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Deeplinks

EFF"s Deeplinks Blog: Noteworthy news from around the internet

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Age Verification Is A Windfall for Big Tech—And A...

Deeplinks ·

2025/09/05

Update September 10, 2025: Bluesky announced today that it would implement age verification measures in South Dakota and Wyoming to comply with laws there. Bluesky did not change its stance on Mississippi. If you live in Mississippi, you may have noticed that you are no longer able to log into your Bluesky or Dreamwidth accounts from within the state. That’s because, in a chilling early warning sign for the U.S., both social platforms decided to block all users in Mississippi from their services

EFF Joins 55 Civil Society Organizations Urging the...

Deeplinks ·

2025/09/05

Following the U.S. government's overreaching decision to impose sanctions against Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, EFF joined more than 50 civil society organizations in calling for the U.S. to lift the sanctions. The U.S.’s sanctions on Francesca Albanese were formally issued in July 2025, pursuant to Section 1(a)(ii)(A) of President Trump’s Executive Order 14203, which was imposed by the

California Lawmakers: Support S.B. 524 to Rein in AI...

Deeplinks ·

2025/09/04

EFF urges California state lawmakers to pass S.B. 524, authored by Sen. Jesse Arreguín. This bill is an important first step in regaining control over police using generative AI to write their narrative police reports. This bill does several important things: It mandates that police reports written by AI include disclaimers on every page or within the body of the text that make it clear that this report was written in part or in total by a computer. It also says that any reports written by AI must

EFF Awards Spotlight ✨ Erie Meyer

Deeplinks ·

2025/09/04

In 1992 EFF presented our very first awards recognizing key leaders and organizations advancing innovation and championing civil liberties and human rights online. Now in 2025 we're continuing to celebrate the accomplishments of people working toward a better future for everyone with the EFF Awards!All are invited to attend the EFF Awards on Wednesday, September 10 at the San Francisco Design Center. Whether you're an activist, an EFF supporter, a student interested in cyberlaw, or someone who wants

From Libraries to Schools: Why Organizations Should...

Deeplinks ·

2025/09/04

In an era of pervasive online surveillance, organizations have an important role to play in protecting their communities’ privacy. Millions of people browse the web on computers provided by their schools, libraries, and employers. By default, popular browsers on these computers leave people exposed to hidden trackers. Organizations can enhance privacy and security on their devices by installing Privacy Badger, EFF’s free, open source browser extension that automatically blocks trackers. Privacy

Verifying Trust in Digital ID Is Still Incomplete

Deeplinks ·

2025/09/04

In the past few years, governments across the world have rolled out different digital identification options, and now there are efforts encouraging online companies to implement identity and age verification requirements with digital ID in mind. This blog is the second in a short series that explains digital ID and the pending use case of age verification. Upcoming posts will evaluate what real protections we can implement with current digital ID frameworks and discuss how better privacy and

EFF Statement on ICE Use of Paragon Solutions Malware

Deeplinks ·

2025/09/03

This statement can be attributed to EFF Senior Staff Technologist Cooper Quintin It was recently reported by Jack Poulson on Substack that ICE has reactivated its 2 million dollar contract with Paragon Solutions, a cyber-mercenary and spyware manufacturer. The reactivation of the contract between the Department of Homeland Security and Paragon Solutions, a known spyware vendor, is extremely troubling. This end run around the executive order both ignores the spirit of the rule and does not actually

EFF Awards Spotlight ✨ Just Futures Law

Deeplinks ·

2025/09/03

🤐 This Censorship Law Turns Parents Into Content Cops...

Deeplinks ·

2025/09/03

School is back in session! Perfect timing to hit the books and catch up on the latest digital rights news. We've got you covered with bite-sized updates in this issue of our EFFector newsletter. This time, we're breaking down why Wyoming’s new age verification law is a free speech disaster. You’ll also read about a big win for transparency around police surveillance, how the Trump administration’s war on “woke AI” threatens civil liberties, and a welcome decision in a landmark human rights

What WhatsApp’s “Advanced Chat Privacy” Really Does

Deeplinks ·

2025/09/02

In April, WhatsApp launched its “Advanced Chat Privacy” feature, which, once enabled, disables using certain AI features in chats and prevents conversations from being exported. Since its launch, an inaccurate viral post has been ping-ponging around social networks, creating confusion around what exactly it does. The viral post falsely claims that if you do not enable Advanced Chat Privacy, Meta’s AI tools will be able to access your private conversations. This isn’t true, and it misrepresents both

Open Austin: Reimagining Civic Engagement and Digital...

