From Newsgroup: rocksolid.feeds.tech
Decentralization Reaches a Turning Point: 2024 in review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/decentralization-reaches-turning-point-2024-review
January 1, 2025, 3:39 PM
The steady rise of decentralized networks this year is transforming social media.-a Platforms like Mastodon, Bluesky, and Threads are still in their infancy but have already shown that when users are given options, innovation thrives and it results in better tools and protections for our rights online. By moving towards a digital landscape that canrCOt be monopolized by one big player, we also see broader improvements to network resiliency and user autonomy.
The Steady Rise of Decentralized Netw...
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Deepening Government Use of AI and E-Government Transition in Latin America: 2024 in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/deepening-government-use-ai-and-e-government-transition-latin-america-2024-review
January 1, 2025, 3:34 PM
Policies aimed at fostering digital government processes are gaining traction in Latin America, at local and regional levels. While these initiatives can streamline access to public services, it can also make them less accessible, less clear, and put people's fundamental rights at risk. As we move forward, we must emphasize transparency and privacy guarantees during government digital transition processes.
Regional Approach to Digitalization-a
In November, the Ninth Ministerial Conference on th...
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Kids Online Safety Act Continues to Threaten Our Rights Online: 2024-ain Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/kids-online-safety-act-continues-threaten-our-rights-online-year-review-2024
January 1, 2025, 3:26 PM
At times this year, it seemed that Congress was going to give up its duty to protect our rights onlinerCoparticularly when the Senate passed the dangerous Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) by a large majority in July. But this legislation, which would chill protected speech and almost certainly result in privacy-invasive age verification requirements for many users to access social media sites, did not pass the House this year, thanks to strong opposition from EFF supporters and others. -a
KOSA, fir...
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AI and Policing: 2024 in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/ai-and-policing-2024-year-review
December 31, 2024, 3:02 PM
ThererCOs no part of your life now where you can avoid the onslaught of rCLartificial intelligence.rCY Whether yourCOre trying to search for a recipe and sifting through AI-made summaries or listening to your cousin talk about how theyrCOve fired their doctor and replaced them with a chatbot, it seems now, more than ever, that AI is the solution to every problem. But, in the meantime, some people are getting hideously rich by convincing people with money and influence that they must integrate AI...
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Fighting Online ID Mandates: 2024 In Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/effs-2024-battle-against-online-age-verification-defending-youth-privacy-and-free
December 31, 2024, 3:02 PM
This year, nearly half of U.S. states passed laws imposing age verification requirements on online platforms. EFF has opposed these efforts because they censor the internet and burden access to online speech. Though age verification mandates are often touted as rCLonline safetyrCY measures for kids, the laws actually do more harm than good. They undermine the fundamental speech rights of adults and young people alike, create new barriers to internet access, and put at risk all internet usersrCO ...
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Federal Regulators Limit Location Brokers from Selling Your Whereabouts: 2024 in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/federal-regulators-limit-location-brokers-selling-your-whereabouts-2024-review
December 31, 2024, 3:02 PM
The opening and closing months of 2024 saw federal enforcement against a number of location data brokers that track and sell usersrCO whereabouts through apps installed on their smartphones. In January, the Federal Trade Commission brought successful enforcement actions against X-Mode Social and InMarket, banning the companies from selling precise location datarCoa first prohibition of this kind for the FTC. And in December, the FTC widened its net to two additional companiesrCoGravy Analytics (...
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Exposing Surveillance at the U.S.-Mexico Border: 2024 Year in Review in Pictures
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/exposing-surveillance-us-mexico-border-2024-year-review-pictures
December 30, 2024, 3:53 PM
Some of the most picturesque landscapes in the United States can be found along the border with Mexico. Yet, from San DiegorCOs beaches to the Sonoran Desert, from Big Bend National Park to the Boca Chica wetlands, we see vistas marred by the sinister spread of surveillance technology, courtesy of the federal government.-a-a
EFF refuses to let this blight grow without documenting it, exposing it, and finding ways to fight back alongside the communities that live in the shadow of this technologic...
