Around the World, Threats to LGBTQ+ Speech Deepen
Globally, an increase in anti-LGBTQ+ intolerance is impacting individuals and communities both online and off. The digital rights community has observed an uptick in censorship of LGBTQ+ websites as well as troubling attempts by several countries to pass explicitly anti-LGBTQ+ bills restricting freedom of expression and privacy—bills that also fuel...
VICTORY! Maine Increases Transparency and Accountability for its Fusion Center
In a major step for reigning in the unaccountable power of fusion centers, the Maine state House and Senate have passed HP 947, An Act to Increase the Transparency and Accountability of the Maine Information and Analysis Center. The bill creates an Auditor position within the Office of the...
Civil Society Calls on Tech Firms to Oppose Protest Song Ban
EFF and more than 24 civil society organizations have written to tech companies including Apple, Google, Meta, Twitter, and Spotify urging them to oppose the Hong Kong government’s application for an injunction to ban broadcasting and distribution of the 2019 protest song, “Glory to Hong Kong.” The injunction,...
Californians: Tell the Governor and Legislature to Keep Their Promise on Broadband Funding
We need your help telling Governor Newsom and the California Legislature to keep their promise on broadband infrastructure funding—giving it full funding without any cuts or delays. California’s broadband infrastructure fund created by S.B. 156 in 2021 creates several critical programs to finally deliver 21st century broadband access to every...
A Year Since Dobbs, The Fight For Reproductive Privacy and Information Access Continues
A year ago this Saturday, the Supreme Court's Dobbs abortion ruling overturned Roe v. Wade. This decision deprived millions of people of a fundamental right. As we wrote then, it also underscored the importance of fair and meaningful protections for data privacy. In the past year, EFF staff have...
Steering Mobility Data to a Better Privacy Regime
Cars today collect a lot more data than they used to, often leaving drivers' privacy unprotected. Car insurance is mainly regulated at the state level—there’s no federal privacy law for car data—but unsurprisingly there is an active government and private market for vehicle data, including location...
Student Monitoring Tools Should Not Flag LGBTQ+ Keywords
One of the more dangerous features of student monitoring tools like GoGuardian, Gaggle, and Bark is their “flagging” functionality. The tools can scan web pages, documents in students’ cloud drives, emails, video content, and more for keywords about topics like sex, drugs, and violence. They then either block or flag...
Remembering Daniel Ellsberg
“Popular government without popular information is but the prologue to a farce or tragedy.” - James MadisonThe world lost an unmistakable voice this week, as Daniel Ellsberg passed away at 92. Dan will be remembered for many things, of course most prominently providing the Pentagon Papers to the New...
There is Nothing Fair About the European Commission’s “Fair Share” Proposal
In a fight between the big tech companies and the internet provider giants, it can be very tempting to not care who wins and loses. However, in the case of the ISPs' "fair share" proposals, ISP victory would mean undermining one of the very foundations of the internet—net neutrality.After the...
What Reddit Got Wrong
After weeks of burning through users’ goodwill, Reddit is facing a moderator strike and an exodus of its most important users. It’s the latest example of a social media site making a critical mistake: users aren’t there for the services, they’re there for the community. Building barriers to access is...
