the Point of Elon Musk’s Twitter?
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/what-made-pre-elon-musk-twitter-relevant
March 31, 2023, 8:49 PM
Elon Musk's Twitter fundamentally misunderstands what made Twitter useful in the first place. In an attempt to wring blood from a stone, Twitter’s announced that all the original "blue checks"—initially created as a way to verify that someone was who they said they were—will disappear on April 1st. Instead, blue checks will once again be for sale, just as they were briefly, when Musk took control. April 1 is a date that makes it hard to take anything seriously but, since this isn’t the f...
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After Students Challenged Proctoring Software, French Court Slaps TestWe App With a Suspension
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/after-students-challenged-proctoring-software-french-court-slaps-testwe-app
March 31, 2023, 6:33 PM
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 analysis.TestWe software, much like Proctorio, Examsoft, and other proctoring apps we’ve called out for intrusive monitoring of exam takers, constantly tracks students’ eye movements ...
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Digital Rights Updates with EFFector 35.4
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/digital-rights-updates-effector-354
March 30, 2023, 11:52 PM
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 version below. This issue covers our recent work mapping surveillance towers along the U.S.-Mexico border, our fight to protect the right of incarcerated people to receive physical mail, and much more.
LISTEN ON YouTube
EFFECTOR 35.4 - We're Fighting For Your Rights In Court, In Co...
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Victory at the Ninth Circuit: Twitter’s Content Moderation is Not “State Action”
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/victory-ninth-circuit-twitters-content-moderation-not-state-action
March 24, 2023, 6:27 PM
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 latest decision rejecting social media users’ attempts to hold platforms liable for deleting, demonetizing, and otherwise moderating their content.
Twitter is a private entity, so the government and the courts cannot tell it what speech it must remove or what speech i...
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Courts Should Let You Sue Federal Officials Who Violate Your Right to Record
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/courts-should-let-you-sue-federal-officials-who-violate-your-right-record
March 22, 2023, 10:49 PM
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 officers also ordered him to delete what he had already recorded. But the court, using a flawed legal doctrine that limits civil rights lawsuits, ruled that Dyer could not sue the officers for money damages even if they violate...
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Civil Rights Organizations File Amicus Brief in Support of EFF Lawsuit Against Discriminatory SFPD Surveillance
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/civil-rights-organizations-file-amicus-brief-support-eff-lawsuit-against
March 21, 2023, 9:45 AM
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 300 cameras. The SFPD targeted protests against police brutality led by Black people and other people of color, chilling future racial justice protests by making people less likely to come out in the future out of fear of reprisals from police. The SFPD’s...
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Podcast Episode: So You Think You’re A Critical Thinker
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/podcast-episode-so-you-think-youre-critical-thinker
March 21, 2023, 7:01 AM
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 cults. 


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Sign The Petition And Tell EU Legislators: Don’t Scan Us
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/sign-petition-and-tell-eu-legislators-dont-scan-us
March 20, 2023, 6:22 PM
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.” A private and secure internet should be built with privacy and security in mind—not by treating every user like they’re in a criminal lineup. 
TAKE ACTION
Tell EU Legislators: Stop Scanning Me!
This proposal is meant to stem the spread of...
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EU Lawmakers Must Reject This Proposal To Scan Private Chats
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/10/eu-lawmakers-must-reject-proposal-scan-private-chats
March 20, 2023, 6:21 PM
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 MORE
Tell the European Parliament: Stop Scanning Me
The European Union’s executive body is pushing ahead with a proposal that could lead to mandatory scanning of every private message, photo, and video. The EU Commission wants to open the intimate data of our digital lives up ...
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CBP Is Expanding Its Surveillance Tower Program at the U.S.-Mexico Border–And We're Mapping It
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/cbp-expanding-its-surveillance-tower-program-us-mexico-border-and-were-mapping-it
March 20, 2023, 5:00 PM
Update: As of April 10, 2023, the map and dataset has grown to 348 towers.
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 border with Mexico. Compiled using public records, satellite imagery, road trips, and even exploration in virtual reality, EFF's data serves as a living snapshot of the so-called "virtual...
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What Policymakers Need to Know About the First Amendment and Section 230
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/what-policymakers-need-know-about-first-amendment-and-section-230
March 16, 2023, 11:16 PM
The Supreme Court just heard two cases - Twitter v. Taamneh and Gonzalez v. Google - that could dramatically affect users’ speech rights online. Last week, EFF hosted a panel in Washington D.C. to discuss what legislators need to know about these cases, the history of Section 230, and the First Amendment’s protections for online speech.
Alongside EFF Senior Staff Attorney Aaron Mackey, the panel included Billy Easley, Senior Public Policy Lead at Reddit, and Emma Llanso, Director of the Free...
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Government Hasn't Justified a TikTok Ban
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/government-hasnt-justified-tiktok-ban
March 16, 2023, 8:34 PM
Freedom of speech and association include the right to choose one’s communication technologies. Politicians shouldn’t be able to tell you what to say, where to say it, or who to say it to.