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Fighting Automated Oppression: 2024 in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/fighting-automated-oppression-2024-review-0
December 30, 2024, 3:50 PM
EFF has been sounding the alarm on algorithmic decision making (ADM) technologies for years. ADMs use data and predefined rules or models to make or support decisions, often with minimal human involvement, and in 2024, the topic has been more active than ever before, with landlords, employers, regulators, and police adopting new tools that have the potential to impact both personal freedom and access to necessities like medicine and housing.
This year, we wrote detailed reports and comments to U...
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State Legislatures Are The Frontline for Tech Policy: 2024 in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/state-legislatures-are-frontline-tech-policy-2024-review
December 30, 2024, 3:48 PM
State lawmakers are increasingly shaping the conversation on technology and innovation policy in the United States. As Congress continues to deliberate key issues such as data privacy, police use of data, and artificial intelligence, lawmakers are rapidly advancing their own ideas into state law. ThatrCOs why EFF fights for internet rights not only in Congress, but also in statehouses across the country.
This year, some of that work has been to defend good laws werCOve passed before. In Californ...
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EFFrCOs 2023 Annual Report Highlights a Year of Victories: 2024 in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/2024-year-review-effs-2023-annual-report-highlights-year-victories
December 29, 2024, 11:01 AM
Every fall, EFF releases its annual report, and 2023 was the year of Privacy First. Our annual report dives into our groundbreaking whitepaper along with victories in freeing the law, right to repair, and more. ItrCOs a great, easy-to-read summary of the yearrCOs work, and it contains interesting tidbits about the impact werCOve maderCofor instance, did you know 394,000 people downloaded an episode of EFFrCOs Podcast, rCLHow to Fix the Internet as of 2023?rCY Or that EFF had donors in 88 countri...
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Aerial and Drone Surveillance: 2024 in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/aerial-and-drone-surveillance-2024-review December 29, 2024, 10:50 AM
We've been fighting against aerial surveillance for decades because we recognize the immense threat from Big Brother in the sky. Even if yourCOre behind within the confines of your backyard, you are exposed to eyes from above.
Aerial surveillance was first conducted with manned aircrafts, which the Supreme Court held was permissible without a warrant in a couple of cases the 1980s. But, as werCOve argued to courts, drones have changed the equation. Drones were a technology developed by the mili...
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Restrictions on Free Expression and Access to Information in Times of Change: 2024 in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/restrictions-free-expression-and-access-information-times-change-2024-review
December 29, 2024, 10:50 AM
This was an historical year. A year in which elections took place in countries home to almost half the worldrCOs population, a year of war, and collapse of or chaos within several governments. It was also a year of new technological developments, policy changes, and legislative developments. Amidst these sweeping changes, freedom of expression has never been more important, and around the world, 2024 saw numerous challenges to it. From new legal restrictions on speech to wholesale internet shutd...
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Cars (and Drivers): 2024 in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/cars-and-drivers-2024-year-review December 28, 2024, 8:18 PM
If yourCOve purchased a car made in the last decade or so, itrCOs likely jam-packed with enough technology to make your brand new phone jealous. Modern cars have sensors, cameras, GPS for location tracking, and more, all collecting datarCoand it turns out in many cases, sharing it.
Cars Sure Are Sharing a Lot of Information
While werCOve been keeping an eye on the evolving state of car privacy for years, everything really took off after a New York Times report this past March found that the car ...
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Behind the DinerrCoDigital Rights Bytes: 2024 in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/behind-diner-digital-rights-bytes-2024-year-review
December 28, 2024, 8:00 PM
Although it feels a bit weird to be writing a year in review post for a site that hasnrCOt even been live for three months, I thought it would be fun to give a behind-the-scenes look at the work we did this year to build EFFrCOs newest site, Digital Rights Bytes.-a
Since each topic Digital Rights Bytes aims to tackle is in the form of a question, why not do this Q&A style?-a
Q: WHAT IS DIGITAL RIGHTS BYTES?
Great question! At its core, Digital Rights Bytes is a place where you can get honest...
