VPNs Are Not a Solution to Age Verification Laws

VPNs are having a moment.  On January 1st, Florida joined 18 other states in implementing an age verification law that burdens Floridians’ access to sites that host adult content, including pornography websites like Pornhub. In protest to these laws, PornHub blocked access to users in Florida. Residents in the “Free State of Florida” have now […]

Continue Reading

Why improving social housing could be remarkably simple (and affordable)

Tragedies in social housing, such as the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 and the death of toddler Awaab Ishak due to damp living conditions in 2020, remain shocking. As a coroner commented at the time, “How in the UK in 2020 does a two-year-old child die as a result of exposure to mould?” Since then […]

Continue Reading

Police Use of Face Recognition Continues to Wrack Up Real-World Harms

Police have shown, time and time again, that they cannot be trusted with face recognition technology (FRT). It is too dangerous, invasive, and in the hands of law enforcement, a perpetual liability. EFF has long argued that face recognition, whether it is fully accurate or not, is too dangerous for police use,  and such use […]

Continue Reading

Elon Musk is elevating Trump’s foreign policy of deliberate disruption to a new level

Donald Trump’s first term gave the world a taste of deliberately disruptive unwanted involvement in the domestic affairs of other countries, with examples ranging from Britain in the throes of Brexit to North Korea where the 45th US president attempted to forge a personal deal with Kim Jung-Un. US tech billionaire Elon Musk, however, has […]

Continue Reading

Digital Rights and the New Administration | EFFector 37.1

It’s a new year and EFF is here to help you keep up with your New Year’s resolution to stay up-to-date on the latest digital rights news with our EFFector newsletter! This edition of the newsletter covers our tongue-in-cheek “awards” for some of the worst data breaches in 2024, The Breachies; an explanation of “real-time […]

Continue Reading

Why China might need the rest of the west more as Trump arrives in the White House

Donald Trump has a knack of antagonising and confusing China. During his first presidential campaign, he accused China of “raping” the US through unfair trade practices. But later in his first term as US president, Trump also called Chinese president Xi Jinping a “good friend”. Throughout the 2024 presidential campaign Trump suggested he would be […]

Continue Reading

Platforms Systematically Removed a User Because He Made “Most Wanted CEO” Playing Cards

On December 14, James Harr, the owner of an online store called ComradeWorkwear, announced on social media that he planned to sell a deck of “Most Wanted CEO” playing cards, satirizing the infamous “Most-wanted Iraqi playing cards” introduced by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency in 2003. Per the ComradeWorkwear website, the Most Wanted CEO cards […]

Continue Reading

Trump’s plan for a strategic bitcoin reserve could trigger a crypto ‘arms race’ and reshape the global economic order

Cryptocurrencies promise to be central to Donald Trump’s economic policies in his second term as US president. Arguably his most controversial proposal is the creation of a strategic bitcoin reserve (SBR). This would involve the US buying up large amounts of the cryptocurrency over the coming years to hold as a reserve, similar to the […]

Continue Reading

Five Things to Know about the Supreme Court Case on Texas’ Age Verification Law, Free Speech Coalition v Paxton

The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Wednesday in a case that will determine whether states can violate adults’ First Amendment rights to access sexual content online by requiring them to verify their age.   The case, Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, could have far-reaching effects for every internet users’ free speech, anonymity, and privacy rights. […]

Continue Reading

US Semiconductor Industry Faces Workforce Shortage, 67,000 Jobs May Go Unfilled by 2030

The semiconductor sector in the United States is confronting a significant workforce shortage, with an estimated 67,000 positions remaining unfilled by 2030 unless steps are taken to retain more international talent. A report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) underscores the urgent need for a strategic visa program to attract and retain […]

Continue Reading