September 2, 2016 - 9:00am PDT to September 5, 2016 - 12:00pm PDT
Atlanta, GA

EFF Deputy Executive Director Kurt Opsahl and Investigative Researcher Dave Maass returns (in costume) to Dragon Con's Electronic Frontiers Forums, where they'll discuss a range of privacy, activism, and transparency issues around digital civil liberties. 

Activism 101 and State Level Activism

11:30 a.m. - Friday, September 2, 2016 - Hilton Room 208-209

How do you change the world when there are such an overwhelming number of problems today? Does activism mean having to get arrested or does it require civil disobedience? We’ll explore the tenets of our democracy and ways to work within the system to make the world a better place.

Panelists: Andrew Greenberg, David Maass, Amie Stepanovich, Hayden Barnes

Rule 41: The FBI’s New License to Hack? (and the Stop Mass Hacking Act)

4 p.m. - Friday, September 2, 2016 - Hilton Room 208-209

An obscure change to rules of criminal procedure would allow the FBI to hack computers anywhere in the world regardless of collateral damage. The “Stop Mass Hacking Act” has been proposed in Congress to rein in this overreach. Will it be enacted before December when the change goes into effect?

Panelists: Kevin Bankston, Amie Stepanovich (Moderator), Tom Lowenthal, Kurt Opsahl

National Security Letters: Past, Present, and Future

1 p.m. - Saturday, September 6, 2016 - Hilton Room 208-209

We’ll take a look at how National Security Letters — secret government demands for Internet user information issued directly by the FBI — have been used and abused in the past, and at how some in Congress are trying to expand this warrantless search power even further.

Panelists: Kevin Bankston (Moderator), Blair B. Chintella, Christina Rudy, Kurt Opsahl

FBI vs. Apple vs. Grey Hats and the Future of Encryption

4 p.m. - Saturday, September 6, 2016 - Marriott A601-A602

Law enforcement is clamoring to get at data protected in locked mobile phones, while manufacturers assert that weakening the locks would compromise security for all. Are Grey Hats the right way to compromise on this difficult issue?

Panelists: Randal L. Schwartz, Kevin Bankston, Blair B. Chintella (Moderator), Kurt Opsahl, Amie Stepanovich, TJ Mihill, Drew Porter

Mobile Biometrics and Law Enforcement

8:30 p.m. - Saturday, September 6, 2016 - Hilton Room 208-209

Law Enforcement has access to a growing array of new investigative technologies that can be used in the field as the law enforcement tech industry has exploded. How many of these solutions are any good, and do they all pass constitutional muster?

Panelists: Dave Maass, Jon Padfield (Moderator), Geoff Termorshuizen

How Science Fiction Impacts Public Policy

5:30 p.m. - Sunday, September 4, 2016 - Hilton Room 208-209

How is today’s science fiction affecting tomorrow’s laws and policy? Are there any unintended side effects? What are the great positive effects? Are there any meaningful impacts at all?

Panelists: Kevin Bankston, Scott Sigler, David Maass, Meredith Rose (Moderator), Mika McKinnon, Tom Lowenthal

FOIA Workshop (Filing Freedom of Information Act Requests)

10 a.m. - Monday, September 5, 2016 - Hilton Room 208-209

How to file a request under the Freedom of Information Act, with live demonstrations and results from prior years’ panels. Be your own activist!.

Panelists: David Maass (Moderator), Hayden Barnes, Jason Mitchell