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NSA Surveillance and Section 702 of FISA: 2024 in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/11/nsa-surveillance-and-section-702-fisa-2024-year-review
December 28, 2024, 7:58 PM
Mass surveillance authority Section 702 of FISA, which allows the government to collect international communications, many of which happen to have one side in the United States, has been renewed several times since its creation with the passage of the 2008 FISA Amendments Act. This law has been an incessant threat to privacy for over a decade because the FBI operates on the rCLfinders keepersrCY rule of surveillance which means that it thinks because the NSA has rCLincidentallyrCY collected the ...
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Global Age Verification Measures: 2024 in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/global-age-verification-measures-2024-year-review
December 27, 2024, 6:29 PM
EFF has spent this year urging governments around the world, from Canada to Australia, to abandon their reckless plans to introduce age verification for a variety of online content under the guise of protecting children online. Mandatory age verification tools are surveillance systems that threaten everyonerCOs rights to speech and privacy, and introduce more harm than they seek to combat.
Kids Experiencing Harm is Not Just an Online Phenomena
In November, AustraliarCOs Prime Minister, Anthony A...
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While the Court Fights Over AI and Copyright Continue, Congress and States Focus On Digital Replicas: 2024 in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/while-court-fights-over-ai-and-copyright-continue-congress-and-states-focus
December 27, 2024, 6:29 PM
The phrase rCLmove fast and break thingsrCY carries pretty negative connotations in these days of (Big) techlash. So itrCOs surprising that state and federal policymakers are doing just that with the latest big issue in tech and the public consciousness: generative AI, or more specifically its uses to generate deepfakes.
Creators of all kinds are expressing a lot of anxiety around the use of generative artificial intelligence, some of it justified. The anxiety, combined with some peoplerCOs unde...
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Electronic Frontier Alliance Fought and Taught Locally: 2024 in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/electronic-frontier-alliance-fought-and-taught-locally-2024-year-review
December 27, 2024, 6:27 PM
The EFF-chaired Electronic Frontier Alliance (EFA) has had a big year! EFA is a loose network of local groups fighting for digital rights in the United States. With an ever-increasing roster of allies across the country, including significant growth on university campuses, EFA has also undergone a bit of a facelift. With the new branding comes more resources to support local organizing and popular education efforts around the country.-a
If yourCOre a member of a local or state group in the Unite... --------------------
The Growing Intersection of Reproductive Rights and Digital Rights: 2024 in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/growing-intersection-reproductive-rights-and-digital-rights-2024-year-review
December 27, 2024, 6:24 PM
Dear reader of our blog, surely by now you know the format: as we approach the end of the year, we look back on our work, count our wins, learn from our misses, and lay the groundwork strategies for a better future. It's been an intense year in the fight for reproductive rights and its intersections with digital civil liberties. Going after cops illegally sharing location data, fighting the data broker industry, and building coalitions with the broader movement for reproductive justicerCowe've s...
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You Can Be a Part of this Grassroots Movement EfoarCiEfA+
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/you-can-be-part-grassroots-movement December 26, 2024, 4:54 PM
You ever hear the saying, "it takes a village"? I never really understood the saying until I started going to conferences, attending protests, and working on EFF's membership team.-a
You see, EFF's mission thrives because we are powered by-apeople like you. Just as we fight for your privacy and free expression through grassroots advocacy, we rely on grassroots support to make all of our work possible. Will you join our movement with a small monthly donation today?
Start A Monthly Donation
Your S...
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Surveillance Self-Defense: 2024 in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/surveillance-self-defense-2024-year-review
December 26, 2024, 3:39 PM
This year, we celebrated the 15th anniversary of our Surveillance-Self Defense (SSD) guide. HowrCOd we celebrate? We kept at itrCocontinuing to work on, refine, and update one of the longest running security and privacy guides on the internet.
Technology changes quickly enough as it is, but so does the language we use to describe that technology. In order for SSD to thrive, it needs careful attention throughout the year. So, we like to think of SSD as a garden, always in need of a little wateri...
