Top Features
We at EFF are horrified by the events transpiring in the Middle East: Hamas’ deadly attack on southern Israel and Israel’s ongoing retributive military attack and siege on Gaza. While we are not experts in military strategy or international diplomacy, we do have expertise with how human rights and civil liberties should be protected on the internet—even in times of conflict and war.
In moments of political tension and social conflict, people have turned to social media to share information, speak truth to power, and report uncensored information from their communities. There are steps that social media platforms can take to increase the likelihood that their sites are places where reliable information is available—particularly during moments of conflict.
EFF Updates
GoGuardian is a student monitoring tool that watches over 27 million students across 10,000 schools, but what it does exactly, and how well it works, isn’t easy for students to know. To learn more about its functionality, accuracy, and impact on students, we filed dozens of public records requests and analyzed tens of thousands of results from the software. Using data from multiple schools in both red and blue states, what we uncovered was that, by design, GoGuardian is a red flag machine—its false positives heavily outweigh its ability to accurately determine whether the content of a site is harmful. This results in tens of thousands of students being flagged for viewing content that is not only benign, but often, educational or informative.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has issued a legal interpretation and guidance for law enforcement agencies around the state that confirms what privacy advocates have been saying for years: It is against the law for police to share data collected from license plate readers with out-of-state or federal agencies. This is an important victory for immigrants, abortion seekers, protesters, and everyone else who drives a car, as our movements expose intimate details about where we’ve been and what we’ve been doing.
Young people are targeted by governments, schools, and sometimes parents who either don’t understand or won’t admit the value offered by online spaces, and technology in general, no matter your age. EFF wants you to fight back; here’s a toolbox to get you started.
Generative AI has sparked a great deal of hype, fear, and speculation. Courts are just beginning to analyze how traditional copyright laws apply to the creation and use of these technologies. Into this breach has stepped the United States Copyright Office with a call for comments on the interplay between copyright law and generative AI. Because copyright law carries draconian penalties and grants the power to swiftly take speech offline without judicial review, it is particularly important not to hastily expand its reach.
Having lost in court, standards development organizations are now looking to Congress to shore up their copyright claims, via the Pro Codes Act—a deceptive power grab that will help giant industry associations ration access to huge swaths of U.S. law. Tell Congress not to fall for it.
A new login technique is becoming available in 2023: the passkey. The passkey promises to solve phishing and prevent password reuse. But lots of smart and security-oriented folks are confused about what exactly a passkey is. There’s a good reason for that. A passkey is in some sense one of two (or three) different things, depending on how it’s stored.
Here’s an audio version of EFFector. We hope you enjoy it!
Announcements
U.S. federal employees and retirees can support the digital freedom movement through the Combined Federal Campaign—the largest and most successful annual charity campaign for U.S. federal employees and retirees. Last year, 175 members of the CFC community raised over $34,000 for EFF's lawyers, activists, and technologists fighting for digital freedoms online. But in a year with many threats popping up to our rights online, we need your support now more than ever.
Welcome and thank you to Atsign, an EFF organizational member supporting our fight for digital security.
EFF is conducting the Tor University Challenge, a campaign urging higher education institutions to support free, anonymous speech by running a Tor network relay. Universities answering this call to defend private access to an uncensored web will receive prizes while helping millions of people around the world and providing students and faculty a vital learning experience. Tell your alma mater to join the network today!
EFF's series of interviews with free-speech thought leaders has returned. David Greene interviewed Nadine Strossen— a constitutional law professor at New York Law School, a Senior Fellow with FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, and was the President of the American Civil Liberties Union from 1991 through 2008. And don't miss David's interview with Grecia Macìas, a lawyer at R3D: La Red en Defensa de los Derechos Digitales.
Job Openings
EFF seeks a litigator who is excited about fostering digital creativity, justice, and innovation to join our legal team. Candidates must have some experience in patent litigation, plus experience with copyright issues. While patent experience and interest is essential, you should not expect to work on patent issues full-time; our IP and related work is varied and responsive to evolving challenges in the digital space, so your docket will likely consist of non-patent matters for up to 75% of your time, including non-patent litigation. Experience with or strong interest in artificial intelligence, unfair competition, administrative, trade secret, and/or First Amendment litigation is preferred but not required. You will help set EFF’s strategy for patent policy, including evaluating legislative proposals and coordinating with allies. Staff Attorney responsibilities will include: all aspects of litigation, including case development and management; writing amicus briefs; blogging and other social media writing; public speaking and media appearances; advancing legislative and regulatory matters related to technology and the public interest; and occasional direct client counseling. EFF will review applications on a rolling basis until the position is filled, but no later than November 22, 2023.
MiniLinks
EFF's Jillian C. York speaks about the mechanics and politics of shadowbanning, which some say is skewing social media information about the Israel-Hamas war.
Governments met again in mid-October in Vienna to negotiate a global treaty on cybercrime. But instead of fostering cooperation in cybercrime, the treaty may end up facilitating cross-border repression and make it more difficult to investigate actual cybercrimes, writes EFF's Katitza Rodriguez and Human Rights Watch’s Deborah Brown.
Great editorial from the Orange County Register, Los Angeles Daily News, and their affiliated publications: "This reminder likely never would have happened without the dedicated work of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which in May sent out a reminder of pervasive law-breaking by the supposed law-enforcers: 'Seventy-one California police agencies in 22 counties must immediately stop sharing automated license plate reader (ALPR) data with law enforcement agencies in other states because it violates California law and could enable prosecution of abortion seekers and providers elsewhere.' The EFF was joined by state chapters of the ACLU in its effort."
EFF's Ross Schulman joined former EFFer Danny O’Brien to discuss the complexities and challenges of advocating for adoption of the decentralized web.
Public officials’ social media accounts must remain open to critics, EFF's David Greene says. “Social media is taking the place of people writing letters or making phone calls to their public officials.”
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