EFF Asks Court to Block U.S. From Prosecuting Security Researcher For Detecting and Publishing Computer Vulnerabilities

Washington, D.C.—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) asked a court Thursday for an order that would prevent the government from prosecuting its client, security researcher Matthew Green, for publishing a book about making computer systems more secure.
Green is writing a book about methods of...

EFF to Court: Public's Right to Access the Law Should Not be Blocked by Bogus Copyright Case

Update: This hearing will be held at 9:00 am. In an order issued Friday, the court rescheduled arguments in the case for 9:00 am.
Washington, D.C.—On Monday, September 12, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Legal Director Corynne McSherry will urge a federal court to confirm that the public has...

EFF to Court: Government Must Inform People That It’s Accessing Their Emails, Personal Data

Seattle, Washington—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) told a federal court today that the government is violating the U.S. Constitution when it fails to notify people that it has accessed or examined their private communications stored by Internet providers in the cloud.

EFF is supporting Microsoft in its ...

EFF Announces 2016 Pioneer Award Winners: Malkia Cyril of the Center for Media Justice, Data Protection Activist Max Schrems, the Authors of ‘Keys Under Doormats,’ and the Lawmakers Behind CalECPA

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is pleased to announce the distinguished winners of the 2016 Pioneer Awards: Malkia Cyril of the Center for Media Justice, data protection activist Max Schrems, the authors of the “Keys Under Doormats” report that counters calls to break encryption, and the lawmakers...

EFF to FTC: Online Retailers Must Label Products Sold with Digital Locks

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and a coalition of consumer groups, content creators, and publishers asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today to require online retailers to label the ebooks, songs, games, and apps that come with digital locks restricting how consumers can use them.

...

Malware Linked to Government of Kazakhstan Targets Journalists, Political Activists, Lawyers: EFF Report

San Francisco—Journalists and political activists critical of Kazakhstan’s authoritarian government, along with their family members, lawyers, and associates, have been targets of an online phishing and malware campaign believed to be carried out on behalf of the government of Kazakhstan, according to a new report by the Electronic Frontier Foundation...

EFF Lawsuit Takes on DMCA Section 1201: Research and Technology Restrictions Violate the First Amendment

Washington D.C.—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) sued the U.S. government today on behalf of technology creators and researchers to overturn onerous provisions of copyright law that violate the First Amendment.
EFF’s lawsuit, filed with co-counsel Brian Willen, Stephen Gikow, and Lauren Gallo White of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich...

FBI Must Not Sidestep Privacy Protections For Massive Collection of Biometric Data

San Francisco—The FBI, which has created a massive database of biometric information on millions of Americans never involved in a crime, mustn’t be allowed to shield this trove of personal information from Privacy Act rules that let people learn what data the government has on them and restrict how it...

EFF Urges Citizens, Websites to Fight Rule Changes Expanding Government Powers to Break Into Users’ Computers

San Francisco—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the Tor Project, and dozens of other organizations are calling today on citizens and website operators to take action to block a new rule pushed by the U.S. Justice Department that would greatly expand the government’s ability to hack users’ computers and interfere with...

EFF Urges Supreme Court To Throw Out $399 Million Damage Award Against Samsung in Apple Smartphone Patent Case

Washington, D.C.—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) asked the U.S. Supreme Court today to reverse a ruling that required Samsung to pay Apple all the profits it earned from smartphones that infringed three basic design patents owned by the iPhone maker.
The $399-million damage award against Samsung, upheld by the...

EFF to FCC: Prevent ISPs From Following Your Every Internet Move

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today to update privacy rules to prevent broadband Internet access service providers from recording and sharing their customers’ every move online.
EFF’s comments are part of the FCC’s rulemaking on consumer privacy and...

EFF at Copyright Office Roundtables Tuesday and Wednesday in San Francisco

San Francisco—On Tuesday and Wednesday, May 24-25, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Staff Attorney Kit Walsh and Senior Staff Attorney Mitch Stoltz will participate in public roundtable discussions about the impact of U.S. copyright law on freedoms to investigate and improve the software embedded in everyday products,...

EFF Asks Court to Reverse Chelsea Manning’s Conviction for Violating Federal Anti-Hacking Law

Fort Belvoir, Virginia—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) asked a U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals Wednesday to overturn Chelsea Manning’s conviction for violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), arguing that the law is intended to punish people for breaking into computers systems—something Manning didn’t do.
...

