The company that owns Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) is planning to revoke the open license that has, since the year 2000, applied to a wide range of unofficial, commercial products that build on the mechanics of the game.
EFF is attending this week and next a new round of negotiations over the proposed UN Cybercrime Treaty to raise concerns that draft provisions now on the table include a long list of content-related crimes that pose serious threats to free expression, privacy, and the legitimate activities of journalists,...
Calling all U.S. federal employees and retirees: the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) pledge period is closing on January 14, 2023. Be sure to make a pledge for EFF now to support digital freedoms for every internet user. It's easy to donate to EFF through the CFC! Here are the steps:Scan...
In the wake of this year’s Supreme Court decision in Dobbs overruling Roe v. Wade, sheriffs and bounty hunters in anti-abortion states will try to investigate and punish abortion seekers based on their internet browsing, private messaging, and phone applocation data. We can expect similar...
This year, we have seen an array of different ways governments around the world have tried to alter basic security on the web for users. Much of this was attempted through legislation, direct network interference, or as a request directly from a government to internet governance authorities. On the other...
Since the new UN cybercrime treaty began to take shape in 2022, EFF has been fighting on behalf of users to make sure content-based crimes are excluded from the Treaty, and robust human rights safeguards and rule of law standards are the basis of any final product.There’s a lot...
Informed citizens need comprehensive libraries that meet people where they are. Today, that means online spaces that welcome everyone to use their resources, invite them to create new and truthful works, and respect the interests of both authors and readers. EFF client Internet Archive has created one of those spaces....
The internet can be a powerful tool for communicating, collaborating, and finding community. But lawsuits and threats from patent trolls have been an obstacle to the dream of a free and open internet. That’s why EFF has been fighting back against them for more than 15 years. Patent trolls...
Reproductive justice and safe access to abortion, like so many other aspects of managing our healthcare, is fundamentally tied to our digital lives. And since it is part of our healthcare, we should have the ability to keep it private and access information about it, even when it’s on a...
In 2022, student privacy gets a solid “C” grade. The trend of schools engaging in student surveillance did not let up in 2022. There were, however, some small wins indicative of a growing movement to push back against this encroachment. Unfortunately, more schools than ever are spying on students through...
EFF’s first ask for the incoming Biden Administration on broadband policy was to ban digital redlining by regulating broadband as a public good instead of a private luxury. EFF has extensively researched the state of fiber broadband infrastructure in the United States for years. We’ve identified a disturbing trend...
2022 has been a big year for enforcement of the antitrust laws against tech companies, with the five largest (Apple, Google, Meta/Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft) all facing lawsuits or investigations in the US. Government scrutiny of tech company mergers is on the rise too: the Federal Trade Commission has challenged...
We love San Francisco. It’s EFF’s home. It’s often an example for other cities in regards to technology use and civil liberties. We helped make San Francisco the first city in the United States to ban government use of facial recognition, and one of the first to require ...
EFF worked on bills in more than a dozen states this year, fighting for strong digital rights at the state level. Across the country, legislators focused on issues including medical privacy, biometric privacy, and the right to repair. In California, EFF was proud to support three bills—A.B. 2091, A.B....
Walled gardens can be great: we all like it when Stuff Just Works because a single company oversees all its elements. Walled gardens can be terrible: when all of our data, our social relations and our educational, romantic, professional and family ties are trapped inside a company’s silo and...