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EU Tech RegulationrCoGood Intentions, Unclear Consequences: 2024 in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/eu-tech-regulation-good-intentions-unclear-consequences-2024-year-review
December 26, 2024, 3:37 PM
For a decade, the EU has served as the regulatory frontrunner for online services and new technology. Over the past two EU mandates (terms), the EU Commission brought down many regulations covering all sectors, but Big Tech has been the center of their focus. As the EU seeks to regulate the worldrCOs largest tech companies, the world is taking notice, and debates about the landmark Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA) have spread far beyond Europe.-a
The DSArCOs focus is the ...
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Celebrating Digital Freedom with EFF Supporters: 2024 in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/celebrating-digital-freedom-eff-supporters-2024-year-review
December 26, 2024, 3:33 PM
rCLEFF's mission is to ensure that technology supports freedom, justice, and innovation for all people of the world.rCY It can be a tough job. A lot of our time is spent fighting bad things that are happening in the world or fixing things that have been broken for a long time.
But this work is important, and we've accomplished great things this year! Thanks to your help, we pushed the USPTO to withdraw harmful patent review proposals, fought for the public's right to access police drone footage,...
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Fighting For Progress On Patents: 2024 in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/fighting-progress-patents-2024-review December 25, 2024, 3:34 PM
The rights we have in the offline worldrCoto speak freely, create culture, play games, build new things and do businessrComust be available to us online, as well. This core belief drives EFFrCOs work to fight the misuse of the patent system.-a
Despite significant progress werCOve made over the last decade, patents, and in particular vague software patents, remain a serious threat to online rights. The median patent lawsuit isn't filed by what Americans would recognize as an rCyinventor,rCO but b...
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We Stood Up for Access to the Law and Congress Listened: 2024 in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/we-stood-access-law-and-congress-listened-2024-review
December 25, 2024, 3:34 PM
For a while, ever since they lost in court, a number of industry giants have pushed a bill that purported to be about increasing access to the law. In fact, it would give them enormous power over the public ability to access, share, teach, and comment on the law. -a
This sounds crazyrCono one should be able to own the law. But these industry associations claim thererCOs a glaring exception to the rule: safety and building codes. The key distinction, they insist, is how these particular laws are ...
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Police Surveillance in San Francisco: 2024 in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/police-surveillance-san-francisco-2024-year-review
December 25, 2024, 3:33 PM
From a historic ban on police using face recognition, to landmark CCOPS legislation, to the first ban in the United States of police deploying deadly force via robot, for several years San Francisco has been leading the way on necessary reforms over how police use technology.
Unfortunately, 2024 was a far cry from those victories.
While EFF continues to fight for common sense police reforms in our own backyard, this year saw a change in city politics to something that was darker and more unacc...
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The Atlas of Surveillance Expands Its Data on Police Surveillance Technology: 2024 in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/atlas-surveillance-expands-its-data-police-surveillance-technology-2024-year
December 24, 2024, 7:05 PM
EFFrCOs Atlas of Surveillance is one of the most useful resources for those who want to understand the use of police surveillance by local law enforcement agencies across the United States. This year, as the police surveillance industry has shifted, expanded, and doubled down on its efforts to win new cop customers, our team has been busily adding new spyware and equipment to this database. We also saw many great uses of the Atlas from journalists, students, and researchers, as well as a growing...
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The U.S. Supreme Court Continues its Foray into Free Speech and Tech: 2024 in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/us-supreme-court-continues-its-foray-free-speech-and-tech-2024-year-review
December 24, 2024, 6:59 PM
As we said last year, the U.S. Supreme Court has taken an unusually active interest in internet free speech issues over the past couple years.
All five pending cases at the end of last year, covering three issues, were decided this year, with varying degrees of First Amendment guidance for internet users and online platforms. We posted some takeaways from these recent cases.
We additionally filed an amicus brief in a new case before the Supreme Court challenging the Texas age verification law.
P...
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EFF Continued to Champion UsersrCO Online Speech and Fought Efforts to Curtail It: 2024 in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/eff-continued-champion-users-online-speech-and-fought-efforts-curtail-it
December 24, 2024, 6:51 PM
PeoplerCOs ability to speak online, share ideas, and advocate for change are enabled by the countless online services that host everyonerCOs views.
