The American Federal Definition of Broadband Is Both Useless and Harmful
Definitions matter. Especially when those definitions come from the federal government. In the case of “broadband,” the definition set by the federal government creates our standard of Internet living. Depressingly, the American government’s definition means ISPs get away with offering very poor levels of “broadband.”The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is...
EU Court Again Rules That NSA Spying Makes U.S. Companies Inadequate for Privacy
The European Union’s highest court today made clear—once again—that the US government’s mass surveillance programs are incompatible with the privacy rights of EU citizens. The judgment was made in the latest case involving Austrian privacy advocate and EFF Pioneer Award winner Max Schrems. It invalidated the “Privacy Shield,”...
The International Trade Commission Is Opening the Door to Abusive Patent Owners and Endangering U.S. Businesses
The International Trade Commission, or ITC, is a forum that’s meant to protect U.S. industries from unfair trade practices. But in recent years, the prime beneficiaries of the sprawling ITC haven't been American manufacturers, but patent owners, patent lawyers, and—you guessed it—patent trolls. The ITC is a quasi-judicial agency, that...
EFF Launches Searchable Database of Police Agencies and the Tech Tools They Use to Spy on Communities
San Francisco—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), in partnership with the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno, today launched the largest-ever collection of searchable data on police use of surveillance technologies, created as a tool for the public to learn about facial recognition, drones, license plate readers,...
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Maine Broadband Privacy Law Passes Early First Amendment Test
When you send an email or browse the web, your Internet Service Provider (ISP) may track what sites you visit and when, as well as any unencrypted information you read or send. So Maine requires ISPs to get their customers’ opt-in consent before using or disclosing this and other...
Our EU Policy Principles: Platform Liability
As the European Union is gearing up for a major reform of the current backbone of the EU’s Internet regulation—the e-Commerce Directive will be replaced by the Digital Services Act (DSA)—there are choices to be made. Rather than following in the footsteps of recent disastrous Internet legislation (such as...
EFF To Supreme Court: Violating Terms of Service Isn’t a Crime Under the CFAA
Washington, D.C.—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and leading cybersecurity experts today urged the Supreme Court to rein in the scope of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA)—and protect the security research we all rely on to keep us safe—by holding that accessing computers in ways that violate terms...
Coalition Against Stalkerware Expands Membership
Privacy and security are both team sports, and no one person or organization completely changes the landscape alone. This is why coalition-building is often at the heart of activism. In 2019, EFF was one of the ten organizations that founded the Coalition Against Stalkerware, a group of security...
EFF Joins Coalition Calling On the EU to Introduce Interoperability Rules
Today, EFF sent a joint letter to European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager, highlighting the enormous potential of interoperability to help achieve the EU’s goals for Europe’s digital future. EFF joins a strong coalition of organizations representing European civil society organizations, entrepreneurs, and SMEs. We are calling on...
