Victory! French High Court Rules That Most of Hate Speech Bill Would Undermine Free Expression
Paris, France—In a victory for the free speech rights of French citizens, France’s highest court today struck down core provisions of a bill meant to curb hate speech, holding they would unconstitutionally sweep up legal speech.The decision comes as some governments across the globe, in seeking to stop hateful,...
Victory! New York’s City Council Passes the POST Act
After three years of organizing by a broad coalition of civil society organizations and community members, New York’s City Council has passed the POST Act with an overwhelming—and veto-proof—majority supporting this common-sense transparency measure. The POST Act’s long overdue passing came as part of a package of bills...
California Privacy Advocates Sue Vallejo Over Cell-Site Simulator
Special thanks to legal intern Gillian Vernick, who was lead author of this post.The Vallejo Police Department was warned: by rushing to purchase a cell-site simulator without first crafting a use policy, the agency side-stepped its legal duty to transparency. Now, Oakland Privacy has filed a first-of-its-kind suit...
Our EU Policy Principles: Interoperability
As the EU is gearing up for a major reform of key Internet regulation, we are introducing the principles that will guide our policy work surrounding the Digital Services Act. In this post, we take a closer look at what we mean when we talk about interoperability obligations, and at...
Germany’s Corona-Warn-App: Frequently Asked Questions
This blog post is co-authored with Least Authority, a Berlin-based tech company committed to advancing digital security and preserving privacy as a fundamental human right.This week, Germany’s COVID tracing app finally went live. As governments around the world have been rushing to adopt contact tracing apps in their...
VICTORY: Zoom Will Offer End-to-End Encryption to All Its Users
We are glad to see Zoom’s announcement today that it plans to offer end-to-end encryption to all its users, not just those with paid subscriptions. Zoom initially stated it would develop end-to-end encryption as a premium feature. Now, after 20,000 people signed on to EFF and...
A Quick and Dirty Guide to Cell Phone Surveillance at Protests
As uprisings over police brutality and institutionalized racism have swept over the country, many people are facing the full might of law enforcement weaponry and surveillance for the first time. Whenever protesters, cell phones, and police are in the same place, protesters should worry about cell phone surveillance. Often, security...
Nominations Open for 2020 Barlows!
Nominations are now open for the 2020 Barlows to be presented at EFF's 29th Annual Pioneer Award Ceremony. Established in 1992, the Pioneer Award Ceremony recognizes leaders who are extending freedom and innovation in the realm of technology. In honor of Internet visionary, Grateful Dead lyricist, and EFF co-founder...
Streaming Is Laying Bare How Big ISPs, Big Tech, and Big Media Work Together Against Users
HBO Max is incredible. Not because it is good, but because of how many problems with the media landscape it epitomizes. If you ever had trouble seeing where monopoly, net neutrality, and technology intertwine, well then thanks, I guess, to AT&T for its achievement in HBO Max. No one knows...
EFF Asks Virginia Supreme Court to Rein in Indiscriminate Collection and Storage of License Plate Information
Like law enforcement agencies across the country, the police in Fairfax, Virginia, use automated license plate readers (ALPRs) to indiscriminately scan and record every passing car. The ALPRs don’t simply check for speeding, or outstanding tickets—instead, they store detailed information about the time, date, and location of each scan in...











