Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)

Victory! A lawsuit filed by three labor unions against the Departments of State and Homeland Security for their viewpoint-based surveillance and suppression of protected expression online can move forward, a federal judge ruled yesterday. On Oct. 1, Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York rejected the government’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The case was filed in October 2025 on behalf of the United Automobile Workers, Communications Workers of America, and AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS AFL-CIO. EFF, Muslim Advocates, and the Media Freedom & Information Access Clinic represent the labor unions. The Court held that claims that the government’s social media surveillance program is harming the unions’ members, as well as hampering the ability of the unions to associate with their members and potential members, can move forward. Read more about this important decision at the link in the comments.

The Marin County Sheriff’s Office is the latest California law enforcement agency to get caught sharing automated license plate reader (ALPR) data from their Flock Safety system with out-of-state and federal agencies. EFF and the ACLU of Northern California are calling them out for this direct violation of California law, which has put every driver in the county at risk and is especially dangerous for immigrants, abortion seekers, and other targets of the federal government. On Thursday, we sent the Marin County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) a demand letter and request for records under the California Public Records Act following the Point Reyes Light’s recent report that MCSO provided non-California agencies access to its ALPR database. This directly violates California law and the terms of the 2022 settlement agreement in our Lagleva v. Marin County Sheriff case. Get all the context and background at the link in the comments. 

Big tech companies are hell-bent on taking away our agency and forcing us to use their surveillance-based services, apps, and devices. It’s hard to fight against, and it often feels much easier to give in, accept their walled gardens, and move on with our lives. But we don’t have to stand in the middle of the information superhighway and let companies run us over. With a little work, we can stand our ground and take control over what happens with our data. This month — Opt Out October— we’re walking through some of the steps to do just that.   Follow the link in the comments for information on how to tell AI tools they can’t train on your data, as well as tips to find alternative software, social media, and even new operating systems that provide stronger privacy and better ways to control how your data is used.

I'm raising money for the Electronic Frontier Foundation around my book release! Donate to EFF and get a signed "Spirit of a Cyborg" bookplate from me! https://lnkd.in/gpAT-spc

People are increasingly concerned about the ways in which mass surveillance is tracking our every move: from Flock license plate readers to face recognition to creepy ads that – based on what we see and do online – seem to know everything we’re thinking and planning. It didn’t have to be this way, and since the early days of the internet, a dedicated band of activists, lawyers and technologists have fought for a better, more secure and private digital future – a future that’s still attainable. Cindy Cohn, who just finished a 26-year run with the Electronic Frontier Foundation including 11 years as its executive director, has lived this fight. She says privacy isn’t just about secrecy: It's ultimately about power – who has it, and who has the ability to protect themselves from it.    Welcome to the first episode of “Privacy’s Defenders,” a podcast about the people – lawyers, journalists, hackers, and others – who’ve fought to secure your digital liberties since before most people even knew what the internet was. In this episode, "Cowboys, Cypherpunks and Visionaries," Cindy talks with EFF cofounder John Gilmore about how he – an early employee at Sun Microsystems – came together with Lotus Development cofounder Mitch Kapor and cattle rancher, philosopher and Grateful Dead lyricist John Perry Barlow to create EFF as a bulwark against government investigation and prosecution of early internet users. It’s a story of the Secret Service’s “Operation Sundevil,” jet-setting tech titans, tie-dyed cypherpunks, and a fateful house party in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district amid the earliest days of online communications, setting the stage for the battles that created the internet as we know it and issues we still grapple with today. Give it a listen at the link in the comments, and let us know what you think.

Online sports betting company DraftKings is using AI to target customers who are most likely to place losing bets and respond to gambling promotions. This kind of targeting is a form of online behavioral advertising, which is when companies personalize the ads they show you based on the data they’ve collected about you.     The more data a company has, the more personalized the ad can be. While DraftKings is using AI to supercharge the harmful effects of online behavioral advertising, EFF has long argued that all behavioral advertising should be banned.   Read more of EFF’s analysis at the link in the comments.

Voting is a right. But voting records are highly sensitive. Once you cast your vote, how does the technology in the voting booth and the policy of the country protect voting access and democracy? For decades, advocates have fought for strong cybersecurity standards at polling places and fought in court to protect the privacy of voting records.   As we head into the height of election season, join EFF's Hayley Tsukayama and Adam Schwartz, along with Mark Lindeman of Verified Voting, Derek Tisler of the Brennan Center for Justice, and Jonathan Mehta Stein of TechEquity to discuss the current state of election privacy and cybersecurity and find out more about what protects your vote after you submit your ballot.   Join the livestream online followed by live Q&A; register at the link in the comments.

The EU Commission draft law to restrict young people’s access to the internet that it presented last week will come at a high cost: It will put online services behind age gates, expand the use of intrusive age verification, and undermine the privacy of all users.    The EU Kids Act aims to protect children from risks associated with social media, video games, and AI systems by introducing age-based access rules, safety requirements, and stronger enforcement and oversight measures. It presents itself as building on the Digital Services Act and puts into “hard law” some of the safety-by-design measures specified in the non-binding DSA guidelines on minors’ protection.      The proposal is built around the following elements: social media age “delay”, safety by design, age assurance and parental responsibility, and strong enforcement.     But each of these measures are concerning. Read our full analysis at the link in the comments. 

EFF has thoughts about California Gov. Gavin Newsom's executive order on AI. Exerpt: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom's executive order is an opportunity for a needed, thoughtful conversation about artificial intelligence and its potential harms. Everyday Californians are feeling real anxiety about the risks of artificial intelligence, and as an organization that works to ensure technology empowers people, EFF welcomes this order as a way for the state of California to lead a much-needed dialogue that addresses these concerns.   "Nonetheless, the most immediate and current concerns with this technology are not about sci-fi scenarios concerning rogue super-intelligence. They are happening right now through biased algorithmic decision-making for employment or government benefits, AI-powered surveillance systems such as Flock cameras, and artificially inflated personalized pricing. People want state and federal leaders to act, and we urge Gov. Newsom to develop thoughtful policies to address those concerns. Today’s EO is a good start." Read the full statement at the link in the comments.