Open Access Can't Wait. Pass FASTR Now.
When you pay for federally funded research, you should be allowed to read it. That’s the idea behind the Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act (S.1701, H.R.3427), which was recently reintroduced in both houses of Congress.
FASTR was first introduced in 2013, and while it has strong...
California Court of Appeal Overturns Dangerous Right of Publicity Ruling
Almost all posts on social media include depictions of real people. And most social media websites include advertising. Does this combination mean that nearly everyone featured on social media can sue for infringement of their right of publicity? That would be disruptive. Fortunately, a new ruling [PDF] by...
EFF Urges Supreme Court to Take On Unconstitutional NSA Surveillance, Reverse Dangerous Ruling That Allows Massive Government Spying Program
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) asked the Supreme Court to review and overturn an unprecedented ruling allowing the government to intercept, collect, and store—without a warrant—millions of Americans’ electronic communications, including emails, texts, phone calls, and online chats.
This warrantless surveillance is conducted by U.S. intelligence agencies...
S.B. 727 Would Unfairly Restrict California Students’ Use of Course Materials
There’s a bill in the California Assembly that we think would make postsecondary education more expensive for students. Not only that: we think that it would undermine students’ right to make fair uses of educational materials. To make matters worse, several states around the country appear to be considering similar...
Don’t Let Congress Compromise on Net Neutrality
A few months ago, we received confirmation of what many of us had feared: incoming Federal Communications Commission Chair Ajit Pai announced his plans to eliminate the clear, enforceable protections for net neutrality that the Commission had implemented in 2015.
Since then, people have stood up en masse in...
How Captive Portals Interfere With Wireless Security and Privacy
If you have ever wanted to use the wifi at a coffee shop or library, you have probably had to click through a screen to do it. This screen might have shown you the network’s Terms of Service and prompted you to click an “I agree” button. Depending on where...
End Biometric Border Screening
This blog post was first published in The Hill on July 18, 2017.
This summer, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is expanding its program of subjecting U.S. and foreign citizens to facial recognition screening at international airports. This indiscriminate biometric surveillance program threatens the personal privacy...
EFF To Court: Border Agents Need Warrants to Search Contents of Digital Devices
New Orleans, Louisiana—Searches of mobile phones, laptops, and other digital devices by federal agents at international airports and U.S. land borders are highly intrusive forays into travelers’ private information that require a warrant, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) said in a court filing yesterday.
EFF urged the...
West Coast Jurisdictions Advance Community Oversight of Police Surveillance
This summer, two of the west coast’s largest metropolitan areas—Seattle and Los Angeles County—took major steps to curtail secret, unilateral surveillance by local police. These victories for transparency and community control lend momentum toward sweeping reforms pending across California, as well as congressional efforts to curtail unchecked surveillance by federal...
EFF Asks U.S. Court to Bar Enforcement of Canada’s Global Takedown Order
Should a Canadian court be able to prevent U.S.-based Internet users from viewing search results based on an alleged violation of Canadian law, even if those search results are legal in the United States?
We don’t think so. That’s why on Monday EFF asked a federal trial court...
