Protecting the highly personal location data stored on or generated by digital devices is one of the 21st century’s most important privacy issues. In 2017, the Supreme Court finally took on the question of how law enforcement can get ahold… Read More ›
Tag Archive for ‘Locational Privacy’
EFF’s Street-Level Surveillance Project Dissects Police Technology
Step onto any city street and you may find yourself subject to numerous forms of police surveillance—many imperceptible to the human eye. A cruiser equipped with automated license plate readers (also known as ALPRs) may have just logged where you… Read More ›
Appeals Court Rules Against Warrantless Cell-site Simulator Surveillance
Law enforcement officers in Washington, D.C. violated the Fourth Amendment when they used a cell site simulator to locate a suspect without a warrant, a D.C. appeals court ruled on Thursday. The court thus found that the resulting evidence should… Read More ›
Three Lies Big Internet providers Are Spreading to Kill the California Broadband Privacy Bill
Now that California’s Broadband Privacy Bill, A.B. 375, is headed for a final vote in the California legislature, Comcast, Verizon, and all their allies are pulling out all the stops to try to convince state legislators to vote against the… Read More ›
EFF Supports Senate Email and Location Privacy Bill
Congress Must Enact ECPA Reform Legislation This Year EFF applauds Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) for today introducing the ECPA Modernization Act of 2017 to protect user privacy in cloud content and geolocation information. As part… Read More ›
The Four Flavors of Automated License Plate Reader Technology
Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) may be the most common mass surveillance technology in use by local law enforcement around the country—but they’re not always used in the same way. Typically, ALPR systems are comprised of high-speed cameras connected to… Read More ›
An Update on Verizon’s AppFlash: Pre-Installed Spyware Is Still Spyware
This post is an UPDATE to a piece we originally published last week. Verizon recently rolled out a new pilot project to pre-install on customers’ devices an app launcher/search tool that, we believe, is really just spyware. This software, called… Read More ›
Congress is Trying to Roll Back Internet Privacy Protections As You Read This
Call congress now! Back in 2014 over 3 million Internet users told the U.S. government loudly and clearly: we value our online security, we value our online privacy, and we value net neutrality. Our voices helped convince the FCC to… Read More ›
Congressional Oversight Committee Wants Warrants to Rein in Police Abuse of Cell-Site Simulators
A bipartisan Congressional committee’s recent report showcases troubling details about police abuse of cell-site simulators, and calls on Congress to pass laws ensuring that this powerful technology is only deployed with a court-issued probable cause warrant. Cell-site simulators, often called… Read More ›
Congress Must Protect Americans’ Location Privacy
Your smartphone, navigation system, fitness device, and more know where you are most of the time. Law enforcement should need a warrant to access the information these technologies track. Lawmakers have a chance to create warrant requirements for the sensitive… Read More ›