Favorite The Federal Trade Commission has entered a settlement with self-styled “weapon detection” company Evolv, to resolve the FTC’s claim that the company “knowingly” and repeatedly” engaged in “unlawful” acts of misleading claims about their technology. Essentially, Evolv’s technology, which is in schools, subways, and stadiums, does far less than they’ve been claiming. The FTC…
This Bill Could Put A Stop To Censorship By Lawsuit
Favorite For years now, deep-pocketed individuals and corporations have been turning to civil lawsuits to silence their opponents. These Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, or SLAPPs, aren’t designed to win on the merits, but rather to harass journalists, activists, and consumers into silence by suing them over their protected speech. While 34 states have laws…
Location Tracking Tools Endanger Abortion Access. Lawmakers Must Act Now.
Favorite EFF wrote recently about Locate X, a deeply troubling location tracking tool that allows users to see the precise whereabouts of individuals based on the locations of their smartphone devices. Developed and sold by the data surveillance company Babel Street, Locate X collects smartphone location data from a variety of sources and collates that…
She Joined Facebook to Fight Terror. Now She’s Convinced We Need to Fight Facebook.
Favorite For two years, Hannah Byrne was part of an invisible machine that determines what over 3 billion people around the world can say on the internet. From her perch within Meta’s Counterterrorism and Dangerous Organizations team, Byrne helped craft one of the most powerful and secretive censorship policies in internet history. Her work adhered…
Guess Who Profits From Trump’s Deportation Plan? Private Equity Firms.
Favorite In the days after Donald Trump’s election, business leaders across a swath of industries celebrated the victory of a man they thought would bring them a financial bonanza. Crypto bros, oil and gas honchos, and tycoons looking to orchestrate mergers all did a victory dance. Now, a new report details how private equity companies…
Making new connections: from BridgeDB to Rdsys
Favorite For over a decade, BridgeDB was the reluctant champion helping users bypass censorship and connect to the open web. Released more than 11 years ago as a prototype, the bridge distribution mechanism surpassed its original lifespan, honorably serving the Tor community. However, as censorship techniques evolved, BridgeDB became overburdened with the many updates necessary…
Top Ten EFF Digital Security Resources for People Concerned About the Incoming Trump Administration
Favorite In the wake of the 2024 election in the United States, many people are concerned about tightening up their digital privacy and security practices. As always, we recommend that people start making their security plan by understanding their risks. For most people in the U.S., the threats that they face and the methods by…
Driving Open Source Forward: Make Your Impact in 2025
Favorite Members Newsletter – December 2024 Our work thrives because of a passionate community dedicated to Open Source values. From advancing initiatives like the Open Source AI Definition to addressing challenges in licensing and policy, collaboration has always been our driving force. While 2024 brought significant progress, the challenges ahead demand even greater collective action.…
Improving Open Source security with the new GitHub Secure Open Source Fund
Favorite The Open Source community underpins much of today’s software innovation, but with this power comes responsibility. Security vulnerabilities, unclear licensing, and a lack of transparency in software components pose significant risks to software supply chains. Recognizing this challenge, GitHub recently announced the GitHub Secure Open Source Fund—a transformative initiative aimed at bolstering the security…
Palestinians File German Complaint on Media Giant Axel Springer’s Business in Israeli Settlements
Favorite Five Palestinians from the Israeli-occupied West Bank, along with the councils of three villages they hail from, filed a formal regulatory complaint in Germany accusing the media giant Axel Springer of contributing to human rights abuses in Palestine. The villagers said that Axel Springer’s Israeli subsidiary Yad2, a classified ads platform akin to Craigslist,…