One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: CA's AB 1856 Exempts Open Source But Expands Age-Gating
After public outrage, California lawmakers are moving closer to exempting open-source operating systems from the sweeping age-bracketing regime mandated by last year’s Digital Age…
Age Verification is a Privacy Nightmare
In the rush to block young people from certain parts of the internet, lawmakers are creating a privacy and security nightmare for everyone. This scenario is already playing out…
More License Plate Reader Mission Creep: School Residency Verification, Background Checks, and Noise Complaints
An EFF analysis of millions of searches of Flock Safety automated license plate reader (ALPR) data by police has uncovered a troubling pattern: in the absence of a warrant…
Act Now to Stop California’s Paternalistic and Privacy-Destroying Social Media Ban
California lawmakers are fast-tracking A.B. 1709—a sweeping bill that would ban anyone under 16 from using social media and force every user, regardless of age, to submit…
Broken Promises: RIP Instagram’s End-to-End Encrypted DMs
Last week, Instagram ended its opt-in, and therefore rarely used, end-to-end encryption feature . Years after publicly promising to provide the privacy protections of end-to-end…
How Push Notifications Can Betray Your Privacy (and What to Do About It)
Update April 22, 2026. Apple has reportedly addressed part of the issue with the notification database in iOS 26.4.2 and 18.7.8 , released today. With this update, notifications…
Shut Down Turnkey Totalitarianism
William Binney, the NSA surveillance architect-turned-whistleblower, called it the " turnkey totalitarian state ." Whoever sits in power gains access to a boundless surveillance…
Victory! End-to-End Encrypted RCS Comes to Apple and Android Chats
This week, Apple released iOS 26.5 , an update that supports end-to-end encryption for Rich Communication Services (RCS), meaning conversations between Android and iPhone will…
Help EFF Solve an Issue That's Bigger than Creepy Ads
Millions of people around the world use EFF's Privacy Badger . This browser extension blocks the hidden trackers that twist your web browsing into a commodity for Big Tech,…
Google Broke Its Promise to Me. Now ICE Has My Data.
In September 2024, Amandla Thomas-Johnson was a Ph.D. candidate studying in the U.S. on a student visa when he briefly attended a pro-Palestinian protest. In April 2025,…
🔒 A Win for Encrypted Messaging | EFFector 38.10
When it comes to keeping our texts, chats, and other digital messages safe from prying eyes, we have a powerful tool: end-to-end encryption. Used correctly, end-to-end encryption…
EFF to 9th Circuit (Again): App Stores Shouldn’t Be Liable for Processing Payments for User Content
EFF filed an amicus brief for the second time in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, arguing that allowing cases against the Apple, Google, and Facebook app stores to…
Open Records Laws Reveal ALPRs’ Sprawling Surveillance. Now States Want to Block What the Public Sees.
Reporters, community advocates, EFF, and others have used public records laws to reveal and counteract abuse, misuse, and fraudulent narratives around how law enforcement agencies…
The Science is Not Settled: How Weak Evidence is Fueling a National Push to Ban Social Media for Youth
As statehouses ramp up for 2026, we’re seeing a familiar and concerning trend of lawmakers rushing to regulate the internet based on shockingly shaky science. From the California…
California Coastal Community Must Reject CBP's AI-Powered Surveillance Tower
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is seeking permission from the California city of San Clemente to install an Anduril Industries surveillance tower on a cliff that would allow…
The Internet Still Works: Reddit Empowers Community Moderation
Section 230 helps make it possible for online communities to host user speech: from restaurant reviews, to fan fiction, to collaborative encyclopedias. But recent debates about…
The SECURE Data Act is Not a Serious Piece of Privacy Legislation
The federal SECURE Data Act is not a serious consumer privacy bill, and its provisions—if enacted—would be a retreat from already insufficient state protections. Republicans on…
Congress Must Reject New Insufficient 702 Reauthorization Bill
Speaker Johnson has introduced a new fig leaf over the American surveillance state, the Foreign Intelligence Accountability Act . Introduced with only days to go before Section…
Keep Pushing: We Get 10 More Days to Reform Section 702
In a dramatic middle-of-the-night stand off, a bipartisan set of lawmakers pushing for true reform and privacy protections for Americans bought us some more time to fight! They…
EFF Stands in Solidarity With RightsCon and the Global Digital Rights Community
When governments shut down spaces for dialogue, dissent, and collective organizing, the damage extends far beyond a single event. The abrupt cancellation of RightsCon 2026—the…
Your Privacy Shouldn't Be A Corporate Decision
“ We will launch during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns.…
📁 How ICE Got My Data | EFFector 38.8
When we use the internet, we're entrusting tech companies with some of our most private information. These companies have promised they'll keep our data safe. But what happens…
We Must Not Normalize Digital Surveillance Abuses. EFF’s New Guide Underlines Concrete Steps to Fight Back.
