EFFector Volume 38, Issue 19

💾 Fighting DOGE's Data Grab

Welcome to an all-new EFFector, your regular digest on everything digital rights from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

In our 854th issue: Our free tracker blocker comes to Safari, a call to stand up for net neutrality in California before it's too late, and a big win in our lawsuit against the DOGE data grab.

When you lose your rights online, you lose them in real life. Become an EFF member today!

Featured Story: Victory! Court Rules OPM Data Disclosure to DOGE Is Unlawful

In a victory for data privacy, a federal court in New York definitively ruled that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) violated the law when it disclosed millions of federal employee records to DOGE agents.

In January 2025, OPM gave DOGE agents — then led by Elon Musk — access to federal workers' confidential personnel files.

The American Federation of Government Employees, the Association of Administrative Law Judges, and individual current and former federal workers — represented by EFF, Lex Lumina LLP, Democracy Defenders Fund, and The Chandra Law Firm LLC — then sued OPM and DOGE for violating the Privacy Act.

In a summary judgment ruling issued on October 20, 2026, the court found that OPM violated two provisions of the Privacy Act—one restricting disclosure of personal records between agencies and another requiring agencies to protect the security and confidentiality of records.

"This ruling is a victory for our privacy rights, which have never been more important or under greater threat," said F. Mario Trujillo, Senior Staff Attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "We have long known OPM broke the law when it recklessly disclosed personal records to DOGE agents. The court has now confirmed that. OPM and DOGE now owe it to the unions and federal workers who brought this case to clean up the cybersecurity mess they created.”

The court issued a preliminary injunction in June 2025, which means OPM had to halt DOGE employees’ access to personal data. The court will decide the remedy at a later date.

READ MORE…

‌EFF Updates

🦡 AD TRACKERS: Data brokers beware: Privacy Badger, EFF's award-winning tracker blocker, is now available for Safari on macOS. Created by EFF to stop companies from spying on you online, Privacy Badger automatically learns to block hidden trackers on the web, along with additional privacy-protecting features. With today's launch, Privacy Badger is now available on all major desktop browsers. Download the free browser extension today at privacybadger.org and join the more than 4 million people using Privacy Badger to take a stand against online surveillance.

🌴 NET NEUTRALITY: The federal government has inserted a provision into a funding deal with the state of California that would make the state abandon its gold standard net neutrality law, broadband affordability regulations, and public safety protections. But the state can choose to fight back, and we are asking it to. Tell Governor Newsom to stand up against the federal government for net neutrality, affordability, and public safety before time runs out.

🔓 VULNERABILITY APOCALYPSE: You may have noticed your nerdiest friends freaking out about the “Vulnerability Apocalypse” and waving their arms in panic about something called PHP. This is all because frontier AI models have made it incredibly cheap and easy to find previously unknown vulnerabilities in open- and closed-source code. Three percent of all software vulnerabilities ever found in history were found just in the month of October. That means it's going to get worse before it gets better. But you can protect yourself with basic digital security hygiene that is now more important than ever.

🪪 AGE GATES: Two federal appeals courts issued opinions that will allow Florida and Georgia to start enforcing laws that will age-gate and block young people from accessing social media. The laws do not adequately respect minors’ rights to play, speak, and learn online. More fundamentally, these laws don’t help young people stay safe online—a goal that lawmakers should pursue. Hopefully, with enough proof of the expressive harms these laws cause, we can push lawmakers to rescind them. If these restrictions affect you, we encourage you to reach out to EFF by emailing agegated@eff.org and telling us more about what happened.

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