Disinformation and Elections: EFF and ARTICLE 19 Submit Key Recommendations to EU Commission
Global Elections and Platform ResponsibilityThis year is a major one for elections around the world, with pivotal races in the U.S., the UK, the European Union, Russia, and India, to name just a few. Social media platforms play a crucial role in democratic engagement by enabling users to participate in...
European Court of Human Rights Confirms: Weakening Encryption Violates Fundamental Rights
In a milestone judgment—Podchasov v. Russia—the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled that weakening of encryption can lead to general and indiscriminate surveillance of the communications of all users and violates the human right to privacy. In 2017, the landscape of digital communication in Russia faced...
The Latest EU Media Freedom Act Agreement Is a Bad Deal for Users
Update: On 13 March 2024, the EU Parliament approved the EU Media Freedom Act. The bill promotes media pluralism in the EU and provides important standards on the transparency of media ownership. Thanks to EFF, EU representatives addressed some key concerns in the final version. For example, the...
Smart Locks Endanger Tenants’ Privacy and Should Be Regulated
Daycare Apps Are Dangerously Insecure
Last year, several parents at EFF enrolled kids into daycare and were instantly told to download an application for managing their children’s care. Daycare and preschool applications frequently include notifications of feedings, diaper changes, pictures, activities, and which guardian picked-up/dropped-off the child—potentially useful features for overcoming separation anxiety of newly...
The EU's Copyright Directive Is Still About Filters, But EU’s Top Court Limits Its Use
The NDO Fairness Act Is an Important Step Towards Transparency
The First Amendment guarantees the right to speak your own involvement about court proceedings. Yet the Stored Communications Act currently allows the government to prevent electronic communications companies from notifying their users when they receive law enforcement orders for customer data. These gag orders can silence the companies for any...
2021 Year in Review
2021 ended up being a time where we dug into our new realities of distributed work and the ever-changing COVID news. At the same time, news continued to come fast and furious, with the events of one week often obliterating memories of the week before. So it’s helpful for all...
Digital Services Act: EU Parliament's Key Committee Rejects a Filternet But Concerns Remain
Fix What is Broken vs Break What Works: Oscillating Between Policy ChoicesThe European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA) is a big deal. It's the most significant reform of Europe’s internet platform legislation in twenty years and the EU Commission has proposed multiple new rules to address the challenges brought...
EFF to Council of Europe: Cross Border Police Surveillance Treaty Must Have Ironclad Safeguards to Protect Individual Rights and Users’ Data
This is the third post in a series about recommendations EFF, EDRi, CIPPIC, Derechos Digitales, TEDIC, Karisma Foundation, and other civil society organizations have submitted to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which is currently reviewing the Protocol, to amend the text before its final approval...