Poor accountability, feeble control mechanisms, and insufficient legal frameworks have led to systematic human rights violations in the Americas, with no consistent remedy or…
👎 California's Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Social Media Ban | EFFector 38.9
We'd all like the internet to be a better place—for kids and adults alike. But in the name of online safety, governments around the world are racing to impose a dangerous new…
Canada’s Bill C-22 Is a Repackaged Version of Last Year’s Surveillance Nightmare
Last year, the Canadian government pushed Bill C-2 , which would erode Canadian digital rights in the name of “border security.” The bill was so bad it didn’t even make it to…
Palantir Has a Human Rights Policy. Its ICE Work Tells a Different Story
For years, EFF has pushed technology companies to make real human rights commitments—and to live up to them. In response to growing evidence that Palantir’s tools help power…
Utah’s New Law Targeting VPNs Goes Into Effect May 6th
Update, May 11, 2026: Utah has agreed to not enforce the VPN law until Sept. 3, 2026 after Aylo, the parent company of Pornhub.com, challenged the law in court. For the last…
Copyright and DMCA Best Practices for Fediverse Operators
People building the future of the social web — interoperable and decentralized — need to protect themselves against copyright liability. Like anyone who creates and operates…
A Bridge to Somewhere: How to Link Your Mastodon, Bluesky, or Other Federated Accounts
One of the central promises of open social media services is interoperability—the idea that wherever you personally decide to post doesn’t require others to be there just to…
Free Signal Guide
EFF friend Guy Kawasaki* has written a book: Everybody Has Something to Hide: Why and How to Use Signal to Preserve Your Privacy, Security, and Well-Being. This guide is now…
EFF Sues DHS and ICE For Records on Subpoenas Seeking to Unmask Online Critics
Agencies Ignored EFF’s Public-Records Requests Regarding Unlawful Efforts to Locate People Who Criticized the Government or Attended Protests. SAN FRANCISCO – The Electronic…
The Open Social Web Needs Section 230 to Survive
If you want to overthrow Big Tech, you’ll need Section 230. The paradigm shift being built with the Open Social Web can put communities back in control of social media…
EFF Calls on Kuwait to Release Journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin
EFF calls on the Kuwaiti government to immediately release journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin. An award-winning journalist and television host who worked for Al Jazeera for many years,…
Former EFF Activism Director's New Book, Transaction Denied, Explores What Happens When Financial Companies Act like Censors
A U.S. citizen who teaches Persian poetry classes online is suddenly unable to receive payments or access funds when his account is flagged and frozen by Paypal and its subsidiary…
Digital Hopes, Real Power: From Connection to Collective Action
This is the fifth and final installment of a blog series reflecting on the global digital legacy of the 2011 Arab uprisings. You can read the rest of the series here . If the Arab…
EFF Launches New Offline Campaign for Saudi Wikipedian Osama Khalid
Osama Khalid was just twelve years old when he began contributing to Wikipedia Arabic. In the height of the blogging era, he became a prolific blogger, publishing writings on his…
The GUARD Act Isn’t Targeting Dangerous AI—It’s Blocking Everyday Internet Use
Lawmakers in Congress are moving quickly on the GUARD Act , an age-gating bill restricting minors’ access to a wide range of online tools, with a key vote expected this week. The…
EFF Submission to UK Consultation on Digital ID
Last September, the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced plans to introduce a new digital ID scheme in the country. The scheme aims to make it easier for people…
EFF to Fourth Circuit: Electronic Device Searches at the Border Require a Warrant
EFF, along with the national ACLU, the ACLU affiliates in Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL)…
Congress Narrowed the GUARD Act, But Serious Problems Remain
Following criticism, lawmakers have narrowed the GUARD Act , a bill aimed at restricting minors’ access to certain AI systems. The earlier version could have applied broadly to…
Milestone 1.0.0 Release of APK Downloader `apkeep` Powers Research on Android Apps
Last week, we released apkeep version 1.0.0 , the latest edition of our command-line Android package downloading software. Rather than indicating major changes for the project,…
EFF Challenges Secrecy In Eastern District of Texas Patent Case
Clinic students Emily Ko and Zoe Lee at the Technology Law and Policy Clinic at the NYU School of Law were the principal authors of this post. Courts are not private forums for…
Speaking Freely: Lizzie O'Shea
Lizzie O’Shea is an Australian lawyer, author, and the founder and chair of Digital Rights Watch , which advocates for freedom, fairness, and fundamental rights in the digital…
Stop New York's Attack on 3D Printing
New York's proposed 2026-2027 budget currently includes provisions that will require all 3D printers sold in the state to run print-blocking censorware —software that surveils…
Microsoft Took a Step Toward Human Rights Accountability. Google and Amazon (and Others) Should Pay Attention!
For years, civil society organizations, workers, journalists, and human rights experts have warned that major technology companies risk enabling grave human rights abuses when…
A Hackers Guide to Circumventing Internet Shutdowns
Internet shutdowns are devastating for human rights . When people are disconnected from the internet and digital services, it impacts all aspects of their life—from accessing…
EFF Submission to UN Report on the Role of Media in the Context of Israel’s Policies Toward Palestinians
The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 recently announced a study addressing the killings and attacks…
EFF to State AGs: Investigate Google's Broken Promise to Users Targeted by the Government
Google's Failure to Warn Users About Law Enforcement Demands for Data Is Deceptive SAN FRANCISCO – The Electronic Frontier Foundation sent complaints today to the attorneys…
EFF and 18 Organizations Urge UK Policymakers to Prioritize Addressing the Roots of Online Harm
EFF joins 18 organizations in writing a letter to UK policymakers urging them to address the root causes of online harm—rather than undermining the open web through blunt…
We Updated Our Privacy Policy. Here's What Changed and Why.
We recently updated our privacy policy for the first time since 2022. Most of the changes are clarifications, reorganizations, and improvements in transparency, particularly…
Getting Digital Fairness Right: EFF's Recommendations for the EU's Digital Fairness Act
Digital Fairness in the EU The next few years will be decisive for EU digital policymaking. With major laws like the Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act, and the AI Act…
Digital Hopes, Real Power: The Rise of Network Shutdowns
This is the fourth installment of a blog series reflecting on the global digital legacy of the 2011 Arab uprisings. You can read the rest of the series here . Iran’s internet has…
The Internet Still Works: SmugMug Powers Online Photography
SmugMug is a family-owned photo hosting and e-commerce platform that helps professional photographers run their businesses online. Founded in 2002, the company provides tools for…