Despite the central role these online services play in our digital lives, lawmakers and courts spent the last year trying to undermine a key U.S. law, Section 230, that enables services to host our speech. EFF was there to fight back on behalf of all internet users.
Section 230 (47 U.S.C. -o 230) is not an accident. Congress passed the law in 1996 be...
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EFF in the Press: 2024 in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/eff-press-2024-review
December 23, 2024, 4:08 PM
EFFrCOs attorneys, activists, and technologists were media rockstars in 2024, informing the public about important issues that affect privacy, free speech, and innovation for people around the world.-a
Perhaps the single most exciting media hit for EFF in 2024 was rCLSecrets in Your Data,rCY the NOVA PBS documentary episode exploring rCLwhat happens to all the data werCOre shedding and explores the latest efforts to maximize benefits rCo without compromising personal privacy.rCY EFFers Hayley Ts...
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Defending Encryption in the U.S. and Abroad: 2024 in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/defending-encryption-us-and-abroad December 23, 2024, 4:05 PM
EFF supporters get that strong encryption is tied to one of our most basic rights: the right to have a private conversation. In the digital world, privacy is impossible without strong encryption.-a
ThatrCOs why werCOve always got an eye out for attacks on encryption. This year, we pushed backrCosuccessfullyrCoagainst anti-encryption laws proposed in the U.S., the U.K. and the E.U. And we had a stark reminder of just how dangerous backdoor access to our communications can be.-a
U.S. Bills Pushing...
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2024 Year in Review
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/2024-year-review
December 23, 2024, 3:50 PM
It is our end-of-year tradition at EFF to look back at the last 12 months of digital rights. This year, the number and diversity of our reflections attest that 2024 was a big year.-a
If there is something uniting all the disparate threads of work EFF has done this year, it is this: that law and policy should be careful, precise, practical, and technologically neutral. We do not care if a cop is using a glass pressed against your door or the most advanced microphone: they need a warrant. -a
For e...
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EFF Tells Appeals Court To Keep CopyrightrCOs Fair Use Rules Broad And Flexible
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/eff-tells-appeals-court-keep-copyrights-fair-use-rules-broad-and-flexible
December 21, 2024, 5:05 PM
ItrCOs critical that copyright be balanced with limitations that support usersrCO rights, and perhaps no limitation is more important than fair use. Critics, humorists, artists, and activists all must have rights to re-use and re-purpose source material, even when itrCOs copyrighted.-a
Yesterday, EFF weighed in on another case that could shape the future of our fair use rights. In Sedlik v. Von Drachenberg, a Los Angeles tattoo artist created a tattoo based on a well-known photograph of Miles Da...
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Ninth Circuit Gets It: Interoperability IsnrCOt an Automatic First Step to Liability
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/ninth-circuit-gets-it-interoperability-isnt-automatic-first-step-liability
December 20, 2024, 7:26 PM
A federal appeals court just gave software developers, and users, an early holiday present, holding that software updates arenrCOt necessarily rCLderivative,rCY for purposes of copyright law,-ajust because they are designed to interoperate the software they update.
This sounds kind of obscure, so letrCOs cut through the legalese. Lots of developers build software designed to interoperate with preexisting works. This kind of interoperability is crucial to innovation, particularly in a world wher...
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Customs & Border Protection Fails Baseline Privacy Requirements for Surveillance Technology
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/customs-border-protection-fails-baseline-privacy-requirements-surveillance
December 20, 2024, 6:47 PM
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has failed to address six out of six main privacy protections for three of its border surveillance programsrCosurveillance towers, aerostats, and unattended ground sensorsrCoaccording to a new assessment by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
In the report, GAO compared the policies for these technologies against six of the key Fair Information Practice Principles that agencies are supposed to use when evaluating systems and processes that may imp...
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The Breachies 2024: The Worst, Weirdest, Most Impactful Data Breaches of the Year
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/breachies-2024-worst-weirdest-most-impactful-data-breaches-year
December 19, 2024, 10:38 PM
Every year, countless emails hit our inboxes telling us that our personal information was accessed, shared, or stolen in a data breach. In many cases, there is little we can do. Most of us can assume that at least our phone numbers, emails, addresses, credit card numbers, and social security numbers are all available somewhere on the internet.
