Automated License Plate Readers

Dozens of Rogue California Police Agencies Still Sharing Driver Locations with Anti-Abortion States

California Attorney General Rob Bonta should crack down on police agencies that still violate Californians’ privacy by sharing automated license plate reader information with out-of-state government agencies, putting abortion seekers and providers at particular risk, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the state’s American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) affiliates urged...
Google Spying

EFF Urges Pennsylvania Supreme Court to Find Keyword Search Warrant Unconstitutional

Keyword warrants that let police indiscriminately sift through search engine databases are unconstitutional dragnets that target free speech, lack particularity and probable cause, and violate the privacy of countless innocent people, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and other organizations argued in a brief filed today to the Supreme Court of...

EFF Urges Supreme Court to Set Standard for How Government Can and Can’t Talk to Social Media Sites About Censoring Users’ Posts

WASHINGTON, DC—The Supreme Court should clarify standards for determining if the government permissibly advised or convinced social media companies to censor content from 2020 to 2022, or impermissibly coerced or threatened sites in violation of the First Amendment, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) said in a...

Internet Archive Files Appeal Brief Defending Libraries and Digital Lending From Big Publishers’ Legal Attack

SAN FRANCISCO—A cartel of major publishing companies must not be allowed to criminalize fair-use library lending, the Internet Archive argued in an appellate brief filed today. The Internet Archive is a San Francisco-based 501(c)(3) non-profit library which preserves and provides access to cultural artifacts of all kinds in electronic form....

In Landmark Battle Over Free Speech, EFF Urges Supreme Court to Strike Down Texas and Florida Laws that Let States Dictate What Speech Social Media Sites Must Publish

WASHINGTON D.C.—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and five organizations defending free speech today urged the Supreme Court to strike down laws in Florida and Texas that let the states dictate certain speech social media sites must carry, violating the sites’ First Amendment rights to curate content they publish—a...

Pseudo-Copyright Rules That Block Fair Uses and Other Speech Violate the First Amendment, EFF Argues in Appellate Brief

WASHINGTON, DC—A 1998 federal law that criminalizes access to digital works for lawful purposes—chilling free expression and impeding scientific research—is unenforceable because it’s too broad and violates the First Amendment, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and co-counsel Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati argued in an appeals...

EFF to Supreme Court: Fifth Amendment Protects People from Being Forced to Enter or Hand Over Cell Phone Passcodes to the Police

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today asked the Supreme Court to overturn a ruling undermining Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination and find that constitutional safeguards prevent police from forcing people to provide or use passcodes for their cell phones so officers can access the tremendous amount of private...

Security

EFF Urges FTC to Address American Resellers of Malware on Android TV Set-Top Boxes

SAN FRANCISCO—The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) must act to halt sales by Amazon, AliExpress, and other resellers of Android television set-top boxes and mobile devices manufactured by AllWinner and RockChip that have been pre-infected with malware before ever reaching consumers, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged Tuesday in ...

EFF to Supreme Court: Reverse Dangerous Prior Restraint Ruling Upholding FBI Gag on X’s Surveillance Transparency Report

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged the Supreme Court today to review and reverse a dangerous ruling allowing the Justice Department to censor X’s ability to publish information about government requests for the platform’s private user data, a decision that undermines at least a hundred years of...

A wide image with an angry robot on one side. On the other side are the words, Red Flag Machine

EFF Unveils the Red Flag Machine, Exposing Deep Flaws in Student Surveillance Software

SAN FRANCISCO—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today unveiled the Red Flag Machine: an interactive quiz and report demonstrating the absurd inefficiency—and potential dangers—of student surveillance software that schools across the country use and that routinely invades the privacy of millions of children. The Red Flag Machine...

Appeals Court Upholds Public.Resource.Org’s Right to Post Public Laws and Regulations Online

SAN FRANCISCO—Technical standards like fire and electrical codes developed by private organizations but incorporated into public law can be freely disseminated without any liability for copyright infringement, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. Tuesday’s ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of...

