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Deeplinks

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

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EFF Tells Patent Office: Don’t Cut the Public Out of...

Deeplinks ·

2025/12/02

EFF has submitted its formal comment to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) opposing a set of proposed rules that would sharply restrict the public’s ability to challenge wrongly granted patents. These rules would make inter partes review (IPR)—the main tool Congress created to fix improperly granted patents—unavailable in most of the situations where it’s needed most.If adopted, they would give patent trolls exactly what they want: a way to keep questionable patents alive and out of

AI Chatbot Companies Should Protect Your...

Deeplinks ·

2025/12/02

EFF intern Alexandra Halbeck contributed to this blog When people talk to a chatbot, they often reveal highly personal information they wouldn’t share with anyone else. Chat logs are digital repositories of our most sensitive and revealing information. They are also tempting targets for law enforcement, to which the U.S. Constitution gives only one answer: get a warrant. AI companies have a responsibility to their users to make sure the warrant requirement is strictly followed, to resist unlawful

How to Identify Automated License Plate Readers at...

Deeplinks ·

2025/12/02

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and scores of state and local law enforcement agencies have installed a massive dragnet of automated license plate readers (ALPRs) in the US-Mexico borderlands. In many cases, the agencies have gone out of their way to disguise the cameras from public view. And the problem is only going to get worse: as recently as July 2025, CBP put out a solicitation to purchase 100 more covert trail cameras with license

We’re Doubling Down on Digital Rights. You Can, Too.

Deeplinks ·

2025/12/02

Technology can uplift democracy, or it can be an authoritarian weapon. EFF is making sure it stays on the side of freedom. We’re defending encryption, exposing abusive surveillance tech, fighting government overreach, and standing up for free expression. But we need your help to protect digital rights—and right now, your donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar. Power up! Join EFF Today & Get a Free Donation Match It’s Power Up Your Donation Week and all online contributions get an automatic

The UK Has It Wrong on Digital ID. Here’s Why.

Deeplinks ·

2025/11/28

In late September, the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his government’s plans to introduce a new digital ID scheme in the country to take effect before the end of the Parliament (no later than August 2029). The scheme will, according to the Prime Minister, “cut the faff” in proving people’s identities by creating a virtual ID on personal devices with information like people’s name, date of birth, nationality or residency status, and photo to verify their right to live and work

EFF’s Holiday Gift Guide

Deeplinks ·

2025/11/28

Technology is supercharging the attack on democracy and EFF is fighting back. We’re suing to stop government surveillance. We're fighting to protect free expression online. And we're building tools to protect your data privacy.Help support our mission with new gear from EFF's online store, perfect gifts for the digital rights defender in your life. Take 20% your order today with code BLACKFRI. Thanks for being an EFF supporter! Liquid Core Dice are perfect for tabletop games. The metal clear-view

EFF to Arizona Federal Court: Protect Public School...

Deeplinks ·

2025/11/26

Legal Intern Alexandra Rhodes contributed to this blog post. EFF filed an amicus brief urging the Arizona District Court to protect public school students’ freedom of speech and privacy by holding that the use of a school-issued laptop or email account does not categorically mean a student is “on campus.” We argued that students need private digital spaces beyond their school’s reach to speak freely, without the specter of constant school surveillance and punishment. Surveillance Software Exposed

✋ Get A Warrant | EFFector 37.17

Deeplinks ·

2025/11/26

Even with the holidays coming up, the digital rights news doesn't stop. Thankfully, EFF is here to keep you up-to-date with our EFFector newsletter! In our latest issue, we’re explaining why politicians latest attempts to ban VPNs is a terrible idea; asking supporters to file public comments opposing new rules that would make bad patents untouchable; and sharing a privacy victory—Sacramento is forced to end its dragnet surveillance program of power meter data. Prefer to listen in? Check out our

Rights Organizations Demand Halt to Mobile Fortify,...

Deeplinks ·

2025/11/26

Mobile Fortify, the new app used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to use face recognition technology (FRT) to identify people during street encounters, is an affront to the rights and dignity of migrants and U.S. citizens alike. That's why a coalition of privacy, civil liberties and civil rights organizations are demanding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shut down the use of Mobile Fortify, release the agency's privacy analyses of the app, and clarify the agency's policy on

Privacy is For the Children (Too)

Deeplinks ·

2025/11/26

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 third in a short series that explains digital ID and the pending use case of age verification. Here, we cover alternative frameworks on age controls, updates on parental controls, and the importance of digital privacy in an increasingly

