EFFector 35.9
Fighting for Internet Freedoms Around the World | EFFector Volume 35, Issue 9
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In our 795th issue:
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Top Features
The much-anticipated official first negotiated draft of the proposed UN Cybercrime Convention—shaped by many months of Member States-led negotiations in which EFF has been deeply involved—is now public. With the release of this “zero draft,” Member States will start article-by-article negotiations to reach consensus on a final draft during a two-week marathon session from August 21 through September 1. EFF will be there, continuing our push for robust human rights protections in the treaty.
Read EFF’s in-depth report on the current discussion about platform regulation in Brazil, both in the draft bill known as “PL 2630” and in constitutional cases pending in the country’s Supreme Court. Much effort is going into addressing these challenges, but proper responses are not simple to craft. We should be able to tailor these responses safeguarding the positive potential of digital technologies and the essential role that freedom of expression—including access to information—plays in preserving democratic societies.
EFF and its partners in the Digital Services Act (DSA) Human Rights Alliance called on European Union regulators to engage international civil society voices and forge a human rights centered approach in talks about the implementation and enforcement of the DSA, which sets out new responsibilities and rules for how platforms handle and make decisions about billions of users’ posts.
EFF Updates
Listen to an audio version of EFFector. We hope you enjoy it!
EFF has officially been working toward internet freedom longer than many people have been online. Executive Director Cindy Cohn expresses her gratitude to EFF's supporters for ensuring that digital rights remain important and vital, even as the internet itself becomes a crucial yet often overlooked fact of life for most.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit cleared a path of legal accountability for American technology companies who build tools that facilitate human rights abuses by foreign governments, in a case called Doe I v. Cisco Systems—a tremendous victory for victims of digital tools of repression. EFF filed multiple amicus briefs in the case, including in the Ninth Circuit.
Anxiety about generative AI is growing almost as fast as the use of the technology itself, fueled by dramatic rhetoric from prominent figures in tech, entertainment, and national security. Something, they suggest, must be done to stave off any number of catastrophes, from the death of the artist to the birth of new robot overlords. Given the often hyperbolic tone, it might be tempting (and correct) to dismiss much of this as the usual moral panic new technologies provoke, or self-interested hype. But there are legitimate concerns in the mix, too, that may require some rules of the road. If so, policymakers should answer some important questions before crafting or passing on those rules. As always, the devil is in the details, and EFF is here to help you sort through them to identify solid strategies and potential collateral damage.
U.S. government intelligence agencies are buying data about us. The danger to our civil liberties is so extreme that even the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said things have gone too far in a detailed report released in June.
Announcements
We are excited to launch our new member t-shirt for 2023! Donate at the Copper Level or above to receive our new Watching the Watchers t-shirt.
EFF is rarin’ to go for Black Hat USA August 5-10! If you have legal concerns regarding an upcoming talk or sensitive InfoSec research that you are conducting at any time, please email info@eff.org and we will do our best to get you the help that you need.
EFF is excited to be back at the Tuscany Suites & Casino on August 8-9 for BSides Las Vegas! Stop by the EFF booth to chat with some of our team and learn about the latest developments in defending digital freedom for all. You can even pick up a special gift as a token of our thanks when you take advantage of our membership specials or donate!
Come find us in the vendor area August 10-13 to talk to us about the latest in online rights, get on our action alert list, or donate to become an EFF member. We'll also have our limited-edition DEF CON 31 shirts available! These shirts have a puzzle incorporated into the design—try your hand at cracking it!
Job Openings
Bookmark our opportunities page for future options!
MiniLinks
Host David Ruiz talks with EFF’s Matthew Guariglia about what the NSA can grab online, whether its agents can read that information and who they can share it with, and how a database that was ostensibly created to monitor foreign intelligence operations became a tool for investigating Americans at home.
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office is defying the demand that EFF and the ACLUs of Northern and Southern California made to 72 California police agencies, urging them to stop breaking state law by sharing automated license plate reader data with police agencies in states that have made abortion illegal. But just a few miles from Sacramento, the Woodland Police Department has agreed to abide by state law and stop this illegal sharing. EFF’s Adam Schwartz helps explain.
Real-time crime centers—hubs where police pool surveillance camera feeds, automated license plate reader information, and other data—are springing up in cities large and small all across America. Few people know they exist, let alone the extent of the surveillance they entail, so they can receive little public scrutiny and often operate without much oversight. EFF’s Beryl Lipton discusses how these panopticons “hyper-charge” concerns over violations of First and Fourth Amendment rights.
There’s something a bit shocking about Threads, the new social media service from Meta—and it could turn out to be shockingly good, EFF’s Ross Schulman writes in an op-ed.
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