EFF at Copyright Office Roundtable Thursday and Friday in San Francisco

San Francisco—On Thursday and Friday, May 12-13, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Legal Director Corynne McSherry will participate in public roundtable discussions about the effectiveness of safe harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) at the United States Ninth Circuit James R. Browning Courthouse in San...

EFF to FCC: Consumers Need Strong ‘Unlock the Box’ Rules That Bring Competition, Innovation to Set-Top Boxes

Washington, D.C.—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to adopt robust, consumer-friendly “Unlock the Box” rules that will give Americans access to more innovative, useful, and creative devices and software for watching pay cable and satellite television.

The FCC’s proposed “Unlock the...

Ruling Unsealed: National Security Letters Upheld As Constitutional

San Francisco - A federal judge has unsealed her ruling that National Security Letter (NSL) provisions in federal law—as amended by the USA FREEDOM Act—don’t violate the Constitution. The ruling allows the FBI to continue to issue the letters with accompanying gag orders that silence anyone from disclosing they...

EFF Sues for Secret Court Orders Requiring Tech Companies to Decrypt Users’ Communications

San Francisco—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a Freedom of Information (FOIA) lawsuit today against the Justice Department to shed light on whether the government has ever used secret court orders to force technology companies to decrypt their customers’ private communications, a practice that could undermine the safety...

EFF to Copyright Office: Improper Content Takedowns Hurt Online Free Expression

Washington, D.C. - Content takedowns based on unfounded copyright claims are hurting online free expression, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) told the U.S. Copyright Office Friday, arguing that any reform of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) should focus on protecting Internet speech and creativity.
EFF’s written ...

EFF and Partners Support Media Monitoring Service in Fight for Fair Use

San Francisco - A media monitoring service that creates a text-searchable database of television and radio content is defending its fair use rights before a federal appeals court. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), New York University’s Technology Law and Policy Clinic, and Public Knowledge urged the court Wednesday to...

EFF and 46 Technology Experts Ask Court To Throw Out Unconstitutional Apple Order

Riverside, California—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and 46 technology industry experts, including inventors of modern cryptography, told a federal court today that forcing Apple to write and sign computer code disabling crucial iPhone security features that protect millions of users violates the company’s free speech rights.
The Federal Bureau...

EFF Urges Appeals Court to Allow Wikimedia and Others to Fight NSA Surveillance

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Wednesday to permit Wikimedia and other groups to continue their lawsuit against the NSA over illegal Internet surveillance. A ruling in favor of the plaintiffs in Wikimedia v. NSA would follow...

International Coalition Calls for Trade Agreement Reform to Protect Global Digital Rights

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and an international coalition of groups representing Internet users, consumers, and scholars are calling for reform of the negotiation of global trade agreements in order to protect Internet and other digital rights for communities around the world.
The “Brussels Declaration...

EFF to Court: Accessing Cell Phone Location Records Without A Warrant Violates the Constitution

Chicago—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is urging a federal appeals court in Chicago to rule that police need a warrant to access cell phone location records that can reveal our everyday travels—when we leave home, where we go and whom we visit.
In an amicus brief filed...

Protecting the Choice to Speak Anonymously Is Key to Fighting Online Harassment

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged the Department of Education today to protect university students’ right to speak anonymously online, warning that curtailing anonymous speech as part of anti-harassment regulations would not only violate the Constitution but also jeopardize important on-campus activism.
“Battling gender and racial...

EFF To Court: Cisco Must Be Held Accountable For Aiding China’s Human Rights Abuses

San Francisco—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is urging a federal appeals court to reinstate a lawsuit seeking to hold Cisco Systems accountable for aiding in human rights abuses by building the Chinese government a system that Cisco officials knew was intended to identify—and facilitate the capture and torture of—members of...

EFF to Court: Posting 3-D Design Files Online Is Free Speech

San Francisco - The government cannot require Americans to go through an export licensing scheme prior to posting and sharing 3-D printer design files online, because publishing technical information is a form of speech protected by the First Amendment, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) told a federal appeals court Thursday.
...

Wednesday Hearing in Facebook Case Against Power Ventures

San Francisco—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) will urge a federal appeals court Wednesday to reject Facebook’s claims that it’s a crime to workaround an IP address block—an interpretation of the law that could criminalize routine online behavior. EFF Legal Fellow Jamie Williams will participate in oral argument in the case,...

Google Deceptively Tracks Students’ Internet Browsing, EFF Says in FTC Complaint

San Francisco—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a complaint today with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against Google for collecting and data mining school children’s personal information, including their Internet searches—a practice EFF uncovered while researching its “Spying on Students” campaign, which launched today.
The...