Speaking Freely: Laura Vidal

Deeplinks ·

2025/11/25

Interviewer: Jillian York Laura Vidal is a Venezuelan researcher and writer focused on digital rights, community resilience, and the informal ways people learn and resist under authoritarian pressure. She holds a Doctorate in Education Sciences and intercultural communication, and her work explores how narratives, digital platforms, and transnational communities shape strategies of care, resistance, and belonging, particularly in Latin America and within the Venezuelan diaspora. She has investigated

Celebrating Books on Building a Better Future

Deeplinks ·

2025/11/21

One of our favorite—and most important—things that we do at EFF is to work toward a better future. It can be easy to get caught up in all the crazy things that are happening in the moment, especially with the fires that need to be put out. But it’s just as important to keep our eyes on new technologies, how they are impacting digital rights, and how we can ensure that our rights and freedoms expand over time. That's why EFF is excited to spotlight two free book events this December that look ahead,

Victory! Court Ends Dragnet Electricity Surveillance...

Deeplinks ·

2025/11/21

A California judge ordered the end of a dragnet law enforcement program that surveilled the electrical smart meter data of thousands of Sacramento residents. The Sacramento County Superior Court ruled that the surveillance program run by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) and police violated a state privacy statute, which bars the disclosure of residents’ electrical usage data with narrow exceptions. For more than a decade, SMUD coordinated with the Sacramento Police Department and

How Cops Are Using Flock Safety's ALPR Network to...

Deeplinks ·

2025/11/20

It's no secret that 2025 has given Americans plenty to protest about. But as news cameras showed protesters filling streets of cities across the country, law enforcement officers—including U.S. Border Patrol agents—were quietly watching those same streets through different lenses: Flock Safety automated license plate readers (ALPRs) that tracked every passing car. Through an analysis of 10 months of nationwide searches on Flock Safety's servers, we discovered that more than 50 federal, state, and

The Trump Administration’s Order on AI Is Deeply...

Deeplinks ·

2025/11/20

Widespread news reports indicate that President Donald Trump’s administration has prepared an executive order to punish states that have passed laws attempting to address harms from artificial intelligence (AI) systems. According to a draft published by news outlets, this order would direct federal agencies to bring legal challenges to state AI regulations that the administration deems “onerous,” to restrict funding to those states that have these laws, and to adopt new federal law that overrides

EFF Demands Answers About ICE-Spotting App Takedowns

Deeplinks ·

2025/11/20

Potential Government Coercion Raises First Amendment ConcernsSAN FRANCISCO – The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) sued the departments of Justice (DOJ) and Homeland Security (DHS) today to uncover information about the federal government demanding that tech companies remove apps that document immigration enforcement activities in communities throughout the country. Tech platforms took down several such apps (including ICE Block, Red Dot, and DeICER) and webpages (including ICE

The Patent Office Is About To Make Bad Patents...

Deeplinks ·

2025/11/19

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has proposed new rules that would effectively end the public’s ability to challenge improperly granted patents at their source—the Patent Office itself. If these rules take effect, they will hand patent trolls exactly what they’ve been chasing for years: a way to keep bad patents alive and out of reach. People targeted with troll lawsuits will be left with almost no realistic or affordable way to defend themselves. We need EFF supporters to file public

Strengthen Colorado’s AI Act

Deeplinks ·

2025/11/19

Powerful institutions are using automated decision-making against us. Landlords use it to decide who gets a home. Insurance companies use it to decide who gets health care. ICE uses it to decide who must submit to location tracking by electronic monitoring. Bosses use it to decide who gets fired, and to predict who is organizing a union or planning to quit. Bosses even use AI to assess the body language and voice tone of job candidates. And these systems often discriminate based on gender, race, and

Lawsuit Challenges San Jose’s Warrantless ALPR Mass...

Deeplinks ·

2025/11/18

EFF and the ACLU of Northern California Sue on Behalf of Local Nonprofits Contact: Josh Richman, EFF, jrichman@eff.org; Carmen King, ACLU of Northern California, cking@aclunc.org SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose and its police department routinely violate the California Constitution by conducting warrantless searches of the stored records of millions of drivers’ private habits, movements, and associations, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California

Speaking Freely: Benjamin Ismail

Deeplinks ·

2025/11/18

Interviewer: Jillian York Benjamin Ismail is the Campaign and Advocacy Director for GreatFire, where he leads efforts to expose the censorship apparatus of authoritarian regimes worldwide. He also runs/oversees the App Censorship Project, including the AppleCensorship.com and GoogleCensorship.org platforms, which track mobile app censorship globally. From 2011 to 2017, Benjamin headed the Asia-Pacific desk at Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Jillian York: Hi Benjamin, it's great to chat with you. We

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