Right to Repair in Times of Pandemic
Entropy isn't just a word, it’s the (second) law (of thermodynamics): the idea that things tend towards chaos and brokenness. That’s why the Right to Repair is so close to our heart: fixing things is nothing less than the embodiment of the ancient struggle to wring order from...
What You Should Know About Online Tools During the COVID-19 Crisis
A greater portion of the world’s work, organizing, and care-giving is moving onto digital platforms and tools that facilitate connection and productivity: video conferencing, messaging apps, healthcare and educational platforms, and more. It’s important to be aware of the ways these tools may impact your digital privacy and security during...
Google Says It Doesn’t 'Sell' Your Data. Here’s How the Company Shares, Monetizes, and Exploits It.
Are Your Identification Photos in a Face Recognition Database?
San Francisco – A majority of Americans are in face recognition databases in use by the U.S. government. Are you one of them? The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has launched a new quiz called “Who Has Your Face” to help you find out.“Your driver’s license picture and other ID photos...
Phishing in the Time of COVID-19: How to Recognize Malicious Coronavirus Phishing Scams
Update 3-26-20: A new prevalent example of Android Spyware that leverages COVID-19 as a way to deliver their malicious product has been reported by researchers at Lookout. This particular malware, called "corona live 1.1.", comes out of Libya and seems to mostly be targeting Libyan citizens. Like other examples...
Heads Up Internet: A Dangerous Zombie CFAA Expansion Bill is Back
A group of senators in Washington is trying—for the fourth time—to pass dangerous and misguided language that would amend and expand the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), our nation’s notoriously vague anti-hacking law. The language was first floated in 2015, then again in 2016, and again in 2018....
Announcing Who Has Your Face
Unchecked Smart Cities are Surveillance Cities. What We Need are Smart Enough Cities.
We can have beautiful cities without turning our cities into surveillance cities.Cities across the U.S. are forcing operators of shared bikes and scooters to use dangerous and privacy invasive APIs developed by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation. These APIs—collectively called the “mobility data specification,” or MDS—require that operators...
Enough is Enough—Let it Expire
On March 15, 2020, Section 215—a provision of FISA with a rich history of government overreach and abuse—expired. That provision, along with two other provisions of FISA, lapsed after lawmakers failed to reach an agreement on a broader set of FISA reforms.Late last week, before the law expired, the...
Show Support for Digital Rights During Video Calls with EFF Virtual Backgrounds
Want to show your support for EFF while you spend more and more time in video conferences and chats? Here's one fun way: virtual backgrounds! We've collected some of our favorite EFF designs that promote issues like transparency, creativity, innovation, and privacy, for users to protect their own privacy (and...
