PODCAST

Deeplinks

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

All Episodes

EFF to Court: The Supreme Court Must Rein in...

Deeplinks ·

2025/09/11

If the Supreme Court doesn’t reverse a lower court’s ruling, internet service providers (ISPs) could be forced to terminate people’s internet access based on nothing more than mere accusations of copyright infringement. This would threaten innocent users who rely on broadband for essential aspects of daily life. EFF—along with the American Library Association, the Association of Research Libraries, and Re:Create—filed an amicus brief urging the Court to reverse the decision.The Stakes: Turning ISPs

San Francisco Gets An Invasive Billionaire-Bought...

Deeplinks ·

2025/09/10

San Francisco billionaire Chris Larsen once again has wielded his wallet to keep city residents under the eye of all-seeing police surveillance. The San Francisco Police Commission, the Board of Supervisors, and Mayor Daniel Lurie have signed off on Larsen’s $9.4 million gift of a new Real-Time Investigations Center. The plan involves moving the city’s existing police tech hub from the public Hall of Justice not to the city’s brand-new police headquarters but instead to a sublet in the Financial

Rayhunter: What We Have Found So Far

Deeplinks ·

2025/09/10

A little over a year ago we released Rayhunter, our open source tool designed to detect cell-site simulators. We’ve been blown away by the level of community engagement on this project. It has been installed on thousands of devices (or so we estimate, we don’t actually know since Rayhunter doesn’t have any telemetry!). We have received dozens of packet captures, hundreds of improvements, both minor and major, documentation fixes, and bug reports from our open source community. This project is a

Podcast Episode: Building and Preserving the Library...

Deeplinks ·

2025/09/10

All this season, “How to Fix the Internet” has been focusing on the tools and technology of freedom – and one of the most important tools of freedom is a library. Access to knowledge not only creates an informed populace that democracy requires, but also gives people the tools they need to thrive. And the internet has radically expanded access to knowledge in ways that earlier generations could only have dreamed of – so long as that knowledge is allowed to flow freely.

Executive Director Cindy Cohn Will Step Down After 25...

Deeplinks ·

2025/09/09

EFF Launches Search for Successor to ‘Visionary Lawyer and Leader’ SAN FRANCISCO – Electronic Frontier Foundation Executive Director Cindy Cohn will step down by mid-2026 after more than 25 years with the organization and a decade as its top officer leading the fight for digital freedoms. EFF – defending digital privacy, free speech, and innovation since 1990 – is launching a search for Cohn’s successor. “It’s been the honor of my life to help EFF grow and become the strong, effective organization

EFF Awards Spotlight ✨ Software Freedom Law Center,...

Deeplinks ·

2025/09/05

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

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

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

726 results