EFFector Volume 37, Issue 9

👮 Amazon Ring Is Back in the Mass Surveillance Game

Welcome to an all-new EFFector, your regular digest on everything digital rights from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

In our 826th issue: A year after Amazon Ring agreed to limit how it shares your personal videos with police, they're rolling back those essential reforms. Also: power meters as home-mounted spies and a dangerous new government social media surveillance scheme.

When you lose your rights online, you lose them in real life. Become an EFF member today!

‌Featured Story: Amazon Ring Cashes in on Techno-Authoritarianism

Video doorbell maker Ring has always had a bit of a trust problem. With its long history of data breaches, police spying schemes, and reports of peeping employees, public pressure has forced the Amazon-owned company to make a variety of reforms over the years. But like far too many tech companies, Ring seems more interested in aiding authoritarianism than protecting privacy in 2025.

In April, the company announced it was partnering with police surveillance giant Axon to let cops request footage directly from Ring users. This came just over a year after Ring pledged to end a similar, widely criticized feature. Even worse, the company is now reportedly exploring an integration with Axon technology "that would enable livestreaming from Ring devices" if customers allow it.

As we write on our blog, this is a bad, bad step for Ring and the broader public. In the past, police have used Ring devices to spy on protestors. Ring has also admitted to giving police footage without user consent in the case of vaguely described "emergencies." It's easy to imagine law enforcement using their renewed access to Ring recordings for abortion investigations or immigration enforcement.

Why the sudden about-face on privacy? One clue: These days, there are billions of dollars to be made by tech companies willing to work with police or the defense sector to trample on our civil liberties.

READ MORE…

‌EFF Updates

🔌 SMART METER SURVEILLANCE: Using a little extra juice shouldn’t bring the cops to your door. But for a decade, Sacramento’s power company has been searching through its customers’ energy data — ostensibly to find cannabis growing operations — and sent 33,000 tips about “high” usage households to police. EFF is suing to end this illegal mass surveillance program and stop the city from using power meters as home-mounted spies.

🛂 NO FACEBOOK, NO ENTRY? As part of the Trump administration’s dangerous push to monitor digital speech, student visa applicants must now make their social media accounts public for government review. On our blog, we explain why social media surveillance poses such a serious threat to privacy and free expression—for citizens and non-citizens alike.

🇬🇧 UK ONLINE SAFETY ACT: Among its many, many threats to free expression and privacy, the UK’s Online Safety Act will effectively require Wikipedia to verify the identity of many contributors, stripping them of the anonymity that keeps them safe. That’s why EFF supports the Wikimedia Foundation’s challenge to the law which endangers Wikipedia and its global community of volunteers.

💔 DATING APP PRIVACY: Finding love shouldn’t mean giving up your privacy. But a troubling number of dating apps are taking privacy shortcuts, deploying AI tools — including ones that train on user data — without clearly telling users, and forcing them into dangerous data collection by lovebombing them with popups until they agree. Given the especially intimate information these platforms collect (including everything from sexual preferences to precise location data) users must be in control of their own data, we write on our blog.

🎧 ON THE POD: Protecting your digital security is a serious subject, especially right now. But on this episode of EFF's "How to Fix the Internet" podcast, we chatted with Helen Andromedon, a digital security trainer in East Africa, about how to make it less complicated, more relevant, and more joyful.

Fresh EFF Gear Is Here

Show off your support for EFF with hot digital rights merch from our online store. In addition to EFF shirts and hoodies, we have a wide variety of freedom-supporting swag in stock, including (extremely popular) liquid core gaming dice, HTTP playing cards, and a tactile Lady Justice braille sticker.

And if you want to show your passion for one issue in particular, consider picking up some Space Cat Pride socks, a reproductive justice tote bag, or a heat-changing encryption mug that reveals its secret slogan when hot. Sip in style and support EFF’s work defending your privacy and digital rights, one cup at a time.

"Ring, the company you pay for your doorbell, is now going to be in the business of making sure you get requests directly from police."

EFF's Matthew Guariglia in this week's EFFector audio companion, on how Ring is cashing in on a tide of techno-authoritarianism by rolling back essential privacy reforms. Hear our discussion with Matthew here.

MiniLinks

🗣️ Free Speech

• "Trump’s Take It Down Act threatens free expression, artists and digital rights advocates warn" (Prism) 

• "What is woke AI? Decoding the White House's new target." (Mashable)

• "The EFF is 35, but the battle to defend internet freedom is far from over" (The Register)

🔒 Privacy

• "A Startup is Selling Data Hacked from Peoples’ Computers to Debt Collectors" (404 Media)
  
  
• "Despite changes, crisis pregnancy centers still attract scrutiny over HIPAA promises" (The Record)

• "Delta plans to use AI in ticket pricing draws fire from U.S. lawmakers" (Reuters)

🌎 International

• "Reddit starts verifying ages of users in the UK" (BBC)

• "'Death Stranding' Is Helping UK Users Bypass Age Verification Laws" (Gizmodo)

🗝️ Security

• "Women Dating Safety App 'Tea' Breached, Users' IDs Posted to 4chan" (404 Media)

Announcements

EFF Events

• EFF at Open Sauce 🤖 in San Mateo, CA | July 18-20
• EFF at The Diana Initiative 🪽, BSidesLV 💿, Black Hat 🕵️, and DEF CON 🧑‍💻 in Las Vegas, NV | Aug. 4-10
• The EFF Awards 🏆 in San Francisco, CA | Sep. 10

Corporate Giving and Sponsorships

• EFF thanks Cloaked and Matomo for their generous support of our work fighting for your privacy online. Thank you to Yorba.co for becoming a monthly sustaining donor. Learn how your team can join the fight for digital rights at https://eff.org/thanks.

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Our members make it possible for EFF to bring legal and technological expertise into crucial battles about online rights. Whether defending free speech online or challenging unconstitutional surveillance, your participation makes a difference. Every donation gives technology users who value freedom online a stronger voice and more formidable advocate. Check out our FAQ for information on memberships, donations, shop orders, corporate giving, matching gifts, and other ways to give. https://www.eff.org/pages/membership-faq

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