FTC Findings on Commercial Surveillance Can Lead to Better Alternatives

On September 19, the FTC published a staff report following a multi-year investigation of nine social media and video streaming companies. The report found a myriad of privacy violations to consumers stemming largely from the ad-revenue based business models of companies including Facebook, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter) which prompted unbridled consumer surveillance practices. In […]

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Unveiling Venezuela’s Repression: A Legacy of State Surveillance and Control

The post was written by Laura Vidal (PhD), independent researcher in learning and digital rights. This is part two of a series. Part one on surveillance and control around the July election is here. Over the past decade, the government in Venezuela has meticulously constructed a framework of surveillance and repression, which has been repeatedly […]

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Join the Movement for Public Broadband in PDX

Did you know the City of Portland, Oregon, already owns and operates a fiber-optic broadband network? It’s called IRNE (Integrated Regional Network Enterprise), and despite having it in place Portlanders are forced to pay through the nose for internet access because of a lack of meaningful competition. Even after 24 years of IRNE, too many […]

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Digital Inclusion Week, Highlighting an EFA Members Digital Equity Work:

In honor of Digital Inclusion Week, October 7-11th 2024, it’s an honor to uplift one of our Electronic Frontier Alliance (EFA) members who is doing great work making sure technology benefits everyone by addressing the digital divide: CCTV Cambridge. This year they partnered to host a Digital Navigator program. Its aim is to assist in […]

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EFF to Fifth Circuit: Age Verification Laws Will Hurt More Than They Help

EFF, along with the ACLU and the ACLU of Mississippi, filed an amicus brief on Thursday asking a federal appellate court to continue to block Mississippi’s HB 1126—a bill that imposes age verification mandates on social media services across the internet. Our friend-of-the-court brief, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, […]

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Vote for EFF’s ‘How to Fix the Internet’ Podcast in the Signal Awards!

We’re thrilled to announce that EFF’s “How to Fix the Internet” podcast is a finalist in the Signal Awards 3rd Annual Listener’s Choice competition. Now we need your vote to put us over the top! Vote now! We’re barraged by dystopian stories about technology’s impact on our lives and our futures — from tracking-based surveillance […]

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Digital ID Isn’t for Everybody, and That’s Okay | EFFector 36.13

Need help staying up-to-date on the latest in the digital rights movement? You’re in luck! In our latest newsletter, we outline the privacy protections needed for digital IDs, explain our call for the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down an unconstitutional age verification law, and call out the harms of AI monitoring software deployed in […]

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How to Stop Advertisers From Tracking Your Teen Across the Internet

This post was written by EFF fellow Miranda McClellan. Teens between the ages of  13 and 17 are being tracked across the internet using identifiers known as Advertising IDs. When children turn 13, they age out of the data protections provided by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Then, they become targets for data […]

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EFF Awards Night: Celebrating Digital Rights Founders Advancing Free Speech and Access to Information Around the World

Digital freedom and investigative reporting about technology have been at risk amid political and economic strife around the world. This year’s annual EFF Awards honored the achievements of people helping to ensure that the power of technology, the right to privacy and free speech, and access to information, is available to people all over the […]

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EFF to Federal Trial Court: Section 230’s Little-Known Third Immunity for User-Empowerment Tools Covers Unfollow Everything 2.0

EFF along with the ACLU of Northern California and the Center for Democracy & Technology filed an amicus brief in a federal trial court in California in support of a college professor who fears being sued by Meta for developing a tool that allows Facebook users to easily clear out their News Feed. Ethan Zuckerman, […]

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