Digital Hopes, Real Power: The Rise of Network Shutdowns
In 2024 governments imposed a record 304 internet shutdowns across 54 nations, signaling that network blackouts have become a normalized tool of state control. The article traces the evolution from early ad‑hoc cuts, such as Egypt’s 2011 blackout, to today’s legal frameworks in India, Kazakhstan and Ethiopia that embed the authority to suspend connectivity. Ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Iran illustrate how infrastructure damage and selective isolation further erode civilian access to information. Civil‑society initiatives like the #KeepItOn campaign and grassroots eSIM distribution aim to document and circumvent these disruptions.
EFF to State AGs: Investigate Google's Broken Promise to Users Targeted by the Government
The Electronic Frontier Foundation filed complaints with the California and New York attorneys general accusing Google of violating its promise to notify users before handing over data to law‑enforcement agencies. The complaint centers on Amandla Thomas‑Johnson, whose ICE subpoena was...
Hot Off the Press: EFF's Updated Guide to Tech at the US-Mexico Border
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has issued an updated 40‑page, full‑color zine documenting surveillance technology along the U.S.–Mexico border. The new edition adds fresh models of towers, military‑grade equipment, disguised trail cameras, and automated license‑plate readers, and is available for purchase...
War as a Pretext: Gulf States Are Tightening the Screws on Speech—Again
Amid the escalating conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran, Gulf states have intensified crackdowns on speech. The United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and others have arrested hundreds for posting war‑related images or commentary, invoking broad cybercrime...
We Need You: Our Privacy Cannot Afford a Clean Extension of Section 702
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is warning Congress against a "clean" reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which expires soon. Section 702 lets the NSA collect full overseas communications and permits the FBI to query the U.S....
Comparison Shopping Is Not a (Computer) Crime
Amazon has sued AI startup Perplexity, alleging its Comet browser violates the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by automating access to Amazon’s site for price‑comparison purchases. A federal district court accepted Amazon’s claim, leaning on the older Facebook v. Power...
Banning New Foreign Routers Mistargets Products to Fix Real Problem
On March 23 the FCC updated its Covered List to ban all new consumer routers made abroad unless granted a Department of Defense or Homeland Security exception. The agency says foreign‑made routers create supply‑chain vulnerabilities that could threaten the U.S....
Another Court Rules Copyright Can’t Stop People From Reading and Speaking the Law
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld that reproducing building codes incorporated into federal or state law qualifies as fair use, rejecting ASTM’s claim of copyright over those standards. The court found UpCodes’ use transformative, factual, and...
Digital Hopes, Real Power: How the Arab Spring Fueled a Global Surveillance Boom
The Arab Spring’s 2011 uprisings sparked a rapid expansion of state surveillance across the MENA region, turning smartphones and social media into tools for authoritarian control. Governments layered legacy informant networks with deep‑packet inspection, commercial spyware such as Pegasus, and...
The FAA’s “Temporary” Flight Restriction for Drones Is a Blatant Attempt to Criminalize Filming ICE
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a nationwide temporary flight restriction (TFR 6/4375) on Jan 16, 2026 that bars any drone from flying within 3000 feet of ICE or CBP vehicles. The restriction, slated to last 21 months until Oct 29, 2027, carries criminal and civil penalties, including...
A Baseless Copyright Claim Against a Web Host—And Why It Failed
Law firm Higbee & Associates sued May First Movement Technology, alleging infringement of an AFP photograph that the nonprofit never posted. The image had been uploaded years earlier by a member organization, and May First promptly removed it after being...
Google and Amazon: Acknowledged Risks, and Ignored Responsibilities
Human rights groups have pressed Google and Amazon to address the risks of Project Nimbus, a cloud and AI contract with Israel’s Ministry of Defense and Security Agency. Despite internal warnings and mounting media reports linking the services to potential...
EFF’s Submission to the UN OHCHR on Protection of Human Rights Defenders in the Digital Age
The Electronic Frontier Foundation submitted a detailed report to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights warning that emerging online‑harm regulations are increasingly weaponized against human‑rights defenders. It cites the UK’s Online Safety Act as a template...
Digital Hopes, Real Power: From Revolution to Regulation
Over the past decade, governments from Egypt to Qatar have transformed ad‑hoc internet blocks into comprehensive cybercrime, disinformation and platform‑liability regimes that criminalize online speech. Freedom House reports 66% of users live where political sites are blocked and 78% face...
