EFF to ICANN: Stop .ORG Domain Registry Sale To Private Equity Firm
San Francisco—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today said a private equity firm newly created by domain name industry insiders should be stopped from acquiring the .ORG domain registry, which provides a home on the Internet to thousands of public interest nonprofits organizations.EFF joins groups ranging from the Girl Scouts and...
On International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, We Must Look Closely at the Results of FOSTA
Today is International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, an annual observation supported by and dedicated to those that participate in the sex trade. It’s also nearly the end of 2019—the first full calendar year since Congress passed the Internet censorship law SESTA/FOSTA. EFF fought the bill in...
EFF Bolsters European Policy Work with Important New Staffers
San Francisco – The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has bolstered its European policy work with the hiring of two important new staffers: Icelandic poet, artist, and free expression activist Birgitta Jónsdóttir, and European Internet policy expert Christoph Schmon.Birgitta Jonsdottir, EFF’s first Internet Archive Fellow, will be working across...
EFF Report Shows FBI Is Failing to Address First Amendment Harms Caused By National Security Letters
EFF has long fought to end the FBI’s ability to impose gag orders via National Security Letters (NSLs). They violate the First Amendment and result in indefinite prohibitions on recipients’ ability to speak publicly about controversial government surveillance powers. Records and data released by the FBI earlier this year confirm...
Victory: San Diego to Suspend Face Recognition Program, Limits ICE Access To Criminal Justice Data
We just stopped one of the largest, longest running, and most controversial face recognition programs operated by local law enforcement in the United States. A face recognition system used by more than 30 agencies in San Diego County, California will be suspended on Jan. 1, 2020, according to a...
The Senate Judiciary Committee Wants Everyone to Know It’s Concerned About Encryption
This morning the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on encryption and “lawful access.” That’s the fanciful idea that encryption providers can somehow allow law enforcement access to users’ encrypted data while otherwise preventing the “bad guys” from accessing this very same data.But the hearing was not inspired by...
Genetic Genealogy Company GEDmatch Acquired by Company With Ties to FBI & Law Enforcement—Why You Should Be Worried
This week, GEDmatch, a genetic genealogy company that gained notoriety for giving law enforcement access to its customers’ DNA data, quietly informed its users it is now operated by Verogen, Inc., a company expressly formed two years ago to market “next-generation [DNA] sequencing” technology to crime labs....
Speaking Freely: An Interview With Biella Coleman
Speaking Freely: An Interview With Rima Sghaier
Strengthen California’s Consumer Data Privacy Regulations
EFF and a coalition of privacy advocates have filed comments with the California Attorney General seeking strong regulations to protect consumer data privacy. The draft regulations are a good step forward, but the final regulations should go further.The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) created new ways...
