Ola Bini Faces Ecuadorian Prosecutors Seeking to Overturn Acquittal of Cybercrime Charge

Ola Bini, the software developer acquitted last year of cybercrime charges in a unanimous verdict in Ecuador, was back in court last week in Quito as prosecutors, using the same evidence that helped clear him, asked an appeals court to overturn the decision with bogus allegations of unauthorized access of a telecommunications system. Armed with […]

Continue Reading

Cops Running DNA-Manufactured Faces Through Face Recognition Is a Tornado of Bad Ideas

In keeping with law enforcement’s grand tradition of taking antiquated, invasive, and oppressive technologies, making them digital, and then calling it innovation, police in the U.S. recently combined two existing dystopian technologies in a brand new way to violate civil liberties. A police force in California recently employed the new practice of taking a DNA […]

Continue Reading

Restricting Flipper is a Zero Accountability Approach to Security: Canadian Government Response to Car Hacking

On February 8, François-Philippe Champagne, the Canadian Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced Canada would ban devices used in keyless car theft. The only device mentioned by name was the Flipper Zero—the multitool device that can be used to test, explore, and debug different wireless protocols such as RFID, NFC, infrared, and Bluetooth. EFF […]

Continue Reading

Meta Oversight Board’s Latest Policy Opinion a Step in the Right Direction

EFF welcomes the latest and long-awaited policy advisory opinion from Meta’s Oversight Board calling on the company to end its blanket ban on the use of the Arabic-language term “shaheed” when referring to individuals listed under Meta’s policy on dangerous organizations and individuals and calls on Meta to fully implement the Board’s recommendations. Since the […]

Continue Reading

EFF Asks Oregon Supreme Court Not to Limit Fourth Amendment Rights Based on Terms of Service

This post was drafted by EFF legal intern Alissa Johnson. EFF signed on to an amicus brief drafted by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers earlier this month petitioning the Oregon Supreme Court to review State v. Simons, a case involving law enforcement surveillance of over a year’s worth of private internet activity. We […]

Continue Reading

Responding to ShotSpotter, Police Shoot at Child Lighting Fireworks

This post was written by Rachel Hochhauser, an EFF legal intern We’ve written multiple times about the inaccurate and dangerous “gunshot detection” tool, Shotspotter. A recent near-tragedy in Chicago adds to the growing pile of evidence that cities should drop the product. On January 25, while responding to a ShotSpotter alert, a Chicago police officer […]

Continue Reading

Disinformation and Elections: EFF and ARTICLE 19 Submit Key Recommendations to EU Commission

Global Elections and Platform Responsibility This year is a major one for elections around the world, with pivotal races in the U.S., the UK, the European Union, Russia, and India, to name just a few. Social media platforms play a crucial role in democratic engagement by enabling users to participate in public discourse and by providing access to information, especially […]

Continue Reading

B5+1 Forum – United States Department of State

The Governments of the United States, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan joined private sector representatives in the inaugural B5+1 Forum in Almaty, Kazakhstan, from March 13-15, 2024. Announced by President Biden during the inaugural C5+1 Summit in September 2023 and highlighted in the corresponding New York Declaration, the B5+1 is the private-sector-led […]

Continue Reading

World News in Brief: Global trade rebound forecast, e-waste mountain grows, 7,000 preventable TB deaths in Europe during COVID-19

Last year saw a three per cent contraction, equalling roughly $1 trillion, compared to the record high of $32 trillion in 2022. Despite this decline, the services sector showed resilience with a $500 billion (eight per cent) increase from the previous year, while trade in goods experienced a $1.3 trillion, or five per cent, decline compared […]

Continue Reading