So we are troubled by growing demands in the United States for restrictions on TikTok, a technology that many people have chosen to exchange information with others around the world. Before taking such a drastic step, the government must come forward with specific evidence showing, at the very least, a rea...
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Civil Society Organizations Urge Ghana’s Parliament to Reject Repressive Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/civil-society-organizations-urge-ghanas-parliament-reject-repressive-anti-lgbtq
March 16, 2023, 2:25 PM
With Ghana's 'Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021' set to undergo its second reading in the Ghanaian Parliament, EFF and other civil society partners are calling on the government of Ghana to immediately reject this draconian bill and commit instead to protecting the human rights of all people in Ghana.
As we've said before, this bill is not only an assault on the rights of LGBTQI+ people to exist, but it also represents a grave threat to freedom o...
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The Aftermath of Ola Bini’s Unanimous Acquittal by Ecuadorian Court
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/aftermath-ola-binis-unanimous-acquittal-ecuadorian-court
March 16, 2023, 4:29 AM
On January 31, the Swedish free software developer and computer security expert Ola Bini was declared innocent in a unanimous verdict by a three-judge tribunal in Ecuador—the Court of Criminal Guarantees of Pichincha. After almost four years of a criminal prosecution plagued with irregularities, delays, and due process violations, his right to a fair trial has finally prevailed. EFF, Access Now, APC, Fundación Karisma, and other digital and human rights groups that have been monitoring the ca...
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Tell the UK’s House of Lords: Protect End-to-End Encryption in the Online Safety Bill
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/tell-uks-house-lords-protect-end-end-encryption-online-safety-bill
March 15, 2023, 1:48 PM
Private communication is a basic, universal right. In the online world, the best tool we have to defend this right is end-to-end encryption. 
End-to-end encryption ensures that governments, tech companies, social media platforms, and other groups cannot view or access our private messages, the pictures we share with family and friends, or our bank account details. This is a universal right, and one that is a particularly vital protection for the most vulnerable in society—such as children or ...
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Digital Rights Updates with EFFector 35.3
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/digital-rights-updates-effector-353
March 14, 2023, 9:47 PM
New month, new digital rights updates! Version 35, issue 3 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 our new Coded Resistance comic as well as our co-sponsorship of new California legislation to protect communities from dragnet-style digital surveillance, and much more.
LISTEN ON YouTube
EFFECTOR 35.3 - International Women's Day is Every Day
Make sure you never miss an issue by sign...
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ADC's New Argentina Report Flags How ISPs Can Do More for Users’ Data Privacy
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/adcs-new-argentina-report-flags-how-isps-can-do-more-users-data-privacy
March 14, 2023, 4:01 PM
Argentinian telecommunications providers have made strides in their commitments to protecting users’ data privacy, but the gains are uneven—they are doing a better job at informing about data processing and users' data rights, but still a poor job at disclosing how they handle government demands for user data, according to a new report by digital rights group ADC.
In this third edition of Argentina's report, most of the improvements relate to the ISPs’ privacy policies. ADC has increased ...
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Even Rep. LaHood Likely Can't Sue the NSA or FBI to Protect His Rights
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/even-rep-lahood-likely-cant-sue-nsa-or-fbi-protect-his-rights
March 14, 2023, 12:46 AM
In a stunning revelation, a sitting U.S. Congressman has publicly identified himself as the subject of likely illegal surveillance by the NSA and FBI. During a hearing on the question of renewal the controversial mass NSA spying authorities known as FISA Amendments Act section 702, Rep. Darin LaHood of Illinois revealed: “the member of Congress who was wrongly queried multiple times solely by his name was in fact me.” It seems Rep. LaHood was one of the Congresspersons identified in a footno...
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This Texas Bill Would Systematically Silence Anyone Who Dares to Talk About Abortion Pills
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/texas-bill-would-systematically-silence-anyone-who-dares-talk-about-abortion-pills
March 14, 2023, 12:25 AM
Texas State Representative Steve Toth recently introduced a bill that targets the most viable form of safe and effective abortion access today—medication abortion.
House Bill (HB) 2690 seeks to prevent the sale and distribution of abortion pills like Mifepristone and misoprostol, but it doesn’t stop there. By restricting access to certain information online, the bill seeks to prevent people from learning about abortion drugs, or even being aware of their existence. It would also systematical...
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Why We’re Suing to Protect the Right of Incarcerated People to Receive Physical Mail
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/why-were-suing-protect-right-incarcerated-people-receive-physical-mail
March 13, 2023, 11:42 PM
In 2021, San Mateo County, California, banned people incarcerated in county jails from receiving physical mail. Instead, family and friends were required to mail their letters to Smart Communications, a private for-profit company based in Florida that would scan and destroy those letters so that incarcerated people would be required to access them digitally through a limited number of shared tablets and kiosks in public spaces within the jails.
This is why the Electronic Frontier Foundation, th...