EFF Welcomes Erica Astrella and Yoshi Kohno to Its Board of Directors

SAN FRANCISCO—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is honored to announce today that Erica Astrella, Head of Technology at Parkwood Entertainment and a leading voice for diversity and equity in tech, and University of Washington Computer Science & Engineering Professor Tadayoshi “Yoshi” Kohno, a renowned security researcher and scholar, have joined...

Media Briefing: As UN Cybercrime Treaty Negotiations Enter Final Phase, Time is Running Short to Bolster Human Rights Protections

New York—On Wednesday, August 23, at 1:30 pm Eastern Time (10:30 am Pacific Time) experts from Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Human Rights Watch, and four international allies will brief reporters about critical flaws in the draft UN Cybercrime Treaty that threaten human rights.The treaty, under negotiation by UN...

Government Needs Both the Ability to Talk to Social Media Platforms and Clear Limits, EFF Argues in Brief to Appellate Court

SAN FRANCISCO—Government input into social media platforms’ decisions about user content raises serious First Amendment concerns and the government must be held accountable for violations, but not all such communications are improper, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) argued in an appellate brief filed today. “Government co-option of the content moderation...

EFF Awards text on circuitboard texture

Electronic Frontier Foundation to Present Annual EFF Awards to Alexandra Asanovna Elbakyan, Library Freedom Project, and Signal Foundation

SAN FRANCISCO—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is honored to announce that Alexandra Asanovna Elbakyan, Library Freedom Project, and Signal Foundation will receive the 2023 EFF Awards for their vital work in helping to ensure that technology supports freedom, justice, and innovation for all people. The EFF Awards recognize specific and...

EFF Urges Supreme Court to Make Clear That Government Officials Have First Amendment Obligations When They Use Their Social Media Accounts for Governmental Purposes

Washington, D.C. — Electronic Frontier Foundation urged the Supreme Court today to send a loud and clear message to government officials around the country who use social media in furtherance of their official duties, but then block people who criticize them: Doing so violates our First Amendment right to...

Civil Liberties Groups Demand California Police Stop Sharing Drivers’ Location Data With Police In Anti-Abortion States

SAN FRANCISCO—Seventy-one* California police agencies in 22 counties must immediately stop sharing automated license plate reader (ALPR) data with law enforcement agencies in other states because it violates California law and could enable prosecution of abortion seekers and providers elsewhere, three civil liberties groups demanded Thursday in letters to those...

Suit by Renowned Saudi Human Rights Activist Details Harms Caused by Export of U.S. Cybersurveillance Technology and Training to Repressive Regimes

PORTLAND, OR — The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the Center for Justice & Accountability (CJA), and Foley Hoag LLP on Monday filed an amended complaint with the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon on behalf of renowned Saudi human rights activist Loujain Alhathloul against...

Latam Media Briefing: Proposed UN Cybercrime Treaty Lacks Sufficient Human Rights Safeguards, Exacerbating Threats to Privacy and Civil Liberties in Latam

VIENNA—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 s...

Media Briefing: Proposed UN Cybercrime Treaty Negotiations Headed in Troubling Direction, Sidestepping Human Rights Protections and Threatening Free Expression, EFF and Allies Warn

San 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...

Incarcerated Individuals & Advocacy Groups Challenge California County’s Policy of Digitizing and Destroying Jail Mail

REDWOOD 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...

A person holding a megaphone that another person speaks through

EFF Warns Supreme Court That Users’ Speech is at Stake When Increasing Platforms’ Liability

SAN FRANCISCO – Increasing online platforms’ liability for hosting their users’ speech would lead to severe censorship that could undermine the very architecture of the free and open internet, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) argued to the U.S. Supreme Court in a brief...

International Coalition of Rights Groups Call on Internet Infrastructure Providers to Avoid Content Policing

San Francisco—Internet infrastructure services—the heart of a secure and resilient internet where free speech and expression flows—should continue to focus their energy on making the web an essential resource for users and, with rare exceptions, avoid content policing. Such intervention often causes more harm than good, EFF and its partners...