US Tech Companies Must Be Accountable in US Courts for Facilitating Persecution and Torture Abroad, EFF Urges US Supreme Court
The Electronic Frontier Foundation filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a 9th Circuit ruling that U.S. tech companies can be sued under the Alien Tort Statute for aiding foreign human‑rights abuses. The case focuses on...
Traffic Violation! License Plate Reader Mission Creep Is Already Here
A recent 404 Media report reveals that Georgia State Patrol used a Flock Safety automated license plate reader (ALPR) to issue a traffic ticket for a motorcyclist holding a phone, contradicting the vendor’s claim that its technology is not employed...
EFF Sues for Answers About Medicare's AI Experiment
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to obtain records on the WISeR program, a multi‑state Medicare pilot that uses artificial intelligence to evaluate prior‑authorization requests. WISeR,...
Nicole Ozer Named as Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Executive Director
Nicole Ozer has been appointed executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), effective June 1, succeeding long‑time leader Cindy Cohn. Ozer brings two decades of experience in technology‑focused civil liberties law, having led the ACLU’s Technology and Civil Liberties...
UK Politicians Continue to Miss the Point in Latest Social Media Ban Proposal
The UK Parliament is debating a new amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill that would give the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology authority to block social‑media access for anyone under 18, replace the earlier Lords‑proposed...
EFF Launches New Fight to Free the Law
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has sued the Consumer Product Safety Commission to force the release of safety codes for children’s products that were incorporated into federal law but remain claimed as copyrighted. Public.Resource.Org, a nonprofit that publishes government documents, argues...
Copyright Bullying Vs. Religious Freedom
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is urging a Southern District of New York judge to quash DMCA subpoenas issued by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society aimed at unmasking anonymous researcher J. Doe. Doe’s work, which uses fair‑use analysis of...
EFF to Third Circuit: Electronic Device Searches at the Border Require a Warrant
The Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU filed an amicus brief urging the Third Circuit to require a warrant for electronic device searches at the border. The brief centers on U.S. v. Roggio, where agents seized a traveler’s laptop, tablet,...
EFF to Supreme Court: Shut Down Unconstitutional Geofence Searches
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, ACLU, and Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy & Technology filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to declare geofence warrants unconstitutional. Geofence warrants force companies to hand over location data for every device within...
Victory! Tenth Circuit Finds Fourth Amendment Doesn’t Support Broad Search of Protesters’ Devices and Digital Data
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit reversed a district court ruling that had dismissed a civil‑rights suit over sweeping warrants targeting a protester’s devices and a nonprofit’s Facebook page. The appellate panel found the three warrants overbroad,...
Tech Companies Shouldn’t Be Bullied Into Doing Surveillance
The U.S. Department of Defense has warned AI firm Anthropic that it could be labeled a “supply chain risk” unless the company lifts its self‑imposed bans on autonomous weapons and surveillance use. Anthropic, which was cleared for classified work in...
EFF to Wisconsin Legislature: VPN Bans Are Still a Terrible Idea
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has sent a letter to Wisconsin’s entire legislature urging a vote against S.B. 130 and A.B. 105, bills that would ban VPN use and impose invasive age‑verification on certain websites. The measures have cleared the...
San Jose Can Protect Immigrants by Ending Flock Surveillance System
San Jose’s police department has logged more than 261,000 automated license‑plate reader (ALPR) searches in just over a year—roughly 700 daily—without warrants, raising privacy alarms. Neighboring jurisdictions such as Mountain View, Los Altos Hills, Santa Cruz, East Palo Alto and...
New Report Helps Journalists Dig Deeper Into Police Surveillance Technology
A new "Selling Safety" guide, co‑authored by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Center for Just Journalism and IPVM, equips reporters with tools to cut through the hype surrounding police surveillance technology. The report details how vendors market devices as silver‑bullet...
“Free” Surveillance Tech Still Comes at a High and Dangerous Cost
The piece warns that "free" surveillance technology—delivered through vendor pilots, federal grants, and wealthy donor gifts—carries hidden civil‑liberty costs and long‑term financial obligations. It cites examples such as Denver’s drone trials, Denver’s contested Flock ALPR contract, Atlanta’s police foundation opacity,...
Coalition Urges California to Revoke Permits for Federal License Plate Reader Surveillance
A coalition led by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Imperial Valley Equity & Justice has asked Governor Gavin Newsom and Caltrans to immediately revoke permits that allow federal agencies such as Customs and Border Patrol and the DEA to install...