With Facebook in a dominant position in hosting a huge portion of the world’s social conversation, we’ve been worried about the incredible power the company has accumulated and the risks that poses to privacy and democratic conversation.Last week’s news about Facebook and Cambridge Analytica has shown that our worst fears...
EFF is proud to be a part of the Open Source community at LinuxFest Northwest this year in Bellingham, WA. LinuxFest Northwest is a free community event for people of all technical skill levels. Stop by our table in the expo hall to talk about digital rights issues, or even...
EFF is proud to be a part of BSides SF 2018 at City View at the Metreon in downtown San Francisco April 15 and 16.Check out our Ask the EFF Panel at 4:50 pm on Sunday, April 15. All day Sunday and Monday you...
In its landmark Alice v. CLS Bankdecision, the Supreme Court returned some much-needed balance to the patent system. The court invalidated an abstract software patent, essentially ruling that adding “on a computer” to an abstract idea does not make it patentable. The Alice ruling has been particularly important...
A local organization in the Electronic Frontier Alliance (not EFF) will host this event:University City CryptoPartyIntroduce yourself to the power of practical cryptography. The goal is to pass on knowledge about protecting yourself in the digital space. This includes encrypted communication, preventing being tracked while...
There is no such thing as a perfect or one-size-fits-all messaging app. For users, a messenger that is reasonable for one person could be dangerous for another. And for developers, there is no single correct way to balance security features, usability, and the countless other variables that go into making...
The Supreme Court says that copyright requires "escape valves" like fair use to comply with the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of expression. Fair use -- and its non-US cousin, Fair Dealing -- allows people to make new works from copyrighted materials without permission, especially when it comes to political...
Electronic Frontier Alliance member Eyebeam seeks applications that consider how art and technology can challenge dominant notions of access and how together we can shape a more equitable future.
UPDATE, March 23, 2018: President Donald Trump signed the $1.3 trillion government spending bill—which includes the CLOUD Act—into law Friday morning. “People deserve the right to a better process.”Those are the words of Jim McGovern, representative for Massachusetts and member of the House of Representatives Committee on Rules, when, after...
Join us for a celebration of the life and leadership of the recently departed founder of EFF, John Perry Barlow. His friends and compatriots in the fight for civil liberties, a fair and open internet, and voices for open culture will discuss what his ideas mean to them, and how...
In 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court decided a case that, for the most part, banned the kind of “do it on a computer” style patents that have plagued the U.S. patent system for decades. Ever since then, IP maximalists have been doing whatever they can to roll back or...
Criminal justice advocates have been working hard to abolish cash bail schemes and dismantle the prison industrial complex. And one of the many tools touted as an alternative to incarceration is electronic monitoring or “EM”: a form of digital incarceration, often using a wrist bracelet or ankle “shackle”...
In Passing SESTA/FOSTA, Lawmakers Failed to Separate Their Good Intentions from Bad LawToday was a dark day for the Internet.The U.S. Senate just voted 97-2 to pass the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA, H.R. 1865), a bill that silences online speech by forcing...
When a mining company sent a cease and desist letter aimed at a critical documentary, the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (SEACC) worked with the Electronic Frontier Foundation to help them respond. Hecla Mining Company claimed [PDF] that SEACC had infringed Hecla’s copyright by using short clips from a Hecla...
