Top Features
Negotiations for a proposed U.N. Cybercrime Treaty commenced in 2017 but began to take shape in 2022—and there’s a lot at stake. The draft treaty has the potential to rewrite criminal laws around the world, possibly adding over 30 criminal offenses and new expansive police powers for both domestic and international criminal investigations. These widened parameters have grave implications for billions of people—particularly the potential for stifling free speech, increasing government surveillance, and expanding state investigative techniques.
EFF Updates
We're piloting an audio version of EFFector's Newsletter. We hope you enjoy it!
Under the guise of curbing data collection by foreign governments, the RESTRICT Act (Senate Bill 686) would set the stage for a restriction on the use of TikTok, but not do nearly enough to truly protect our private information. There are legitimate data privacy concerns about social media platforms, but the RESTRICT Act is a distraction. Congress instead should pass comprehensive data privacy legislation.
Now that computer-generated imaging is accessible to anyone with a weird idea and an internet connection, the creation of “AI art” is raising questions—and lawsuits. The problem going forward is keeping the good things—open-source technology that researchers can audit, cutting down on the tedious parts of making things—without letting the concerns give power to the same companies that disempower artists every day.
Police and government use of face recognition technology cannot be effectively regulated. Face surveillance in the hands of the government is a fundamentally harmful technology, even under strict regulations and if the technology was 100% accurate. Contact your elected federal officials and tell them to support the Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act.
The growing deployment of smart locks in apartments has created a new stream of sensitive location data for law enforcement, landlords, and private companies. Tenants should not be forced to submit to tracking just to enter their home. At minimum, we need privacy laws that require consent to collect this data, a warrant for police access, and strong data minimization.
Science-fiction author and science journalist Annalee Newitz speaks with EFF’s Cindy Cohn and Jason Kelley about depicting true progress as a long-haul endeavour, understanding that failure is part of the process, and creating good law as a form of world-building and improving our future.
Announcements
We're happy to be back at BSides San Francisco from April 22 to April 23! If you're attending the event, be sure to stop by our booth and say hi. You can even pick up a special gift when you take advantage of our membership specials or donate!
Join us in San Francisco on Thursday, April 27th for EFF's 7th annual Tech Trivia Night! Explore the obscure minutiae of digital security, online rights, and internet culture. Enjoy delicious tacos, churros, and drinks as you and your team battle through rounds of questions—and cutthroat live judging!—to see who will take home the coveted trophies and EFF swag!
EFF is once again excited to be back in Las Vegas for Black Hat USA! If you are interested in submitting a talk to Black Hat, you can contact info@eff.org about any legal concerns regarding your talk or any sensitive InfoSec research you are conducting.
MiniLinks
As Congress ponders legislation to reform “big tech,” it must view comprehensive digital privacy legislation as desperately needed civil rights legislation, because data abuses often disproportionately harm communities already bearing the brunt of other inequalities. EFF’s Paige Collings and Adam Schwartz make the case.
In viewing the towers on the map, you can really get a sense of how these tools of surveillance are installed in residential communities along the US-Mexico border, be it urban or rural, and not just in the remote expanses of the Southwest. EFF’s Dave Maass discusses our new border surveillance technology map.
Louisiana's age verification law is essentially creating an immediate requirement for people to share their private information alongside their pornography preference with companies that don't necessarily have a system in place to protect that data. EFF’s Jason Kelley breaks it down.
Clearview is a private company that is making face prints of people based on their photos online without their consent. It's a huge problem for civil liberties and civil rights, and it absolutely needs to be banned. EFF’s Matthew Guariglia argues against this "perpetual police line-up.”
Governments can ban TikTok. But they will not be denying the Chinese government access to user data unless you are restricting the data flows to data brokers who sell it to foreign governments. EFF’s David Greene outlines the civil liberties issues at stake.
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