Author: Hayley Tsukayama

Privacy laws are only as strong as their enforcement. In California, the state’s privacy agency recently issued its largest-ever fine for violation of the state’s privacy law—and all because of a consumer complaint. The state’s  privacy law, the California Consumer Privacy Act or CCPA, requires many companies to respect California customers’ and job applicants’ rights […]

California has one of the nation’s most comprehensive consumer data privacy laws. But it’s not always easy for people to exercise those privacy rights. That’s why we supported Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal’s A.B. 566 throughout the legislative session and are now asking California Governor Gavin Newsom to sign it into law.  The easier it is to […]

Of the many principles EFF fights for in consumer data privacy legislation, one of the most basic is a right to access the data companies have about you. It’s only fair. So many companies collect information about us without our knowledge or consent. We at least should have a way to find out what they […]

“The right to privacy is being threatened by the indiscriminate collection, maintenance, and dissemination of personal information and the lack of effective laws and legal remedies,” some astute California lawmakers once wrote. “The increasing use of computers and other sophisticated information technology has greatly magnified the potential risk to individual privacy that can occur from […]

We’ve covered a lot of federal and state proposals that badly miss the mark when attempting to grapple with protecting young people’s safety online. These include bills that threaten to cut young people off from vital information, infringe on their First Amendment rights to speak for themselves, subject them (and adults) to invasive and insecure […]

This week, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee moved forward with a proposal in its budget reconciliation bill to impose a ten-year preemption of state AI regulation—essentially saying only Congress, not state legislatures, can place safeguards on AI for the next decade. We strongly oppose this. We’ve talked before about why federal preemption of […]

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, manuals, […]

States need to have and use data privacy laws to bring privacy violations to light and hold companies accountable for them. So, we were glad to see that the Texas Attorney General’s Office has filed its first lawsuit under Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (TDPSA) to take the Allstate Corporation to task for sharing […]

State lawmakers are increasingly shaping the conversation on technology and innovation policy in the United States. As Congress continues to deliberate key issues such as data privacy, police use of data, and artificial intelligence, lawmakers are rapidly advancing their own ideas into state law. That’s why EFF fights for internet rights not only in Congress, […]

Aaron Swartz was a digital rights champion who believed deeply in keeping the internet open. His life was cut short in 2013, after federal prosecutors charged him under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) for systematically downloading academic journal articles from the online database JSTOR. Facing the prospect of a long and unjust sentence, […]