MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT between California and Apple to provision a digital credential for California driver's license holders.

The Kids Online Safety Act, now S. 2073, commonly referred to as KOSA, is an online censorship bill that passed the Senate in July. The bill allows the Federal Trade Commission to sue apps and websites that don’t take measures to “prevent and mitigate” various harms to minors, including anxiety, depression, substance use, and eating disorders. Mitigating such harms is worthwhile, but KOSA doesn’t do the job. KOSA is an unconstitutional censorship bill that gives the FTC, and potentially state Attorneys General, the power to restrict protected online speech they find objectionable.  

Consumer-focused, comprehensive federal privacy laws would protect young people without infringing on the First Amendment rights of everyone who uses the internet. Stronger competition laws would open the field and force platforms to innovate, offering more user choice for parents and teens. 

Online child safety is a complex issue. Many recent proposals have tried to require platforms to verify users’ ages in order to see various types of content or access critical services. But without fail, these “age assurance,” “age verification,” or “age estimation” systems hurt user privacy and increase the risks of identity theft. 

No method of age verification is both privacy-protective and entirely accurate. These methods don’t each fit somewhere on a spectrum of “more safe” and “less safe,” or “more accurate” and “less accurate.” Rather, they each fall on a spectrum of “dangerous in one way” to “dangerous in a different way.” 

Solutions often involve offering a variety of age determination options, but this only glosses over the fact that every solution has serious privacy, accuracy, or security problems. This puts the burden on the individual to decide whether they are most concerned with accuracy or privacy, generally, without giving them the tools they need to determine which option is safest for them.

07-24-2024 Channel 781 News v. Waltham Community Access Corporation complaint

The Kids Online Safety Act (H.R. 7891), commonly referred to as KOSA, was introduced as a companion to S. 1409. Although the two bills have slight differences, their substance is the same. Both bills impose a “duty of care” on apps and websites to prevent their “design features” from causing harm to minors – including anxiety, depression, substance use, and eating disorders. Mitigating such harms is worthwhile, but KOSA doesn’t do the job. Both versions are unconstitutional censorship bills that would give the FTC, and potentially state Attorneys General, the power to restrict protected online speech they find objectionable.  KOSA’s “duty of care” provision will stifle online speech, and KOSA will also result in online services imposing age-verification systems to prevent minors from having the same access to content as adults. These systems require everyone—adults and minors—to verify their age.

Better Options Exist

EFF urges legislators to seek alternatives to KOSA. Consumer focused, comprehensive federal privacy law would protect young people without infringing on the First Amendment rights of everyone who uses on the internet. Stronger competition laws would open the field and force platforms to innovate, offering more user choice for parents and teens.

2024 Cyberlaw Trivia Slides

EFF Opposition Letter Re: Assembly Bill 3080

California A.B. 3080, 2023-24 Legislature.

EFF FY22-23 audited financial statements

This letter to the Calexico City Council was originally transmitted on May 14, 2024. However, the letter was re-sent on May 15 with the addition of the Southern Border Communities Coalition as an additional signatory.

03-18-2024 ALPR letter to Alameda County Sheriff's Office

EFF and CDT filed an amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit in case, NetChoice v. Bonta, No 23-2969

Submitted on Jan. 17, 2024. 

7,162,433 (the ’433 patent) System and method for interactive contests

8,019,641 (the ’641 patent) System and method for interactive contests

8,655,715 (the ’715 patent) System and method for interactive contests

U.S. Patent No. 10,891,642 

U.S. Patent No. 8,655,715 

Internet Archive opening brief to U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit 12/15/2023

Declaration of Alexis Ohanian, DI 57 Ex 11

Green v. DOJ Opening Brief 11-29-2023

11-14-2023 EFF Letter to FTC re: Malware on Android TV Set-Top Boxes

Pihole log artifact

NAPCO v. Landmark Complaint

Middle District of North Carolina, 21-CV-00025