New Orleans Police Watchdog Warns of Dangers of Expanded Surveillance
In a stern warning to the New Orleans City Council, the city’s top police watchdog has criticized a plan to expand surveillance without also expanding oversight. The Office of Independent Police Monitor (OIPM) warned that the city is on a path that may lead to abuse, racial discrimination, and...
Court Recognizes First Amendment Right to Anonymity Even After Speakers Lose Lawsuits
Update: In August 2018, the district court hearing the case ruled that Doe could maintain his anonymity, finding that the likely harm that would result from identifying Doe outweighed the public's interest in learning his identity. You can read the decision here.Anonymous online speakers may be able to keep...
EFF Staffers Jennifer Lynch and Dave Maass Receive Award for Groundbreaking Work In Providing Public Access to Police Surveillance Records
EFF Senior Staff Attorney Jennifer Lynch and Investigative Researcher Dave Maass last night received the First Amendment Coalition’s 2017 Free Speech & Open Government Award in recognition for their work bringing transparency and accountability to law enforcement’s collection and use of automated license plate...
Deep Dive: DHS and CBP Nominees’ Unsatisfying Responses to Senators’ Questions on Border Device Searches
Two of President Trump’s top homeland security nominees faced tough questioning from Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rand Paul (R-KY) about the civil liberties implications of border searches of digital devices during their confirmation processes. In this deep-dive legal analysis, we dissect the written responses of Kirstjen Nielsen and...
EFF Supports the Adoption of Berkeley's Surveillance Technology Use and Community Safety Ordinance
Net Neutrality Needs You as Much as You Need It
The battle for net neutrality is ramping into high gear, as we anticipate an FCC vote on December 14 to either confirm or reject Chairman Pai’s draft order to undermine the 2015 Open Internet Order. With the future of the Internet, its capacity to continue fostering innovation, and...
House Intelligence Committee Advances a Deeply Flawed NSA Surveillance Bill
A bill to extend one of the NSA’s most powerful surveillance tools, and further peel back American civil liberties, was approved today by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in a strict party line vote (12-8), with Republican members voting in the majority.
The committee and the public...
House Intelligence Committee’s NSA Surveillance Bill Includes New Threats and Old
Thrown last-minute into a torrent of competing legislation, a new bill meant to expand the NSA’s broad surveillance powers is the most recent threat to American privacy. It increases who is subject to surveillance, allows warrantless search of American communications, expands how collected data can be used, and treats constitutional...
When Tweets Are Governmental Business, Officials Don't Get to Pick and Choose Who Gets To Receive, Comment On, And Reply to Them. That Goes For the President, Too
We’ve taken a stand for the First Amendment rights of individuals to receive and comment on social media posts from governmental officials and agencies. We’ve received a lot of good questions about why we believe that public servants—mayors, sheriffs, senators, even President Donald Trump—can’t block people...
EFF Demands Information About Secretive Government Tattoo Recognition Technology
Washington, D.C. - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed suit against the Department of Justice, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of Homeland Security today, demanding records about the agencies’ work on the federal Tattoo Recognition Technology program.
This secretive program involves a coalition of government, academia,...