But some of these data breaches are more noteworthy than others, because they include novel information about us, are the result of particularly notewort...
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Saving the Internet in Europe: Defending Free Expression
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/saving-internet-europe-defending-free-expression
December 19, 2024, 6:26 PM
This post is part two-ain a series of posts about EFFrCOs work in Europe. Read about how and why we work in Europe here.-a
EFFrCOs mission is to ensure that technology supports freedom, justice, and innovation for all people of the world. While our work has taken us to far corners of the globe, in recent years we have worked to expand our efforts in Europe, building up a policy team with key expertise in the region, and bringing our experience in advocacy and technology to the European fight for...
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We're Creating a Better Future for the Internet EfoarCiEfA!
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/year-end-challenge-2024
December 19, 2024, 5:20 PM
In the early years of the internet, website administrators had to face off with a burdensome and expensive process to deploy SSL certificates. But today, hundreds of thousands of people have used EFFrCOs free Certbot tool to spread-athat sweet HTTPS across the web. Now almost all internet traffic is encrypted, and everyone gets a basic level of security. Small actions mean big change when we act together. Will you support important work like this and give EFF a Year-End Challenge boost?
Give Tod...
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ThererCOs No Copyright Exception to First Amendment Protections for Anonymous Speech
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/theres-no-copyright-exception-first-amendment-protections-anonymous-speech
December 19, 2024, 4:22 PM
Some people just canrCOt take a hint. TodayrCOs perfect example is a group of independent movie distributors that have repeatedly tried, and failed, to force Reddit to give up the IP addresses of several users who posted about downloading movies.-a
The distributors claim they need this information to support their copyright claims against internet service provider Frontier Communications, because it might be evidence that Frontier wasnrCOt enforcing its repeat infringer policy and therefore cou...
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UK Politicians Join Organizations in Calling for Immediate Release of Alaa Abd El-Fattah
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/uk-politicians-join-organizations-calling-immediate-release-alaa-abd-el-fattah
December 19, 2024, 12:06 PM
As the UKrCOs Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy have failed to secure the release of British-Egyptian blogger, coder, and activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah, UK politicians call for tougher measures to secure AlaarCOs immediate return to the UK.
During a debate on detained British nationals abroad in early December, chairwoman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Emily Thornberry asked the House of Commons why the UK has continued to organize industry delegations to Cair...
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What You Should Know When Joining Bluesky
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/what-you-should-know-when-joining-bluesky December 18, 2024, 5:51 PM
Bluesky promises to rethink social media by focusing on openness and user control. But what does this actually mean for the millions of people joining the site?
November was a good month for alternatives to X. Many users hit their balking point after two years of controversial changes turned Twitter into X, a restrictive hub filled with misinformation and hate speech. MuskrCOs involvement in the U.S. presidential election was the last straw for many who are now looking for greener pastures.
Thre...
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Australia Banning Kids from Social Media Does More Harm Than Good
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/australia-banning-kids-social-media-does-more-harm-good
December 18, 2024, 5:42 PM
Age verification systems are surveillance systems that threaten everyonerCOs privacy and anonymity. But AustraliarCOs government recently decided to ignore these dangers, passing a vague, sweeping piece of age verification legislation after giving only a day for comments. The Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024, which bans children under the age of 16 from using social media, will force platforms to take undefined rCLreasonable stepsrCY to verify usersrCO ages and prevent...
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EFF Statement on U.S. Supreme Court's Decision to Consider TikTok Ban
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/eff-statement-us-supreme-courts-decision-consider-tiktok-ban
December 18, 2024, 5:36 PM
The TikTok ban itself and the DC Circuit's approval of it should be of great concern even to those who find TikTok undesirable or scary. Shutting down communications platforms or forcing their reorganization based on concerns of foreign propaganda and anti-national manipulation is an eminently anti-democratic tactic, one that the U.S. has previously condemned globally.
