Favorite Encrypted chat apps like Signal and WhatsApp are one of the best ways to keep your digital conversations as private as possible. But if you’re not careful with how those conversations are backed up, you can accidentally undermine your privacy. When a conversation is properly encrypted end-to-end, it means that the contents of those…
The FCC Must Reject Efforts to Lock Up Public Airwaves
Favorite President Trump’s attack on public broadcasting has attracted plenty of deserved attention, but there’s a far more technical, far more insidious policy change in the offing—one that will take away Americans’ right to unencumbered access to our publicly owned airwaves. The FCC is quietly contemplating a fundamental restructuring of all broadcasting in the United…
Celebrating maintainers, founders, and the future of Open Source
Favorite Members Newsletter – May 2025 May is Maintainer Month—a time to recognize the essential work of those who build, fix, review, and secure the code that the world relies on every day. At OSI, we know maintainers are the heartbeat of Open Source. That’s why we’re lifting up their stories, sharing ways to get involved,…
Appeals Court Sidesteps The Big Questions on Geofence Warrants
Favorite Another federal appeals court has ruled on controversial geofence warrants—sort of. Last week, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit sitting en banc issued a single sentence opinion affirming the lower court opinion in United States v. Chatrie. The practical outcome of this sentence is clear: the evidence collected from a geofence…
Podcast Episode: Digital Autonomy for Bodily Autonomy
Favorite We all leave digital trails as we navigate the internet – records of what we searched for, what we bought, who we talked to, where we went or want to go in the real world – and those trails usually are owned by the big corporations behind the platforms we use. But what if…
No Postal Service Data Sharing to Deport Immigrants
Favorite The law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) recently joined a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) task force geared towards finding and deporting immigrants, according to a report from the Washington Post. Now, immigration officials want two sets of data from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS). First, they want access…
Nominations Open for 2025 EFF Awards!
Favorite Nominations are now open for the 2025 EFF Awards! The nomination window will be open until Friday, May 23rd at 2:00 PM Pacific time. You could nominate the next winner today! For over thirty years, the Electronic Frontier Foundation presented awards to key leaders and organizations in the fight for freedom and innovation online. The EFF Awards celebrate…
Beware the Bundle: Companies Are Banking on Becoming Your Police Department’s Favorite "Public Safety Technology” Vendor
Favorite When your local police department buys one piece of surveillance equipment, you can easily expect that the company that sold it will try to upsell them on additional tools and upgrades. At the end of the day, public safety vendors are tech companies, and their representatives are salespeople using all the tricks from the…
Washington’s Right to Repair Bill Heads to the Governor
Favorite The right to repair just keeps on winning. Last week, thanks in part to messages from EFF supporters, the Washington legislature passed a strong consumer electronics right-to-repair legislation through both the House and Senate. The bill affirms our right to repair by banning restrictions that keep people and local businesses from accessing the parts,…
Ninth Circuit Hands Users A Big Win: Californians Can Sue Out-of-State Corporations That Violate State Privacy Laws
Favorite Simple common sense tells us that a corporation’s decision to operate in every state shouldn’t mean it can’t be sued in most of them. Sadly, U.S. law doesn’t always follow common sense. That’s why we were so pleased with a recent holding from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Setting a crucial precedent, the…