Telegram Harm Reduction for Users in Russia and Ukraine
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/03/telegram-harm-reduction-users-russia-and-ukraine
March 4, 2022, 7:09 PM
Russians and Ukrainians are both prolific users of Telegram. They rely on the app for channels that act as newsfeeds, group chats (both public and private), and one-to-one communication. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Telegram has remained an important lifeline for both Russians and Ukrainians, as a way of staying aware of the latest news and keeping in touch with loved ones. 
Telegram has gained a reputation as the “secure” communications app in the post-Soviet states, but whenever...
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Negotiations Over UN Cybercrime Treaty Under Way in New York, With EFF and Partners Urging Focus on Human Rights
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/03/negotiations-over-international-police-powers-agreement-must-keep-human-rights
March 3, 2022, 11:16 PM
While tensions run high across the globe over the invasion of Ukraine, the world’s governments are meeting at the UN this week and next to find common ground on a proposed treaty to facilitate international cooperation and coordination in computer crime investigations. The treaty, if approved, may reshape criminal laws and bolster cross-border police surveillance powers to access and share user data, implicating the privacy and human rights of billions of people worldwide. Earlier this week, E...
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Wartime Is a Bad Time To Mess With the Internet
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/03/wartime-bad-time-mess-internet
March 3, 2022, 9:44 PM
Like most people, we at EFF are horrified by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Also like most people, we are not experts on military strategy or international diplomacy. But we do have some expertise with the internet and civil liberties, which is why we are deeply concerned that governments around the world are pressuring internet companies to interfere with fundamental internet infrastructure. Tinkering with the internet as part of a political or military response is likely to backfire in multip...
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The Campaign to Shut Down Crucial Documentary Tool youtube-dl Continues – And So Does the Fight to Save It
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/03/campaign-shut-down-crucial-documentary-tool-youtube-dl-continues-and-so-does-fight
March 3, 2022, 7:34 PM
Copyright maximalists just don’t know when to stop. Having failed in their 2020 attempt to use U.S. law to force GitHub to permanently cut off access to youtube-dl, an open source tool that allows users to download and preserve videos, on the theory that the tool can also be used for infringing purposes, the music publishers have turned to the German courts instead. But one small German hosting provider, represented by the German Society for Civil Rights (GFF), is fighting back.
The saga start...
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Cybersecurity Experts Urge EU Lawmakers to Fix Website Authentication Proposal That Puts Internet Users’ Security and Privacy at Risk
https://www.eff.org/press/releases/cybersecurity-experts-urge-eu-lawmakers-fix-website-authentication-proposal-puts
March 3, 2022, 8:42 AM
Proposed Amendment Will Expose Users to CyberattacksSAN FRANCISCO—Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) technologists, along with 36 of the world’s top cybersecurity experts, today urged European lawmakers to reject proposed changes to European Union (EU) regulations for securing electronic payments and other online transactions that will dramatically weaken web security and expose internet users to increased risk of attacks by cybercriminals.The ill-conceived proposed amendment to Article 45...
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Victory! San Francisco Mayor Withdraws Harmful Measure Against Surveillance Oversight Law
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/03/victory-san-francisco-mayor-withdraws-harmful-measure-against-surveillance
March 2, 2022, 6:32 AM
San Francisco Mayor London Breed has pulled a harmful ballot initiative that threatened to gut the city’s landmark 2019 surveillance oversight ordinance. This withdrawal followed intense community pressure, including a coalition letter signed by over 30 San Francisco community and civil rights organizations, including EFF and Electronic Frontier Alliance members Black Movement Law Project and Oakland Privacy.
The mayor and the San Francisco Police Department recently used public fears of crime...
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EFF Urges FTC to Investigate Stalkerware App Network Subject of TechCrunch Report
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/02/eff-urges-ftc-investigate-stalkerware-app-network-subject-techcrunch-report
February 26, 2022, 12:34 AM
Private messages, voicemails, internet browsing, passwords and location data—this is the type of private phone data that is being monitored in real time, unbeknownst to hundreds of thousands of people around the world being tracked by consumer-grade spyware.
There is a massive network of stalkerware apps that is harvesting the private data of at least 400,000 people through consumer-grade spyware apps that share a major security flaw, according to TechCrunch security editor Zack Whittaker’s ...
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Copyright is Not a Shortcut Around the Constitution’s Anonymous Speech Protections, EFF Tells Court
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/02/copyright-not-shortcut-around-constitutions-anonymous-speech-protections-eff-tells
February 18, 2022, 11:54 PM
Anonymous speech is an important protection for those concerned about political or economic retribution, harassment, or even threats to their lives. The shield that protects those speakers’ anonymity in U.S. court is the First Amendment, and applying the appropriate constitutional test during litigation allows a court to appropriately balance the necessity of unmasking a litigant with the harm of exposing them. Unfortunately, courts do not always apply the correct tests to protect anonymous s...
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Twitter and Facebook Must Speak Out Against Ghana's Repulsive Anti-LGBTQI+ Bill https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/02/twitter-and-facebook-must-speak-out-against-ghanas-repulsive-anti-lgbtqi-bill
February 17, 2022, 11:39 PM
As the Ghanaian Parliament considers a bill that would criminalize being LGBTQI+ or an ally of LGBTQI+ people, and ban all speech on and offline that even remotely supports LGBTQI+ rights, Twitter and Facebook's parent company Meta must publicly speak out against the proposal and state what action they will take to protect users should the legislation pass. Both Twitter and Facebook have invested heavily in Ghana, which holds itself out to be a constitutional democracy with a strong commitment ...
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EFF to Court: Security Research Is a Fair Use https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/02/eff-court-security-research-fair-use
February 17, 2022, 7:03 PM
We live in a world increasingly governed by technology. Too often, that technology includes security vulnerabilities that could allow malicious actors access to our most important and private information. That’s why it’s so important that security researchers be allowed to do their work without fear that they might infringe copyright in the software they are testing. Thanks to the doctrine of fair use, which creates a “safety valve” for research, commentary and so on, they usually don’...
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Privacy Experts to Federal and State Agencies: End Use of Facial Verification Services
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/02/privacy-experts-federal-and-state-agencies-end-use-facial-verification-services
February 17, 2022, 12:21 AM
In a victory for privacy and security, the Internal Revenue Service reversed course from its recent announcement that it was partnering with ID.me, a third-party identity verification service, to use facial recognition for verification of users managing many aspects of their taxes online. Importantly, this change only happened after a maelstrom of criticism from lawmakers and privacy advocates. Congress Demands Agencies Rethink Use of Facial Recognition
Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden...
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Not Just San Francisco: Police Across the Country are Retaining and Searching DNA of Victims and Innocent People
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/02/not-just-san-francisco-police-across-country-are-retaining-and-searching-dna

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