First Step of NSA Transparency: Come Clean About Access To Fiber Optic Cables of Telecom Companies
Prior to President Obama’s press conference on potential surveillance reform today, two important stories were published showing National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance has gone farther than government officials have admitted publicly. Now that the President has promised transparency on NSA surveillance, it’s time for the NSA to come completely...
Judge Grants Preliminary Injunction to Protect Free Speech after EFF Challenge
Judge Grants Preliminary Injunction to Protect Free Speech after EFF Challenge
Newark, NJ - A New Jersey federal district court judge granted motions for a preliminary injunction today, blocking the enforcement of a dangerous state law that would put online service providers at risk by, among other things, creating liability based on "indirect" publication of content by speech platforms.
The...
Why Sen. Feinstein Is Wrong About Who’s a “Real Reporter”
During the Senate Judiciary Committee’s August 1 mark-up of the shield law bill aimed at protecting journalists’ sources, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) reportedly objected to the definition of journalist provided in the bill as introduced, seeking to restrict the definition’s scope to apply only to “real reporters.” To achieve...
What It Means to Be An NSA "Target": New Information Shows Why We Need Immediate FISA Amendments Act Reform
An important New York Times investigation from today reported that the NSA "is searching the contents of vast amounts of Americans’ e-mail and text communications into and out of the country" without warrants or any particularized court order. This new report, coupled with leaked documents published by the Guardian,...
Lavabit Encrypted Email Service Shuts Down, Can’t Say Why
Lavabit announced today that it would shut down its encrypted email service rather than “become complicit in crimes against the American people.” Lavabit did not say what it had been asked to do, only that it was legally prohibited from sharing the events leading to its decision.
Lavabit...
NJ Court to Hear EFF Challenge in Shadow of AG Threat to CDA 230
A New Jersey federal district court judge on Friday will hear oral arguments in a challenge to an overbroad state law that, if upheld, would threaten to undermine bedrock legal protections for online speech. The legal challenge was brought by EFF on behalf of the Internet Archive,...
EFF's Encryption T-Shirt Puzzle - Solved!
After days of anticipation, EFF's "Encryption is Key" t-shirt for DEF CON 21 has been solved! DEF CON holds a special place in our hearts as one of the premier hacking conferences in the US, so for the past few years we have created special member t-shirts to honor...
Tor Browser Attacked, Users Should Update Software Immediately
An attack against Tor Browser users on Windows machines was discovered this Sunday, and there is speculation that the uncovered malware was used by a law enforcement agency to harvest the IP addresses of users of several hidden services hosted by Freedom Hosting. The malware exploits...
DEA and NSA Team Up to Share Intelligence, Leading to Secret Use of Surveillance in Ordinary Investigations
UPDATE: Add the IRS to the list of federal agencies obtaining information from NSA surveillance. Reuters reports that the IRS got intelligence tips from DEA's secret unit (SOD) and were also told to cover up the source of that information by coming up with their own independent leads to...