Onlinecensorship.org Tracks Content Takedowns by Facebook, Twitter, and Other Social Media Sites

San Francisco – The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Visualizing Impact launched Onlinecensorship.org today, a new platform to document the who, what, and why of content takedowns on social media sites. The project, made possible by a 2014 Knight News Challenge award, will address how social media sites moderate...

EFF to Court: California’s DNA Law Violates Privacy Protections Guaranteed by State

San Francisco—Californians who’ve merely been arrested and not charged, much less convicted of a crime, have a right to privacy when it comes to their genetic material, EFF said in an amicus brief filed Nov. 13 with the state’s highest court.
EFF is urging the California Supreme...

EFF at Congressional Roundtable: Do U.S. Copyright Laws Work in the Digital Age?

Santa Clara, California—On Monday, Nov. 9, at 2 p.m., Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Staff Attorney Kit Walsh will participate in a roundtable discussion about U.S. copyright laws convened by the House Judiciary Committee, which is undertaking the first comprehensive review of the nation’s copyright laws since the 1960s.
Copyright...

EFF, ACLU Ask California Supreme Court to Order Release of Los Angeles License Plate Reader Data

San Francisco­—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the ACLU Foundation of Southern California (ACLU SoCal) are urging California’s highest court to rule that license plate data, collected indiscriminately on millions of drivers by police across the state, are not investigative records and should be made available to the public.

EFF...

EFF To California Supreme Court: Warrantless Searches of California’s Controlled Substance Prescription Database Threaten Patient Privacy

San Francisco—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is urging the California Supreme Court to rule that law enforcement agents need a warrant to search records revealing which Californians were prescribed controlled substances to treat conditions such as anxiety, pain, attention disorders, and insomnia.
In an amicus brief filed...

Government Must Come Clean About Exports of American-Made Spying Tools

Stanford, California—On Wednesday, October 21, at 12:45 pm, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) will urge a federal appeals court to order the U.S. government to disclose information about its role in facilitating exports of American-made surveillance tools to foreign nations.
The hearing is part of a Freedom of Information...

Online Ad Company Adopts New ‘Do Not Track’ Standard for Web Browsing

San Francisco – Online advertising company Adzerk will offer compliance with EFF's new “Do Not Track” (DNT) standard for Web browsing starting this week, significantly strengthening the coalition of companies using the policy standard to better protect people from sites that try to secretly follow and record users’ Internet activity....

Taken Offline: New EFF Project Shines Light on Coders and Bloggers Imprisoned For Online Free Expression

San Francisco—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today launched the Offline project, a campaign devoted to digital heroes—coders, bloggers, and technologists—who have been imprisoned, tortured, and even sentenced to death for raising their voices online or building tools that enable and protect free expression on the Internet.
The...

EFF Urges Federal Appeals Court to Protect Speech, Guard Against Censorship By Upholding Net Neutrality Order

Washington—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is asking a federal appeals court to approve Federal Communications Commission (FCC) net neutrality rules that prevent Internet service providers from interfering with and censoring content on the Web.
U.S. telecommunication providers sued the FCC in Washington D.C....

EFF Urges Appeals Court To Toughen Privacy Protections for Devices at the Border

Richmond, Virginia—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is urging a federal appeals court to rule that government agents need a warrant to search cell phones, computers, and other personal electronic devices at the border.
In an amicus brief filed today in the United States Court of Appeals for...

EFF to Supreme Court: Police Need a Warrant for Americans’ Cell Phone Location Records

Washington D.C.—Americans have the right to expect that digital records of their daily travels—when they left home, where they went, and how long they stayed—is private information, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) said in an amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court of the United States.
Weighing in...

EFF Announces 2015 Pioneer Award Winners: Caspar Bowden, Citizen Lab, Anriette Esterhuysen and the Association for Progressive Communications, and Kathy Sierra

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is pleased to announce the distinguished winners of the 2015 Pioneer Awards: the late international privacy expert Caspar Bowden, the human rights and global security researchers at The Citizen Lab, international Internet access champions Anriette Esterhuysen and the Association for Progressive Communications...

EFF Sues Justice Department for Records About FBI’s Plans for Rapid DNA

San Francisco—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI to gain access to documents revealing the government’s plans to use Rapid DNA. The FBI said it found no records responsive to EFF’s FOIA requests, even though...

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