Deeplinks ·

2025/08/29

The Electronic Frontier Alliance is growing, and this year we’ve been honored to welcome Open Austin into the EFA. Open Austin began in 2009 as a meetup that successfully advocated for a city-run open data portal, and relaunched as a 501(c)3 in 2018 dedicated to reimagining civic engagement and digital equity by building volunteer open source projects for local social organizations. As Central Texas’ oldest and largest grassroots civic tech organization, their work has provided hands-on training

Join Your Fellow Digital Rights Supporters for the...

Deeplinks ·

2025/08/28

For over 35 years, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has presented awards recognizing key leaders and organizations advancing innovation and championing digital rights. The EFF Awards celebrate the accomplishments of people working toward a better future for technology users, both in the public eye and behind the scenes.EFF is pleased to welcome all members of the digital rights community, supporters, and friends to this annual award ceremony. Join us to celebrate this year's honorees with drinks,

Podcast Episode: Protecting Privacy in Your Brain

Deeplinks ·

2025/08/27

The human brain might be the grandest computer of all, but in this episode, we talk to two experts who confirm that the ability for tech to decipher thoughts, and perhaps even manipulate them, isn't just around the corner – it's already here. Rapidly advancing "neurotechnology" could offer new ways for people with brain trauma or degenerative diseases to communicate, as the New York Times reported this month, but it also could open the door to abusing the privacy of the most personal data of all:

Fourth Amendment Victory: Michigan Supreme Court...

Deeplinks ·

2025/08/22

EFF legal intern Noam Shemtov was the principal author of this post.When police have a warrant to search a phone, should they be able to see everything on the phone—from family photos to communications with your doctor to everywhere you’ve been since you first started using the phone—in other words, data that is in no way connected to the crime they’re investigating? The Michigan Supreme Court just ruled no. In People v. Carson, the court held that to satisfy the Fourth Amendment, warrants

Victory! Pen-Link's Police Tools Are Not Secret

Deeplinks ·

2025/08/19

In a victory for transparency, the government contractor Pen-Link agreed to disclose the prices and descriptions of surveillance products that it sold to a local California Sheriff's office.The settlement ends a months-long California public records lawsuit with the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office. The settlement provides further proof that the surveillance tools used by governments are not secret and shouldn’t be treated that way under the law. Last year,

Victory! Ninth Circuit Limits Intrusive DMCA Subpoenas

Deeplinks ·

2025/08/18

The Ninth Circuit upheld an important limitation on Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) subpoenas that other federal courts have recognized for more than two decades. The DMCA, a misguided anti-piracy law passed in the late nineties, created a bevy of powerful tools, ostensibly to help copyright holders fight online infringement. Unfortunately, the DMCA’s powerful protections are ripe for abuse by “copyright trolls,” unscrupulous litigants who abuse the system at everyone else’s expense. The

From Book Bans to Internet Bans: Wyoming Lets Parents...

Deeplinks ·

2025/08/18

If you've read about the sudden appearance of age verification across the internet in the UK and thought it would never happen in the U.S., take note: many politicians want the same or even more strict laws. As of July 1st, South Dakota and Wyoming enacted laws requiring any website that hosts any sexual content to implement age verification measures. These laws would potentially capture a broad range of non-pornographic content, including classic literature and art, and expose a wide range of

New Documents Show First Trump DOJ Worked With...

Deeplinks ·

2025/08/15

In the wake of rolling out its own proposal to significantly limit a key law protecting internet users’ speech in the summer of 2020, the Department of Justice under the first Trump administration actively worked with lawmakers to support further efforts to stifle online speech. The new documents, disclosed in an EFF Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, show officials were talking with Senate staffers working to pass speech- and privacy-chilling bills like the EARN IT Act and PACT Act (neither

President Trump’s War on “Woke AI” Is a Civil...

Deeplinks ·

2025/08/14

The White House’s recently-unveiled “AI Action Plan” wages war on so-called “woke AI”—including large language models (LLMs) that provide information inconsistent with the administration’s views on climate change, gender, and other issues. It also targets measures designed to mitigate the generation of racial and gender biased content and even hate speech. The reproduction of this bias is a pernicious problem that AI developers have struggled to solve for over a decade. A new executive order called

🫥 Spotify Face Scans Are Just the Beginning |...

Deeplinks ·

2025/08/13

Catching up on your backlog of digital rights news has never been easier! EFF has a one-stop-shop to keep you up to date on the latest in the fight against censorship and surveillance—our EFFector newsletter. This time we're covering an act of government intimidation in Florida when the state subpoenaed a venue for surveillance video after hosting an LGBTQ+ pride event, calling out data brokers in California for failing to respond to requests for personal data—even though responses are

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