FASTR Ensures that Publicly Funded Research Belongs to the Public
For Patent Trolls, Location Is Everything
This is the year for patent reform. Let’s put an end to forum shopping.
There’s a bill on the U.S. Senate floor that would make it more difficult for patent trolls to pressure innovators with unfair infringement lawsuits. But there’s a key provision missing. Without that provision, we think...
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse Wants to Make the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Even Easier to Abuse
This summer, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse introduced an amendment to the flawed Cyber Information Sharing Act (CISA) that would make it even worse, by expanding the broken Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). EFF has proposed common sense changes to this federal anti-hacking law, many of...
The SEC’s Power Grab: Civil Agencies Try to Weaken ECPA Reform Legislation
As we anticipated, the Senate Judiciary Committee's recent hearing on reforming the Electronic Communications Privacy Act focused on creating a loophole for civil law enforcement agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to access personal content stored by third-party service providers without a warrant, rather than on...
Senate Judiciary Committee Finally Focuses on ECPA Reform
On Wednesday, September 16, nine months into the 114th Congress, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on reforming the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), the federal law that regulates government access to private communications records stored by third parties.
Right now, the statute allows the government to...
Amendments to CISA "Cybersecurity" Bill Fail in All Regards
Although grassroots activism has dealt it a blow, the Senate Intelligence Committee's terrible bill, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing Act(CISA) keeps shambling along like the zombie it is. In July, Senator McConnell vowed to hold a final vote on the bill before Congress left for its six-week long summer...
Mandatory Reporting of User Content Chills Speech and Violates Privacy Rights
UPDATE: We're happy to report that this controversial provision was removed from the 2016 Intelligence Authorization bill.
EFF joined a broad coalition of 31 organizations in sending a letter to Senate leadership opposing an unconstitutionally vague bill that would require Internet companies to report to the government...
Perú Adopta por Decreto la Retención de Datos: La Información de Localización No Estará Protegida
El Presidente de Perú Ollanta Humala firmó el pasado 27 de julio el Decreto Legislativo 1182 que permite a la policía acceder sin órden judicial y en tiempo real a los datos de localización de manera 24/7 en casos de flagrante delito. Pero eso no la peor parte...
Peru Adopts Data Retention Decree: Declares Location Data No Longer Protected
The Peruvian President today adopted a legislative decree that will grant the police warrantless access to real time user location data on a 24/7 basis. But that’s not the worst part of the decree: it compels telecom providers to retain, for one year, data on who communicates with whom,...
Section 215 Expires—For Now
Senate to Vote on USA FREEDOM Act Later in the WeekSection 215 has expired. At least for now.The law that the NSA used to authorize its collection of vast amounts of information about the telephone calls of ordinary Americans is no more. Even though it’s likely temporary, it’s a good...