Age verification systems are surveillance systems. Mandatory age verification, and with it, mandatory identity verification, is the wrong approach to protecting young people online. It would force websites to require visitors to prove their age by submitting information such as… Read More ›
Tag Archive for ‘Commentary’
Utah's Governor Should Veto "Social Media Regulations" Bill S.B. 152
This week, EFF asked Utah’s Governor Cox to veto a dangerous “social media regulations” bill, S.B. 152 (McKell). Utah’s bill is part of a wave of age verification laws that would make users less secure, and make internet access less… Read More ›
Report: ICE and the Secret Service Conducted Illegal Surveillance of Cell Phones
The Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General has released a troubling new report detailing how federal agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Secret Service have conducted surveillance using cell-site simulators (CSS) without proper… Read More ›
Participation in the Fediverse
Parts of the fediverse have been in something of an uproar recently over an experimental search service that was under development called (appropriately enough) Searchtodon. The project aimed to enable people to search their own home timeline and worked by… Read More ›
The Breadth of the Fediverse
The Washington Post recently published an op-ed by Megan McArdle titled “Twitter might be replaced, but not by Mastodon or other imitators.” The article argues that Mastodon is falling into a common trap for open source projects: building a look-alike… Read More ›
Podcast Episode: Don't Be Afraid to Poke the Tigers
What can a bustling electronic components bazaar in Shenzhen, China, tell us about building a better technology future? To researcher and hacker Andrew “bunnie” Huang, it symbolizes the boundless motivation, excitement, and innovation that can be unlocked if people have… Read More ›
US Copyright Term Extensions Have Stopped, But the Public Domain Still Faces Threats
We’re taking part in Copyright Week, a series of actions and discussions supporting key principles that should guide copyright policy. Every day this week, various groups are taking on different elements of copyright law and policy, and addressing what’s at… Read More ›
Schools and EdTech Need to Study Up On Student Privacy: 2022 in Review
In 2022, student privacy gets a solid “C” grade. The trend of schools engaging in student surveillance did not let up in 2022. There were, however, some small wins indicative of a growing movement to push back against this encroachment…. Read More ›
The Year We Got Serious about Tech Monopolies: 2022 in Review
2022 has been a big year for enforcement of the antitrust laws against tech companies, with the five largest (Apple, Google, Meta/Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft) all facing lawsuits or investigations in the US. Government scrutiny of tech company mergers is… Read More ›
An Urgent Year for Interoperability: 2022 in Review
Walled gardens can be great: we all like it when Stuff Just Works because a single company oversees all its elements. Walled gardens can be terrible: when all of our data, our social relations and our educational, romantic, professional… Read More ›