Celebrating the Life of Aaron Swartz: Aaron Swartz Day 2024

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, […]

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Digital License Plates and the Deal That Never Had a Chance

Location and surveillance technology permeates the driving experience. Setting aside external technology like license plate readers, there is some form of internet-connected service or surveillance capability built into or on many cars, from GPS tracking to oil-change notices. This is already a dangerous situation for many drivers and passengers, and a bill in California requiring GPS-tracking in digital license […]

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Weak “Guardrails” on Police Face Recognition Use Make Things Worse

Police use of face recognition technology (FRT) poses a particularly massive risk to our civil liberties, particularly for Black men and women and other marginalized communities. That’s why EFF supports a ban on government FRT use. Half-measures aren’t up to the task. However, even as half-measures go, California’s legislature is currently considering a particularly weak […]

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