No Secret Evidence in Our Courts
If you’re accused of a crime, you have a right to examine and challenge the evidence used against you. In an important victory, an appeals court in New Jersey agreed with EFF and the ACLU of NJ that a defendant is entitled to see the source code of software...
Despite Progress, Metadata Still Under "Second Class" Protection in Latam Legal Safeguards
When Law Enforcement Wants Your Private Communications, What Legal Safeguards Are in Place in Latin America and Spain?
San Francisco Takes Small Step to Establish Oversight Over Business Association Surveillance
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors last week voted unanimously in favor of requiring all special business districts—such as the Union Square Business Improvement District (USBID)—to bring any new surveillance plans to the Board before adopting new technologies. The resolution—passed in the wake of an EFF investigation, a...
Can Government Officials Block You on Social Media? A New Decision Makes the Law Murkier, But Users Still Have Substantial Rights
It’s now common practice for politicians and other government officials to make major policy announcements on Twitter and other social media forums. That’s continuing to raise important questions about who can read those announcements, and what happens when people are blocked from accessing and commenting on important social media...
Amazon Ring’s End-to-End Encryption: What it Means
Almost one year after EFF called on Amazon’s surveillance doorbell company Ring to encrypt footage end-to-end, it appears they are starting to make this necessary change. This call was a response to a number of problematic and potentially harmful incidents, including larger concerns about Ring’s security and reports...
The Old Media and the New Must Work Together to Preserve Free Speech Values
EFF Civil Liberties Director David Greene delivered the following as a keynote address on March 6, 2020, at the Media Law and Policy in the Digital Age: Global Challenges and Opportunities symposium hosted by Indiana University's Center for International Media Law and Policy Studies and its Barbara Restle Press Law...
Arizona High Court Misses Opportunity to Uphold Internet Users’ Online Privacy
It’s an uncontroversial position that EFF has long fought for: Internet users expect their private online activities to stay that way. That’s why law enforcement should have to get a search warrant before getting records of people’s Internet activities. But in a disappointing decision earlier this month, the Arizona...
It’s Not 230 You Hate, It’s Oligopolies
As we continue to hear calls to repeal or change Section 230, it appears that many people have conflated a law that affects the tech giants (among many others) with Big Tech as a whole. Section 230 is not a gift to Big Tech, nor is repealing it a panacea...
End Two Federal Programs that Fund Police Surveillance Tech
The new administration can do two things immediately that would help stop some of the more nefarious ways that police departments get surveillance technology. It should further roll back the infamous 1033 program of the National Defense Authorization Act, which allows local police to inherit military gear. And it should...
