The SAFE Act is an Imperfect Vehicle for Real Section 702 Reform

The SAFE act, introduced by Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Dick Durbin (D-IL), is the first of many likely proposals we will see to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Amendments Act of 2008—and while imperfect, it does propose a litany of real and much-needed reforms of Big Brother’s favorite surveillance […]

Continue Reading

The Anthropic-DOD Conflict: Privacy Protections Shouldn’t Depend On the Decisions of a Few Powerful People

The U.S. military has officially ended its $200 million contract with AI company Anthropic and has ordered all other military contractors to cease use of their products. Why? Because of a dispute over what the government could and could not use Anthropic’s technology to do. Anthropic had made it clear since it first signed the […]

Continue Reading

Tech Companies Shouldn’t Be Bullied Into Doing Surveillance

The Secretary of Defense has given an ultimatum to the artificial intelligence company Anthropic in an attempt to bully them into making their technology available to the U.S. military without any restrictions for their use. Anthropic should stick by their principles and refuse to allow their technology to be used in the two ways they […]

Continue Reading

The Department of Defense Wants Less Proof its Software Works

When Congress eventually reopens, the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will be moving toward a vote. This gives us a chance to see the priorities of the Secretary of Defense and his Congressional allies when it comes to the military—and one of those priorities is buying technology, especially AI, with less of an obligation […]

Continue Reading

Victory! California Requires Transparency for AI Police Reports

California Governor Newsom has signed S.B. 524, a bill that begins the long process of regulating and imposing transparency on the growing problem of AI-written police reports. EFF supported this bill and has spent the last year vocally criticizing the companies pushing AI-generated police reports as a service.  S.B.524 requires police to disclose, on the […]

Continue Reading

EFF and Other Organizations: Keep Key Intelligence Positions Senate Confirmed

In a joint letter to the ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees, EFF has joined with 20 other organizations, including the ACLU, Brennan Center, CDT, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and Demand Progress, to express opposition to a rule change that would seriously weaken accountability in the intelligence community. Specifically, under the proposed […]

Continue Reading

Flock’s Gunshot Detection Microphones Will Start Listening for Human Voices

Flock Safety, the police technology company most notable for their extensive network of automated license plate readers spread throughout the United States, is rolling out a new and troubling product that may create headaches for the cities that adopt it: detection of “human distress” via audio. As part of their suite of technologies, Flock has […]

Continue Reading

Hey, San Francisco, There Should be Consequences When Police Spy Illegally

A San Francisco supervisor has proposed that police and other city agencies should have no financial consequences for breaking a landmark surveillance oversight law. In 2019, organizations from across the city worked together to help pass that law, which required law enforcement to get the approval of democratically elected officials before they bought and used […]

Continue Reading

California, Tell Governor Newsom: Regulate AI Police Reports and Sign S.B. 524

The California legislature has passed a necessary piece of legislation, S.B. 524, which starts to regulate police reports written by generative AI. Now, it’s up to us to make sure Governor Newsom will sign the bill.  We must make our voices heard. These technologies obscure certain records and drafts from public disclosure. Vendors have invested […]

Continue Reading