The U.S. government should not be able to restrict speechrCoin this case by cutting off a tool used by 170 million Americans to ...
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Speaking Freely: Winnie Kabintie
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/speaking-freely-winnie-kabintie
December 18, 2024, 5:27 PM
Winnie Kabintie is a journalist and Communications Specialist based in Nairobi, Kenya. As an award-winning youth media advocate, she is passionate about empowering young people with Media and Information Literacy skills, enabling them to critically engage with and shape the evolving digital-a media landscape in meaningful ways.
Greene: To get us started, can you tell us what the term free expression means to you?-a
I think it's the opportunity to speak in a language that you understand and speak...
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rCLCan the Government Read My Text Messages?rCY
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/10/can-government-read-my-text-messages December 18, 2024, 4:52 PM
You should be able to message your family and friends without fear that law enforcement is reading everything you send. Privacy is a human right, and thatrCOs why we break down the ways you can protect your ability to have a private conversation.-a
Learn how governments are able to read certain text messages, and how to ensure your messages are end-to-end encrypted on Digital Rights Bytes, our new site dedicated to helping break down tech issues into byte-sized pieces.-a-a
Whether yourCOre just ...
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10 Resources for Protecting Your Digital Security | EFFector 36.15
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/10-resources-protecting-your-digital-security-effector-3615
December 17, 2024, 6:42 PM
Get a head-start on your New Year's resolution to stay up-to-date on digital rights news by subscribing to EFF's EFFector newsletter!-a
This edition of the newsletter covers our top ten digital security resources for those concerned about the incoming administration, a new bill that could put an end to SLAPP lawsuits, and our recent amicus brief arguing that device searches at the border require a warrant (we've been arguing this for a-along time).
You can read the full newsletter here, and even...
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Still Flawed and Lacking Safeguards, UN Cybercrime Treaty Goes Before the UN General Assembly, then States for Adoption
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/still-flawed-and-lacking-safeguards-un-cybercrime-treaty-goes-un-general-assembly
December 17, 2024, 3:10 AM
Update (12/21/24): A vote on the UN Cybercrime Treaty by the UN General Assembly was postponed to a later date to allow time for a review of its budget implications. The new date for the vote was not set.
Most UN Member States, including the U.S., are expected to support adoption of the flawed UN Cybercrime Treaty when itrCOs scheduled to go before the UN General Assembly this week for a vote, despite warnings that it poses dangerous risks to human rights.
EFF and its civil society partnersrCo...
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Saving the Internet in Europe: How EFF Works in Europe
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/saving-internet-europe-how-eff-works-europe
December 16, 2024, 4:32 PM
This post is part one in a series of posts about EFFrCOs work in Europe. EFFrCOs mission is to ensure that technology supports freedom, justice, and innovation for all people of the world. While our work has taken us to far corners of the globe, in recent years we have worked to expand our efforts in Europe, building up a policy team with key expertise in the region, and bringing our experience in advocacy and technology to the European fight for digital rights.
In this blog post series, we will...
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Speaking Freely: Prasanth Sugathan
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/speaking-freely-prasanth-sugathan December 13, 2024, 7:37 PM
Interviewer: David Greene
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.*
Prasanth Sugathan is Legal Director at Software Freedom Law Center, India. (SFLC.in). Prasanth is a lawyer with years of practice in the fields of technology law, intellectual property law, administrative law and constitutional law. He is an engineer turned lawyer and has worked closely with the Free Software community in India. He has appeared in many landmark cases before various Tribunals, High Courts and the Su...
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EFF Speaks Out in Court for Citizen Journalists
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/eff-speaks-out-court-citizen-journalists December 12, 2024, 10:11 PM
No one gets to abuse copyright to shut down debate. Because of that, we at EFF represent Channel 781, a group of citizen journalists whose YouTube channel was temporarily shut down following copyright infringement claims made by Waltham Community Access Corporation (WCAC). As part of that case, the federal court in Massachusetts heard oral arguments in Channel 781 News v. Waltham Community Access Corporation, a pivotal case for copyright law and digital journalism.-a
WCAC, WalthamrCOs public ac...
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