NSA Spying: The Three Pillars of Government Trust Have Fallen
With each recent revelation about the NSA's spying programs government officials have tried to reassure the American people that all three branches of government—the Executive branch, the Judiciary branch, and the Congress—knowingly approved these programs and exercised rigorous oversight over them. President Obama recited this talking point just...
EFF Supports Human Rights Case Against Cisco for Selling Surveillance Technologies to China
EFF filed an amicus brief in an important case known as Du v. Cisco, where Chinese human rights activists have sued the US tech giant Cisco in Maryland federal court. The case alleges that Cisco knowingly customized, marketed, sold, and provided continued support and service for technologies used by...
Congress' Copyright Cowards: the Members Who Could Betray Internet Users
Fast track authority, also known as trade promotion authority, empowers the White House to unilaterally negotiate and sign trade agreements. It not only hinders Congress from exercising its constitutionally mandated power to oversee and amend trade deals, it could impact their sovereign power to make and reform copyright and...
A Guide to the Deceptions, Misinformation, and Word Games Officials Use to Mislead the Public About NSA Surveillance
It’s been two months since President Barack Obama first said that he welcomes a debate about NSA surveillance, which he once again reiterated last week at his press conference. Unfortunately, it’s very hard to have a real debate about a subject when the administration constantly and intentionally misleads Americans...
How to Reform the Secretive FISA Court: Make It Less Secret
There’s no doubt that the secret court overseeing the unconstituional NSA spying must be reformed. The recent revelations of large-scale domestic surveillance approved by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court) are proof of that. The FISA Court operates in near-total secrecy and only hears from one side—the US...
Microsoft Reverses (Another) Anti-User Xbox One Policy
A Microsoft executive has confirmed that, contrary to earlier reports from the company, the upcoming Xbox One console will not require the Kinect sensor to be activated at all times after all. This change comes after a widespread backlash from gamers concerned about the privacy implications of an always-on...
Multiple New Polls Show Americans Reject Wholesale NSA Domestic Spying
Update: Polls further confirm that Americans are deeply concerned with the unconstitutional NSA spying programs. In a July 10 poll by Quinnipiac University, voters were asked whether the government's efforts "go too far in restricting the average person's civil liberties" or "not far enough to adequately protect the...
Google Fiber Continues Awful ISP Tradition of Banning “Servers”
Update (10/16/2013): Google Fiber has made a change to their Acceptable Use Policy that clarifies that some non-commercial uses for running servers are permitted. We applaud Google for making this change, but note that there are still provisions to take issue with in the policy, such as the explicit...
Obama Promises Reform of NSA Spying, But the Devil Will Be in the Details
Earlier today, President Obama held a press conference to address the growing public concern over the National Security Agency’s surveillance practices. We are glad to see that the Administration has been forced to address the matter publicly as a result of the sustained public pressure from concerned voters as well...
Obama Administration Releases Previously Secret Legal Opinion on NSA's Associational Tracking Program
Congress Does Not Hide Elephants in Mouse Holes
The Administration released a White Paper on Friday that summarized its claimed legal basis for the bulk collection of telephony metadata, also known as the Associational Tracking Program under section 215 of the Patriot Act, codified as 50 U.S.C....


