• SURVEILLANCETech Mandated by U.K. Online Safety Bill “Could Turn Phones into Surveillance Tools”

    By Laura Gallagher and Caroline Brogan

    Tech mandated by the U.K. government’s Online Safety Bill could be used to turn millions of phones into facial recognition tools. It would be possible, for example, for governments to use client-side scanning (CSS) to search people’s private messages, for example performing facial recognition, without their knowledge.

  • ARGUMENT: REGULATING SPYWAREPEGA Committee Votes on Spyware Recommendations

    In July 2021, the Pegasus Project—a consortium of 80 journalists from 17 media organizations in 10 countries—broke the story that several governments were using the Israel-made Pegasus spyware against journalists, activists, politicians, academics, and even heads of state. Responding to the public backlash, the European Parliament set up a committee of inquiry (PEGA committee) to investigate the allegations concerning misuse of spyware on the continent.

  • SURVEILLANCEAppeals Court Should Reconsider Letting the FBI Block Twitter’s Surveillance Transparency Report

    By Andrew Crocker

    Twitter tried to publish a report bringing much-needed transparency to the government’s use of FISA orders and national security letters, including specifying whether it had received any of these types of requests. However, without going to a court, the FBI told Twitter it could not publish the report as written. Twitter sued, and last month the federal Court of Appeals for Ninth Circuit upheld the FBI’s gag order.

  • SURVEILLANCE“Smart” Tech Coming to a City Near You

    The data-driven smart tech trend extends far beyond our kitchens and living rooms. Will real-time sensors and data offer new solutions to the challenges cities face, or just exacerbate existing inequalities?

  • SURVEILLANCEMapping CBP’s Expansion of Its Surveillance Tower Program at the U.S.-Mexico Border

    By David Maas

    EFF is releasing a new map and dataset of more than 290 surveillance towers installed by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) along the border with Mexico. The tower systems are able to automatically detect and track objects  up to 7.5 miles away and assist agents in classifying objects 3 miles away.

  • SECTION 702Lawmakers: “Clean Reauthorization” of Surveillance Authorities a “Nonstarter”

    By Jeff Seldin

    Key U.S. lawmakers are warning the country’s top intelligence officials that they could soon find themselves without a much-talked-about surveillance authority unless their agencies are able to prove they can be trusted.

  • SECTION 702Section 702’s Unconstitutional Domestic Spying Program Must End

    By Matthew Guariglia

    On its face, Section 702 allows the government to conduct surveillance inside the United States so long as the surveillance is directed at foreigners currently located outside the United States. And yet, the NSA routinely (aka “incidentally”) acquires innocent Americans’ communications without a probable cause warrant. Then, rather than “minimize” the sharing and retention of Americans’ data, as Congress required, the NSA routinely shares such data with other government agencies, which retain it for at least five years.

  • SURVEILLANCEEFF's Atlas of Surveillance Database Now Documents 10,000+ Police Tech Programs

    By Dave Maass

    The EFF has created a searchable and mappable repository of which law enforcement agencies in the U.S. use surveillance technologies such as body-worn cameras, drones, automated license plate readers, and face recognition.

  • SURVEILLANCEIntrusive Surveillance and Interrogation of Portland Demonstrators by DHS Agents

    DHS surveillance of 2020 protestors in Portland, Oregon was broader and more intrusive than had previously been knows. DHS agents created individual dossiers on many of the protestors, dossiers which included lists of friends and family, travel history, social media postings, and other records unrelated to securing federal property or homeland security. Documents also reveal that Trump appointees at DHS endorsed baseless conspiracy theories in justifying what Senator Ron Wyden D-Oregon) called “violations of Oregonians’ civil rights.”

  • CHINA WATCHChina’s Extensive Use of Genetic Information Sounds a Warning

    By Yvonne Lau

    As China increasingly relies on biometric data collection for public and national security purposes, it is time for democracies to address its role in their systems.

  • SURVEILLANCEMore Governments Use Spyware to Monitor Their People, Compromising Privacy

    By Lisa Schlein

    The right to privacy is under siege as an increasing number of governments are using spyware to keep tabs on their people. Many governments are using modern digital networked technologies to monitor, control and oppress their populations.

  • SURVEILLANCEEFF’s “Cover Your Tracks” Will Detect Your Use of iOS 16’s Lockdown Mode

    By Bill Budington

    Apple’s new iOS 16 offers a powerful tool for its most vulnerable users. Lockdown Mode reduces the avenues attackers have to hack into users’ phones by disabling certain often-exploited features. But there is a catch.

  • SURVEILLANCEGovernment Surveillance Doesn’t Stop at Your Bank’s Door

    By Jennifer J. Schulp and Norbert Michel

    Warrantless surveillance may be novel for technology and media companies, but it is nothing new when it comes to the government’s surveillance of Americans’ financial activity.

  • SURVEILLANCEPegasus Spyware Maker NSO Is Conducting a Lobbying Campaign to Get Off U.S. Blacklist

    By Uri Blau

    The cybersecurity firm has invested heavily in top lobbyists and law firms in an effort to lift restrictions on doing business in America. NSO is hoping the Israeli prime minister will raise the issue with Joe Biden when the two meet this week.

  • ARGUMENT: COUNTERING DOMESTIC TERRORISMOne Year On: Marking Progress on Biden’s Counter-Domestic Terrorism Strategy

    Early in the Biden administration, the president instructed the intelligence community to evaluate the domestic terrorist threat – and intelligence officials concluded that it’s severe. On 15 June 2021, the Biden administration released the National Strategy to Counter Domestic Terrorism. Ryan B. Greer writes that now that it has been a full year since the launch, there is an opportunity to review the administration’s progress made toward countering the threat of domestic violent extremism.