Favorite The latest evidence that Section 702 of the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act (FISA) must be ended or drastically reformed came last month in the form of a newly unsealed order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) detailing massive violations of Americans’ privacy by the FBI. The FISC order is replete with problems. It…
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The Right to Repair Is Law in Minnesota. California Should Be Next
Favorite Last week, Minnesota governor Tim Walz signed an omnibus bill that includes a comprehensive right to repair law requiring manufacturers to make spare parts, repair information, and tools available to consumers and repair shops. This law builds on smaller, but still significant, wins in Colorado, Massachusetts, and New York. California could be next. “The…
Federal Judge Makes History in Holding That Border Searches of Cell Phones Require a Warrant
Favorite With United States v. Smith (S.D.N.Y. May 11, 2023), a district court judge in New York made history by being the first court to rule that a warrant is required for a cell phone search at the border, “absent exigent circumstances” (although other district courts have wanted to do so). EFF is thrilled about…
Californians: Speak Up To Protect People Seeking Repro and Gender-Affirming Care
Favorite We need your help to advance A.B. 793, a bill authored by Assemblymember Mia Bonta to protect people seeking abortion and gender-affirming care from dragnet-style digital surveillance. It’s facing law enforcement opposition as it heads to the Assembly floor for a vote. California’s Assemblymembers need to hear from you to stand up for what’s…
EFF at RightsCon 2023
Favorite After three years of virtual gatherings, RightsCon is back! The 12th edition of the world’s leading summit on human rights in the digital age will be a hybrid convening taking place online through the RightsCon platform and in San José, Costa Rica between June 5-8. RightsCon provides an opportunity for human rights experts, technologists,…
Victory in California! Police Instructors Can’t Claim Copyright Protections to Block Release of Use-of-Force and Other Training Materials
Favorite After a two-year legal battle, the state agency that certifies police officers in California has agreed to EFF’s demand that it stop using copyright concerns as a predicate to withhold law enforcement training materials from public scrutiny. The immediate impact of this victory for transparency is the public will be able to visit the…
Civil Liberties Groups Demand California Police Stop Sharing Drivers’ Location Data With Police In Anti-Abortion States
Favorite This sharing by 71 CA police agencies violates state law and could be used by other states to identify and prosecute abortion seekers and providers. SAN FRANCISCO—Seventy-one California police agencies in 22 counties must immediately stop sharing automated license plate reader (ALPR) data with law enforcement agencies in other states because it violates California…
Congress Must Exercise Caution in AI Regulation
Favorite Artificial intelligence technologies (AI) are all the rage in Washington D.C. these days. Policymakers are hearing stories of utopian opportunities and certain doom from technologists, CEOs, and public interest groups and trying to figure out when and how Congress should intervene. Congress should be paying attention to AI technologies. Many are tools with extraordinary…
To Save the News, We Must Shatter Ad-Tech
Favorite The news is in trouble. It’s not just the mass closures of newsrooms – it’s also the physical and ideological attacks on journalists.News websites are plastered with ads, but more than half of the money those ads generate is siphoned off by ad-tech companies, with the lion’s share going to just two companies, Google…
How Do Different Encrypted Messaging Apps Treat Deleted Messages?
Favorite A feature of various end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) messaging apps and other non E2EE social media messaging are disappearing messages, which automatically delete after a set period of time. This feature may be useful for general privacy within your extended network, high-risk users, and preemptively clearing side conversations easily within linear chats. However, different messaging…