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The Foilies 2023
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/foilies-2023
March 12, 2023, 4:31 PM
Recognizing the worst in government transparency.
The Foilies are co-written by EFF and MuckRock News and published in alternative newspapers around the country through a partnership with the Association of Alternative Newsmedia. 
It seems like these days, everyone is finding classified documents in places they shouldn't be: their homes, their offices, their storage lockers, their garages, their guitar cases, between the cracks of their couches, under some withered celery in the vegetable drawe...
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Appeals Court Upholds Restriction on Twitter’s First Amendment Right to Publish National Security Transparency Report
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/appeals-court-upholds-restriction-twitters-first-amendment-right-publish-national
March 11, 2023, 12:37 AM
A ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this week marks a new low in judicial deference to classification and national security, even against the nearly inviolable First Amendment right to be free of prior restraints against speech. In Twitter v. Garland, the court ruled that it was not a violation of the First Amendment for the Justice Department to censor a draft transparency report on the aggregate number of national security demands Twitter received in the second half of 201...
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Age Verification Mandates Would Undermine Anonymity Online
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/age-verification-mandates-would-undermine-anonymity-online
March 10, 2023, 8:09 PM
Age verification systems are surveillance systems. Mandatory age verification, and with it, mandatory identity verification, is the wrong approach to protecting young people online. It would force websites to require visitors to prove their age by submitting information such as government-issued identification. This scheme would lead us further towards an internet where our private data is collected and sold by default. The tens of millions of Americans who do not have government-issued identifi...
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Flipper Zero Devices Being Seized by Brazil’s Telecom Agency
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/flipper-zero-devices-being-seized-brazils-telecom-agency
March 10, 2023, 1:07 AM
You may have heard of the Flipper Zero. It’s marketed as a “Portable Multi-tool Device for Geeks”—a programmable portable device packed with hardware that facilitates wireless penetration testing and hacking on the go. The device, which greets its owner with an adorable cyber-dolphin on its monochrome 128x64 pixel screen, is facing problems in Brazil: despite products with similar features being available to Brazilians, the national telecoms regulator Anatel has flagged the Flipper Zero ...
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Incarcerated Individuals & Advocacy Groups Challenge California County’s Policy of Digitizing and Destroying Jail Mail
https://www.eff.org/press/releases/incarcerated-individuals-advocacy-groups-challenge-california-countys-policy
March 9, 2023, 10:44 PM
Electronic Frontier Foundation, Knight Institute, and Social Justice Legal Foundation say that the policy violates the rights to free speech and privacyREDWOOD CITY, CA—The Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, and the Social Justice Legal Foundation today filed a complaint challenging San Mateo County’s policy of digitizing and destroying physical mail sent to people in its jails.  
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of five people incar...
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Utah's Governor Should Veto "Social Media Regulations" Bill S.B. 152
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/utahs-governor-should-veto-social-media-regulations-bill-sb-152
March 9, 2023, 5:55 PM
This week, EFF asked Utah’s Governor Cox to veto a dangerous “social media regulations” bill, S.B. 152 (McKell). Utah’s bill is part of a wave of age verification laws that would make users less secure, and make internet access less private overall. EFF opposes laws that mandate age verification requirements, and Utah’s S.B. 152 would be one of the worst we’ve seen. 
S.B. 152 would require a social media company to stop a resident minor from creating an account unless they have the ...
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Section 702’s Unconstitutional Domestic Spying Program Must End
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/section-702s-unconstitutional-domestic-spying-program-must-end
March 8, 2023, 12:17 AM
A few months ahead of its expiration this fall, the Biden administration has announced its intention to seek renewal of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)—an invasive and unconstitutional law that cannot continue to exist in its current form.
On its face, Section 702 allows the government to conduct surveillance inside the United States so long as the surveillance is directed at foreigners currently located outside the United States. It also prohibits intentionall...
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EFF Tells Supreme Court: Trademark Law Doesn’t Trump the First Amendment
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/eff-tells-supreme-court-trademark-law-doesnt-trump-first-amendment
March 7, 2023, 8:37 PM
A trademark dispute between a liquor company and a maker of novelty dog toys may not sound like an important First Amendment battleground, but the latest trademark case to come before the U.S. Supreme Court could have serious consequences for online speech and political activism. Trademarks are part of our modern lexicon, and we cannot allow their owners to use the law as a censorship tool.
In Jack Daniel’s Properties v. VIP Products, Jack Daniels claims that a company infringed and diluted it...
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EFF Comments to NTIA on Privacy and Civil Rights
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/eff-comments-ntia-privacy-and-civil-rights
March 7, 2023, 4:27 PM
EFF recently submitted comments to the U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on "Privacy, Equity, and Civil Rights". NTIA is a unit of the U.S. Department of Commerce that advises the President on information policy. NTIA is writing a report on privacy and civil rights, and requested comments from the public.
The submission spotlights how data surveillance practices cause discrimination against vulnerable groups across the entire lifecycle of data processing: at ...
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