As Platforms Decay, Let’s Put Users First
The net’s long decline into “five giant websites, each filled with screenshots of the other four” isn’t a mystery. Nor was it by any means a forgone conclusion. Instead, we got here through a series of conscious actions by big businesses and lawmakers that put antitrust law into a...
Suit by Renowned Saudi Human Rights Activist Details Harms Caused by Export of U.S. Cybersurveillance Technology and Training to Repressive Regimes
PORTLAND, OR — The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the Center for Justice & Accountability (CJA), and Foley Hoag LLP on Monday filed an amended complaint with the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon on behalf of renowned Saudi human rights activist Loujain Alhathloul against...
The Kids Online Safety Act is Still A Huge Danger to Our Rights Online
Are you a young person fighting back against bad bills like KOSA? Become an EFF member at a new, discounted Neon membership level specifically for you--stickers included! Congress has resurrected the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a bill that would increase surveillance and restrict access to information in...
Why Is the U.S. Solicitor General Trying To Change The Law To Benefit Patent Trolls?
For more than two decades now, developers and users of software have been plagued by a flood of bad patents. Software patents that describe everyday practices like watching an ad online, publishing nutrition information, meeting people nearby, or teaching a language class continue to be issued, and low-quality patents get...
EFF to Congress: Oppose the EARN IT Act and the STOP CSAM Act
The Senate Judiciary Committee is about to debate multiple bills that will lead to peoples’ private messages being scanned and reported to the government. We oppose these bills, and we have sent a letter urging the Committee to vote No. Take ActionProtect Our Privacy—Stop "EARN IT"On Thursday,...
Podcast Episode: Dr. Seuss Warned Us
Dr. Seuss wrote a story about a Hawtch-Hawtcher Bee-Watcher whose job it is to watch his town’s one lazy bee, because “a bee that is watched will work harder, you see.” But that doesn’t seem to work, so another Hawtch-Hawtcher is assigned to watch the first, and then another to...
Stupid Patent of the Month: Trying to Get U.S. Patents On An AI Program
Only people can get patents. There’s a good reason for that, which is that the patent grant—a temporary monopoly granted by the government—is supposed to be given out only to “promote the progress of science and useful arts.” Just like monkeys can’t get a copyright on a photo,...
At Congressional Hearing, PCLOB Members Suggest Bare Minimum of 702 Reforms
Last week, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance held a hearing on “Fixing FISA: How a Law Designed to Protect Americans Has Been Weaponized Against Them,” ahead of the December 2023 expiration of the Section 702 surveillance authority. The three witnesses, Michael E. Horowitz...
Appeals Court Should Reconsider Letting The FBI Block Twitter’s Surveillance Transparency Report
Today, EFF and ACLU filed a brief in support of Twitter’s effort to get an appeals court to reconsider its dangerous opinion enforcing a government gag order on Twitter’s 2013 transparency report.In this long-running and important case, Twitter tried to publish a report bringing much-needed transparency to...
