How Landmark Technology’s Terrible Patent Has Survived
Stupid Patent of the MonthThere’s an increasing insistence from the highest echelons of the patent world that patent abuse just isn’t a thing anymore. The Director of the U.S. Patent Office, Andre Iancu, has called patent trolls—a term for companies that do nothing but collect patents and sue others—mere...
Julian Assange's Prosecution is about Much More Than Attempting to Hack a Password
The recent arrest of Wikileaks editor Julian Assange surprised many by hinging on one charge: a Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) charge for a single, unsuccessful attempt to reverse engineer a password. This might not be the only charge Assange ultimately faces. The government can add more...
Media Alert: EFF Argues Against Forced Unlocking of Phone in Indiana Supreme Court
Wabash, IN—At 10 a.m. on Thursday, April 18, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) will argue to the Indiana Supreme Court that police cannot force a criminal suspect to turn over a passcode or otherwise decrypt her cell phone. The case is Katelin Seo v. State of Indiana.The Fifth Amendment of...
Victory! Fairfax, Virginia Judge Finds That Local Police Use of ALPR Violates the State’s Data Act
EFF’s Tweet About an Overzealous DMCA Takedown Is Now Subject to an Overzealous Takedown
Four Steps Facebook Should Take to Counter Police Sock Puppets
Despite Facebook’s repeated warnings that law enforcement is required to use “authentic identities” on the social media platform, cops continue to create fake and impersonator accounts to secretly spy on users. By pretending to be someone else, cops are able to sneak past the privacy walls users put up...
Don’t Force Web Platforms to Silence Innocent People
The U.S. House Judiciary Committee held a hearing this week to discuss the spread of white nationalism, online and offline. The hearing tackled hard questions about how online platforms respond to extremism online and what role, if any, lawmakers should play. The desire for more aggressive moderation policies in...
Join EFF and Help Guide Our International Policy Work
Do you want to help defend civil liberties around the world? Are you an expert in copyright, intermediary liability, and European lawmaking? A rare opportunity to help guide EFF in those arenas is now available—we're hiring an International Policy Director. EFF weighs in when international lawmaking has a huge...
Government Fights to Trap EFF’s NSA Spying Case in a Catch-22
The U.S. government admits—and, of course, it’s common knowledge—that the NSA conducts mass, dragnet surveillance of hundreds of millions of Americans’ communications. It has done so via a series of different technical strategies and legal arguments for over 18 years. Yet the Justice Department insists that our legal fight against...
California’s Attorney General Wants to Empower People to Protect Their Privacy. Sacramento Legislators Should Listen.
California’s lawmakers took a much-needed step last year by passing the California Consumer Privacy Act as a foundation for consumer privacy rights. Now they need to step up to make sure it can work as intended. One of the major issues identified by the California Attorney General (AG) Xavier...