EFF Releases Images of CBP Surveillance Technology Along the Southern Border

SAN FRANCISCO—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on Tuesday published scores of new photos of surveillance technology recently deployed along the U.S.-Mexico border, depicting a digital dragnet that threatens civil liberties and human rights.“The rapid expansion of digital surveillance along the U.S.-Mexico border doesn’t just affect migrants—it affects anyone living near...

Police Can’t Keep Records of Electronic Surveillance Secret Indefinitely, EFF Argues to California Supreme Court

SAN FRANCISCO—The Supreme Court of California should review a lower court’s decision that allows police to indefinitely keep court records about widespread electronic surveillance secret from the public, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) argued in a brief filed Tuesday.EFF, along with co-counsel from the Law Office of Michael T....

baby in crib plays with spying toy blocks

EFF Urges FTC to Address Security and Privacy Problems in Daycare and Early Education Apps

SAN FRANCISCO—The Federal Trade Commission must review the lack of privacy and security protections among daycare and early education apps, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged Wednesday in a letter to Chair Lina Khan.Daycare and preschool applications frequently include notifications of feedings, diaper changes, pictures, activities, and which guardian...

A smart meter alert glows red while cops approach a suburban home

Lawsuit: SMUD and Sacramento Police Violate State Law and Utility Customers’ Privacy by Sharing Data Without a Warrant

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District’s (SMUD) data sharing with the Sacramento Police Department violates people’s right to privacy under the California Constitution and state laws. The data dragnet also disproportionately harms Asian residents in Sacramento, and the targeting of the Asian community appears to be by design.
golden EFF AWARDS on dark blue circuit board background

Electronic Frontier Foundation to Present Annual Awards to Alaa Abd El-Fattah, Digital Defense Fund, and Kyle Wiens

SAN FRANCISCO—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is honored to announce that blogger, software developer, activist, and political prisoner Alaa Abd El-Fattah, abortion rights technology organization Digital Defense Fund, and iFixit CEO and co-founder Kyle Wiens will receive the 2022 EFF Awards for their vital work in helping to ensure that...

Arizona Law Tramples People’s Constitutional Right to Record Police

SAN FRANCISCO–A new Arizona law that bans people from recording videos within eight feet of police violates the constitutional rights of legal observers, grassroots activists, and other Arizonans, says a brief filed Friday in federal court by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), two Arizona chapters of the National Lawyers...

An animated image showing location pins dropping onto a street map from above, tracing several paths

Data Broker Helps Police See Everywhere You’ve Been with the Click of a Mouse: EFF Investigation

SAN FRANCISCO–Millions of Americans’ everyday movements can be traced by police with the click of a mouse and possibly without a warrant, thanks to a data broker that’s selling phone geolocation data to state and local law enforcement, an Electronic Frontier Foundation investigation has found. The investigation, conducted...

surveillance cameras spying on protestors

EFF & ACLU Brief: SFPD Violated Surveillance Law by Spying on Protests for Black Lives

SAN FRANCISCO–San Francisco police violated the city’s surveillance technology law by tapping into a private surveillance camera network to spy on demonstrators protesting the 2020 police murder of George Floyd, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California (ACLU) told a state appeals court...

Internet Archive Seeks Summary Judgment in Federal Lawsuit Filed By Publishing Companies

SAN 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...

EFF Statement on EU Parliament’s Adoption of Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act

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...

Hearing Wednesday: EFF Testifies Against SFPD for Violating Transparency Laws

SAN FRANCISCO – On Wednesday, June 1, at 5 p.m. PT, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) will testify against the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) at the city’s Sunshine Ordinance Task Force meeting. EFF filed a complaint against the SFPD for withholding records about a controversial investigation involving the use...

Community Activists Reach Settlement With Marin County Sheriff for Unlawfully Sharing Drivers’ Locations with Out-Of-State and Federal Agencies

SAN FRANCISCO—Community activists in Northern California today announced a settlement in their lawsuit against the County of Marin and Marin County Sheriff Robert Doyle, whose office illegally made the license plate and location information of local drivers, captured by a network of surveillance cameras, available to hundreds of federal...

