The Law Should Not Require Parental Consent for All Minors to Access Social Media
Numerous state laws passed this year, and bills proposed in Congress, would set onerous new restrictions on what young people can do online, depriving teenagers of their First Amendment rights to express themselves, access protected speech, engage in anonymous speech, and participate in online communities. They also enforce a presumption...
The UK Online Safety Bill Must Not Violate Our Rights to Free Speech And Private Communication
As the UK’s Online Safety Bill moves through negotiations in the House of Lords, EFF, Open Rights Group, Wikimedia UK, and Index on Censorship have submitted a briefing urging the Lords to uphold the right to private messaging, and protect against prior restraint of lawful speech.Clause 110 of...
Dressed to Judge: EFF's 7th Annual Tech Trivia Night
Neighborhood Watch Out: Cops Are Using Fusus to Incorporate Private Cameras Into Their Real-Time Surveillance Networks
Police have their sights set on every surveillance camera in every business, on every porch, in all the cities and counties of the country. Grocery store trips, walks down the street, and otherwise minding your own business when outside your home could soon come under the ever-present eye of the...
The STOP CSAM Act: Improved But Still Problematic
Last month, we expressed concerns about how the STOP CSAM Act threatens encrypted communications and free speech online. New amendments to the bill have some improvements, but our concerns remain. The STOP CSAM Act Should Not Use the EARN IT Act as a Template for How to Protect Encryption...
Android TV Boxes Sold on Amazon Come Pre-Loaded with Malware
Certain Android TV Box models from manufacturers AllWinner and RockChip, available for purchase on Amazon, come pre-loaded with malware from the BianLian family, a variant of which we investigated last year. The malware, discovered by security researcher Daniel Milisic, adds your smart set-top box to a...
Federal Appeals Court Gets It: Fair Use Protects Security Research Tools
In a refreshingly direct opinion, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that creating and selling virtualization software for security research is a fair use. Along the way, it provides a kind of master class in applying copyright’s fair use doctrine to functional works like computer programs. Here’s how...
Dangerous EARN IT Bill Advances Out of Committee, but Several Senators Offer Objections
Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted, for a third time, to advance the dangerous EARN IT bill (S. 1207)—a law that could lead to suspicionless scans of every online message, photo, and hosted file.In the name of fighting crime, the EARN IT Act treats all internet users like we...
Science Rebels Take on Major Publishers
Over 40 leading scientists have resigned from the prestigious journal Neuroimage last month, protesting an inequitable publishing model built on gatekeeping and false scarcity.Academic publishing is fundamental to the advancement of modern science. It facilitates expert collaboration and testing, ideally leading to new innovation, including life-saving medical...
Court Accepts EFF’s Amicus Brief on the Right to Publish Code in Tornado Cash Case
Protecting the First Amendment rights of coders to develop and publish code is a core EFF value. It’s also one where we’ve played a central role in developing the law. So, we were happy that the court in the Tornado Cash lawsuit dismissed a government objection and accepted our...
