Philippines' New Cybercrime Prevention Act Troubling for Free Expression
In the Philippines, where the Internet is free from censorship, President Benigno Aquino III recently signed into law the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, a troubling development for free expression.
The Act, available online in English, covers a range of "offenses,” from the “access of …...
Freedom Not Fear: Creating a Surveillance-Free Internet
Privacy rights face a crisis. Governments around the world have been taking overreaching, fear-based surveillance measures against essential online freedoms. Organizing an international resistance demands a complex understanding of both the latest online surveillance trends and of long-standing threats to privacy. Every year, Freedom Not Fear continues to organize...
Fight over FISA Amendments Act Moves to the Senate, as the House Passes the Broad, Warrantless Spying Bill
Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted to renew the dangerous FISA Amendment Act—which hands the NSA broad, warrantless surveillance powers over Americans’ international communications—for another five years. Sadly, the House refused to add any new oversight powers or privacy protections, despite ample evidence the NSA has used...
YouTube Blocks Access to Controversial Video in Egypt and Libya
In an unusual move, YouTube announced today that it was blocking access to a video showing clips from "The Innocence of Muslims"—an anti-Islamic film that depicts Prophet Mohammed as a philanderer who approves of child abuse—after the film sparked violent protests in Egypt and Libya.
In a public...
New Research on "Junk" DNA Raises Questions on Eve of Crucial Court Hearing
On September 19, the Ninth Circuit is set to hear new arguments in Haskell v. Harris, a case challenging California’s warrantless DNA collection program. Today EFF asked the court to consider ground-breaking new research that confirms for the first time that over...
Don’t Wait for the UK Snoopers’ Charter to Pass: Encrypt Wikipedia Now
A joint committee of the UK’s House of Lords and the House of Commons is preparing to debate a draft bill known as the Snoopers’ Charter, a disastrous data retention bill which, as Techdirt explained, "would require ISPs to record key information about every email sent and Web...
Members of Congress Demand Answers for Homeland Security’s Unjust Domain Name Seizures
This morning, a bipartisan group of Representatives, led by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), sent a pointed letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and the Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano protesting the recent spat of domain name seizures—executed on dubious copyright grounds—that have been censoring websites with no due...
Despite Privacy Concerns, Mexico Continues Scanning Youth Irises for ID Cards
By Gabriela Manuli
For more than a year and a half, the Mexican government has been collecting an unprecedented amount of biometric data from minors ages 4 to 17 as part of a youth ID card program. The Personal Identity Card for minors, a document authorities say is...
Jordanians Protest Internet Censorship Law With SOPA-Style Blackout
The United States, Russia, and Malaysia have all recently protested proposed Internet censorship laws by having websites “go dark,” to demonstrate what the web would look like without them. Today Jordanian netizens have launched their own Internet blackout. In addition to the blackout, thousands have signed a ...
This Week in Transparency: State Secrets Prevails Again, Gitmo’s Auto-Censorship, and a White House Beer FOIA Request
State Secrets Privilege Prevents Justice Again
Yet again, a federal court dismissed a lawsuit against the federal government under the ‘state secrets’ privilege, despite substantial public evidence that the plaintiff’s constitutional rights had been violated. In Fagaza v. FBI, Muslim community members alleged their First and Fourth...