EFF Opposes Anti-Fiber, Anti-Affordability Legislation in California That Will Raise Prices on Middle Income Users

SACRAMENTO, CA – The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) opposes legislation sponsored by AT&T, AB 2749 (Quirk-Silva), that would undermine California’s historic broadband infrastructure law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last July.The bill would amend the newly created grant program for funding broadband access in unserved areas by prohibiting the...

EFF to Supreme Court: Put Texas Social Media Law Back on Hold

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today urged the U.S. Supreme Court to halt enforcement of Texas’ constitutionally questionable social media law, which allows the state to dictate what speech platforms must publish and may lead to more, not less, censorship of user expression as platforms face a storm of...

Let's Encrypt Wins Levchin Prize For Work On Internet Security

SAN FRANCISCO—Let’s Encrypt—a project of the nonprofit Internet Security Research Group (ISRG), which is supported by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and other sponsors—won the prestigious international Levchin Prize for significant contributions to real-world cryptography.Let’s Encrypt is part of the effort to encrypt the entire internet as a...

Civil Liberties Groups Urge Social Media Platforms to Better Protect Free Flow of Information in Crisis Zones

SAN FRANCISCO—Whether in Ukraine or in other crisis zones around the globe, social media platforms have a duty to ensure that people have access to the free flow of life-saving information, according to a statement issued today by 31 international human rights and civil liberties organizations, including the Electronic...

Public.Resource.Org Can Keep Freeing the Law: Court Allows Posting Public Laws And Regulations Online

SAN FRANCISCO—As part of its ongoing work to ensure that people can know and understand the laws they live under, Public.Resource.org, a nonprofit organization, on Thursday vindicated its ability to publicly post important laws online in standard formats, free of copy protections and cumbersome user interfaces.The win for Public...

EFF Files FOIA Lawsuit Against DHS to Shed Light on Vetting Program to Collect and Data Mine Immigrants' Social Media

SAN FRANCISCO—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for records about a multi-million dollar, secretive program that surveils immigrants and other foreign visitors’ speech on social media.DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) use the Visa...

Cybersecurity Experts Urge EU Lawmakers to Fix Website Authentication Proposal That Puts Internet Users’ Security and Privacy at Risk

SAN FRANCISCO—Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) technologists, along with 36 of the world’s top cybersecurity experts, today urged European lawmakers to reject proposed changes to European Union (EU) regulations for securing electronic payments and other online transactions that will dramatically weaken web security and expose internet users to increased risk of...

EFF Launches Tracking Global Online Censorship Project to Shine Light on How Content Moderation Affects Freedom of Expression Around the World

San Francisco—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today launched Tracking Global Online Censorship, a website project that provides comprehensive, in-depth information about how and why social media platforms remove users’ posts, how users can appeal these take down decisions, and how the practice affects freedom of expression across the globe.Tracking...

EFF Asks Appeals Court to Rule DMCA Anti-Circumvention Provisions Violate First Amendment

Washington D.C.—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) asked a federal appeals court to block enforcement of onerous copyright rules that violate the First Amendment and criminalize certain speech about technology, preventing researchers, tech innovators, filmmakers, educators, and others from creating and sharing their work.EFF, with co-counsel Wilson Sonsini Goodrich &...

Livestreamed Hearing Moved to Jan. 21: EFF Will Ask Court to Issue Judgment Against SFPD for Illegally Spying on Protesters Marching in Support of Black Lives

Update: The hearing has been moved to January 21.San Francisco—On Friday, Jan. 21, at 9:30 am, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the ACLU of Northern California will ask a California state court to find that the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) violated city law when it used a network...

“Worst in Show Awards” Livestreams Friday: EFF’s Cindy Cohn and Cory Doctorow Will Unveil Most Privacy-Defective, Least Secure Consumer Tech Products at CES

Las Vegas—On Friday, January 7, at 9:30 am PT, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Executive Director Cindy Cohn and EFF Special Advisor and sci-fi author Cory Doctorow will present the creepiest, most privacy-invasive, and unsecure consumer tech devices debuting at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES).EFF, in partnership with iFixit, USPIRG,...

Pages

Subscribe to EFF Press Releases