The Mistake So Bad, That Even YouTube Says Its Copyright Bot ‘Really Blew It’
Copyright filters don’t work. And sometimes, they fail so badly that they scare creators and make them self-censor.YouTuber SmellyOctopus has over 21,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel, and about 2,000 on Twitch. In early January 2019, SmellyOctopus did a nine-minute, private stream where spoke into his microphone to check...
A Surveillance Wall Is Not a Good Alternative to a Concrete Wall
Since even before he took office, President Trump has called for a physical wall along the southern border of the United States. Many different organizations have argued this isn’t a great idea. In response, some Congressional Democrats have suggested turning to surveillance technology to monitor the...
Hearing Thursday: EFF Tells Court That Clicking on a URL Isn’t Enough Evidence to Justify A Search Warrant
Richmond, Virginia—On Thursday, January 31, at 8:30 am, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) will ask a federal appeals court to find that the act of clicking on a URL or weblink isn’t sufficient evidence for law enforcement to get a warrant to search someone’s home.The hearing involves a child pornography...
The 5G Protocol May Still Be Vulnerable to IMSI Catchers
It’s hard to talk about the vulnerabilities in cellular technology without increasing the amount of fear, uncertainty, and doubt. There is already much uncertainty around cell-site simulators (CSS, aka Stingrays), their capabilities, and how widely they are used. Partly this is because of the veil of secrecy that has...
Victory! Illinois Supreme Court Protects Biometric Privacy
Today the Illinois Supreme Court ruled unanimously that when companies collect biometric data like fingerprints or face prints without informed opt-in consent, they can be sued. Users don't need to prove an injury like identity fraud or physical harm—just losing control of one’s biometric privacy is injury enough.In Rosenbach...
In WSJ Op-Ed, Mark Zuckerberg Speaks Down to Users and Misses the Point
Mark Zuckerberg’s op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today (paywalled, but summarized here) relies on all-too-familiar refrains to explain the dubious principles and so-called “facts” behind Facebook’s business model. It’s the same old song we’ve heard before. And, as usual, it wildly misses users’ actual privacy concerns and...
A Guided Tour of the Data Facebook Uses to Target Ads
Last week, Pew released the results of a survey investigating how users understand Facebook’s data collection practices and how they react when shown what the platform thinks it knows about them. The upshot is that 74% of users weren’t aware that Facebook assembles lists of their interests and traits....
Detecting Ghosts By Reverse Engineering: Who Ya Gonna Call?
This article was first published on Lawfare.The most recent purportedly serious proposal by a Western government to force technology companies to provide access to the content of encrypted communications comes from Ian Levy and Crispin Robinson of the Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ, the U.K.’s equivalent of the...
Victory: Federal Court in Seattle Will Begin Disclosing Surveillance Records
The public will learn how often federal investigators in Seattle obtain private details about your communications, such as who you called and when, as a result of a petition to unseal those records brought by EFF client The Stranger.Federal prosecutors and the U.S. District Court for the Western...
EFF Client Responds to Ludicrous “Collusion” Trademark Threat
Update January 23, 2019: Asos contacted EFF to apologize for the cease and desist letter. Asos said the letter should never have been sent and assured us that it would take no further action against our client. We welcome the apology and hope that this case serves as an example...










