"Is My Phone Listening To Me?"

The short answer is no, probably not! But, with EFF’s new site, Digital Rights Bytes, we go in-depth on this question—and many others.Whether you’re just starting to question some of the effects of technology in your life or you’re the designated...

EFF Launches Digital Rights Bytes to Answer Tech Questions that Bug Us All

SAN FRANCISCO—The Electronic Frontier Foundation today launched “Digital Rights Bytes,” a new website with short videos offering quick, easily digestible answers to the technology questions that trouble us all. “It’s increasingly clear there is no...

Sorry, Gas Companies - Parody Isn't Infringement (Even If It Creeps You Out)

Activism comes in many forms. You might hold a rally, write to Congress, or fly a blimp over the NSA. Or you might use a darkly hilarious parody to make your point, like our client Modest Proposals recently did. Modest Proposals is an activist...

The Frightening Stakes of this Halloween’s Net Neutrality Hearing

The future of the open internet is in danger this October 31st, not from ghosts and goblins, but from the broadband companies that control internet access in most of the United States. These companies would love to use their oligopoly power to...

Triumphs, Trials, and Tangles From California's 2024 Legislative Session

California’s 2024 legislative session has officially adjourned, and it’s time to reflect on the wins and losses that have shaped Californians’ digital rights landscape this year.EFF monitored nearly 100 bills in the state this session alone,...

No matter what the bank says, it's YOUR money, YOUR data, and YOUR choice

The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) has just finalized a rule that makes it easy and safe for you to figure out which bank will give you the best deal and switch to that bank, with just a couple of clicks. We love this kind of thing: the...

Court Orders Google (a Monopolist) To Knock It Off With the Monopoly Stuff

A federal court recently ordered Google to make it easier for Android users to switch to rival app stores, banned Google from using its vast cash reserves to block competitors, and hit Google with a bundle of thou-shalt-nots and assorted...

Cop Companies Want All Your Data and Other Takeaways from This Year’s IACP Conference

Artificial intelligence dominated the technology talk on panels, among sponsors, and across the trade floor at this year’s annual conference of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP).IACP, held Oct. 19 - 22 in Boston, brings...

EU to Apple: “Let Users Choose Their Software”; Apple: “Nah”

This year, a far-reaching, complex new piece of legislation comes into effect in EU: the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which represents some of the most ambitious tech policy in European history. We don’t love everything in the DMA, but some of its...

The Real Monsters of Street Level Surveillance

Safe trick-or-treating this Halloween means being aware of the real monsters of street-level surveillance. You might not always see these menaces, but they are watching you. The real-world harms of these terrors wreak havoc on our communities....

Disability Rights Are Technology Rights

During Disability Employee Awareness month, we call out the medical tech industry for fighting disabled people's right to repair or modify the tech that they own.

The UK Must Act: Alaa Abd El-Fattah Still Imprisoned 25 Days After Release Date

It’s been 25 days since September 29, the day that should have seen British-Egyptian blogger, coder, and activist Alaa Abd El Fattah walk free. His family continues to campaign for the UK government to pressure Egypt for his release.

In Appreciation of David Burnham

We at EFF have long recognized the threats posed by the unchecked technological prowess of law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Since our founding in 1990, we have been in the forefront of efforts to impose meaningful legal controls and...

EFF to Massachusetts’ Highest Court: Pretrial Electronic Monitoring Should Not Eviscerate Privacy Rights

When someone is placed on location monitoring for one purpose, it does not justify law enforcement’s access to that information for a completely different purpose without a proper warrant. EFF joined the Committee for Public Counsel Services,...

How Many U.S. Persons Does Section 702 Spy On? The ODNI Needs to Come Clean.

EFF has joined with 23 other organizations including the ACLU, Restore the Fourth, the Brennan Center for Justice, Access Now, and the Freedom of the Press Foundation to demand that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI)...

U.S. Border Surveillance Towers Have Always Been Broken

A new bombshell scoop from NBC News revealed an internal U.S. Border Patrol memo claiming that 30 percent of camera towers that compose the agency's "Remote Video Surveillance System" (RVSS) program are broken. According to the report, the memo...

EFF to Third Circuit: TikTok Has Section 230 Immunity for Video Recommendations

EFF legal intern Nick Delehanty was the principal author of this post.EFF filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in support of TikTok’s request that the full court reconsider the case Anderson v. TikTok after a...

A Flourishing Internet Depends on Competition

Antitrust law has long recognized that monopolies stifle innovation and gouge consumers on price. When it comes to Big Tech, harm to innovation—in the form of “kill zones,” where major corporations buy up new entrants to a market before they can...

California Attorney General Issues New Guidance on Military Equipment to Law Enforcement

California law enforcement should take note: the state’s Attorney General has issued a new bulletin advising them on how to comply with AB 481—a state law that regulates how law enforcement agencies can use, purchase, and disclose information...

Prosecutors in Washington State Warn Police: Don’t Use Gen AI to Write Reports

The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which handles all prosecutions in the Seattle area, has instructed police in no uncertain terms: do not use AI to write police reports...for now. This is a good development. We hope prosecutors across...