Montana Protects Communications Privacy, But Allows Gag Orders
In May, Montana adopted a new statute that limits government access to the contents of electronic communications stored by service providers. EFF applauds this new privacy safeguard. We thank the Governor for cutting two flawed terms concerning the level of judicial review and records stored abroad, as we requested...
While EU Copyright Protests Mount, the Proposals Get Even Worse
This week, EFF joined Creative Commons, Wikimedia, Mozilla, EDRi, Open Rights Group, and sixty other organizations in signing an open letter [PDF] addressed to Members of the European Parliament expressing our concerns about two key proposals for a new European "Digital Single Market" Directive on copyright.
These are...
Aadhaar: Ushering in a Commercialized Era of Surveillance in India
Since last year, Indian citizens have been required to submit their photograph, iris and fingerprint scans in order to access legal entitlements, benefits, compensation, scholarships, and even nutrition programs. Submitting biometric information is needed for the rehabilitation of manual scavengers, the training and aid of disabled people, and anti-retroviral...
Wikipedia Joins the Fight for Fair Use in Australia
Australia's ongoing debate over the introduction of a new fair use right took a turn last week when Wikipedia joined the fray. The world's largest online encyclopedia now displays a banner to its Australian users encouraging them to support a joint campaign of Australia's major digital rights...
Stupid Patent of the Month: Ford Patents a Windshield
California Senate Passes Surveillance Transparency Bill
A bill to shine light on law enforcement surveillance technology has passed out of the California State Senate. Now the battle begins in the California Assembly. S.B. 21 would require all police surveillance technology purchases and policies to go through a public approval process. That means a city...
Why We're Suing the FBI for Records About Best Buy Geek Squad Informants
Law Enforcement Should Not Be Able to Bypass the Fourth Amendment to Search Your Devices
Sending your computer to Best Buy for repairs shouldn’t require you to surrender your Fourth Amendment rights. But that’s apparently what’s been happening when customers send their computers to a Geek Squad repair facility...
EFF Sues Justice Department to Shed Light On FBI’s Use of Best Buy Informants
Washington, D.C.—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Justice Department to obtain records about the FBI’s training and use of Best Buy Geek Squad employees to conduct warrantless searches of customers’ computers.
The records request aims to shed light on...
Supreme Court Victory for the Right to Tinker in Printer Cartridge Case
The Supreme Court struck a blow today [PDF] for your right to own the things you buy, reversing a lower court decision that had given patent owners the power to sue customers who paid in full for a patented item but then used it in a way the patent...
EFF Asks the Federal Circuit to Fix its Terrible API Copyright Decision
EFF, joined by Public Knowledge, filed an amicus brief today asking the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to revisit one of its worst decisions ever. Three years ago this month, in Oracle v. Google, the Federal Circuit held that the Java Application Programming Interfaces...









