Join EFF at Dragon Con! We're excited to be back with a bunch of talks on the Electronic Frontiers Forum track @ Dragon Con.
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Learn More About EFF's Work
EFF will be at a variety of panels and events on the Electronic Frontiers Forum track, so be sure to check them out and say hi when you see us!
Friday, August 29, 2025
Apple Disables End-to-End Encryption in the UK
The UK government recently issued a demand letter to Apple, under the UK Investigatory Powers Act of 2016, requiring that Apple put secret backdoors in its Advanced Data Protection security layer. Apple responded by removing the layer entirely rather than compromise their users.
10:00 AM ET | Hilton Room 313-314
EFF Senior Staff Technologist Bill Budington
Update on Georgia Speed Cameras
Despite public outcry, measures to rein in unpopular speed cameras in the state legislature this year were watered down, and then still failed to pass. We'll take a look at the controversy, and what ultimately happens with the funds collected.
11:30 AM ET | Hilton Room 313-314
EFF Associate Director of Legislative Activism Hayley Tsukayama
China Hacks CALEA Back Door: What Is the Lesson Here?
Last year it was announced that government-mandated backdoors were breached by Chinese hackers, proving that a backdoor for one eventually becomes a backdoor for all. What can we learn from this incident?
4:00 PM ET | Hilton Room 313-314
EFF Senior Staff Technologist Bill Budington
How Border Surveillance Tech Becomes Everywhere Surveillance Tech
Surveillance technology, originally built for foreign countries, or the U.S. border, is finding its way onto streets all across America.
7:00 PM ET | Hilton Room 313-314
EFF Associate Director of Legislative Activism Hayley Tsukayama
EFF Managing Director, Advocacy Nash Sheard
Saturday, August 30, 2025
Removing Personal Information About You From Google
Google now has a form to request that your personal information be removed from search results. Is this the only way to have your information removed, or are there other steps you can take?
10:00 AM ET | Hilton Room 313-314
EFF Senior Staff Technologist Bill Budington
EFF Associate Director of Legislative Activism Hayley Tsukayama
Google Anti-Trust Remedy: Breaking Up Is Hard to Do?
The Department of Justice continues to pursue a case alleging an illegal monopoly in search engine results. Is breaking up the company a legal and reasonable remedy, similar to the AT&T breakup in the 1980s? If not, then, are other remedies available?
11:30 AM ET | Hilton Room 313-314
EFF Legislative Director Lee Tien
Age Verification Lawsuit: Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton
Age-gating, or 'Flash your ID for the camera' laws, are rapidly becoming a legislative panacea worldwide to control what content is presented to children. The lawsuit 'Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton' challenged the assumption that age-gating is safe, convenient, reasonable, or constitutional.
1:00 PM ET | Hilton Room 313-314
EFF Legislative Director Lee Tien
Cell Phone Bans in Schools
State legislatures are quickly lining up behind efforts to ban cell phone use by students in schools. Why are these laws necessary, and why can't school districts, teachers, and principals set their own policies?
5:30 PM ET | Hilton Room 313-314
EFF Managing Director, Advocacy Nash Sheard
Thought Experiment: Write the Privacy Policy for Star Trek's Transporters
As a fun exercise, let's think about the major privacy issues involved if Star Trek's transporters were real (let's assume all of the safety issues are handled automatically by the system). What policies should Star Fleet adopt to protect our privacy?
10:00 PM ET | Hilton Room 313-314
EFF Associate Director of Legislative Activism Hayley Tsukayama
Sunday, August 31, 2025
Weaponization of the FCC and Other Agencies to Chill Speech
We'll discuss how the FCC, and other agencies, have changed their policies in ways that chill normally protected speech.
11:30 AM ET | Hilton Room 313-314
EFF Legislative Director Lee Tien
Hacking 201
Q&A from our panel of experts; play “Stump the Hacker”!
10:00 PM ET (4+ Hours) | Hilton Room 313-314
EFF Senior Staff Technologist Bill Budington
Monday, September 1, 2025
Understanding the Police Abolition Movement for Non-Abolitionists
The modern police abolition movement started with the reaction to the Attica Prison Riot in 1971, where 43 men died. We'll discuss what it means, where the name comes from, and how it is affecting public safety activism today.
10:00 AM ET | Hilton Room 313-314
EFF Managing Director, Advocacy Nash Sheard
About Dragon Con
Dragon Con is the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction & fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the universe. Call us a phenomenon, call us one of the most well attended pop-culture conventions in the country, call us the most fan fun you can have in five days: Dragon Con is where you want to be on Labor Day Weekend.
