Police Can’t Demand You Reveal Your Phone Passcode and Then Tell a Jury You Refused

The Utah Supreme Court is the latest stop in EFF’s roving campaign to establish your Fifth Amendment right to refuse to provide your password to law enforcement. Yesterday, along with the ACLU, we filed an amicus brief in State v. Valdez, arguing that the constitutional privilege against self-incrimination prevents the police from forcing suspects to...

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Victory! Oakland’s City Council Unanimously Approves Communications Choice Ordinance

Oakland residents shared the stories of their personal experience; a broad coalition of advocates, civil society organizations, and local internet service providers (ISPs) lifted their voices; and now the Oakland City Council has unanimously passed Oakland’s Communications Service Provider Choice Ordinance. The newly minted law frees Oakland renters...

11h

EFF to Federal Court: Block Unconstitutional Texas Social Media Law

Users are understandably frustrated and perplexed by many big tech companies’ content moderation practices. Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms make many questionable, confounding, and often downright incorrect decisions affecting speakers of all political stripes.  A new Texas law, which Texas Governor Greg Abbott said would stop...

12h

Why Is It So Hard to Figure Out What to Do When You Lose Your Account?

We get a lot of requests for help here at EFF, with our tireless intake coordinator being the first point of contact for many. All too often, however, the help needed isn’t legal or technical. Instead, users just need an answer to a simple question: what does this company want me to do to get my account back? People lose a lot when they lose their...

13h

Crowd-Sourced Suspicion Apps Are Out of Control

Technology rarely invents new societal problems. Instead, it digitizes them, supersizes them, and allows them to balloon and duplicate at the speed of light. That’s exactly the problem we’ve seen with location-based, crowd-sourced “public safety” apps like Citizen. These apps come in a wide spectrum—some let users connect with those around them by...

13h

On Global Encryption Day, Let's Stand Up for Privacy and Security

At EFF, we talk a lot about strong encryption. It’s critical for our privacy and security online. That’s why we litigate in courts to protect the right to encrypt, build technologies to encrypt the web, and it’s why we lead the fight against anti-encryption legislation like last year’s EARN IT Act. We’ve seen big victories in our fight to defend encryption....

18h

New Global Alliance Calls on European Parliament to Make the Digital Services Act a Model Set of Internet Regulations Protecting Human Rights and Freedom of Expression

The European Parliament’s regulations and policy-making decisions on technology and the internet have unique influence across the globe. With great influence comes great responsibility. We believe the European Parliament (EP) has a duty to set an example with the Digital Services Act (DSA), the first major overhaul of European internet regulations in...

22h

From Bangkok to Burlington — The Public Interest Social Internet

This blog post is part of a series, looking at the public interest internet—the parts of the internet that don’t garner the headlines of Facebook or Google, but quietly provide public goods and useful services without requiring the scale or the business practices of the tech giants. Read our earlier installments. In the last installment, we discussed...

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EFF Files New Lawsuit Against California Sheriff for Sharing ALPR Data with ICE and CBP

The Marin County Sheriff illegally shares the sensitive location information of millions of drivers with out-of-state and federal agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The Sheriff uses automated license plate readers (ALPRs)—high-speed cameras mounted on street poles or squad cars—to scan...

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After Years of Delays and Alarmingly Flimsy Evidence, Security Expert Ola Bini’s Trial Set for This Week

Update, October 19: Ola Bini's trial has been suspended by request of the Corporación Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (CNT) whose representative was unable to attend the hearing. No new date has yet been set. For over two years EFF has been following the case of Swedish computer security expert Ola Bini, who was arrested in April, 2019, in Ecuador,...

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