# Best of eff.org on Kiwi News

Page: https://news.kiwistand.com/source/eff.org

31 stories from eff.org have been shared on Kiwi News since 26 August 2023, with 54 upvotes and 20 comments in total. The latest was shared on 10 July 2026. They are listed below, most upvoted first.

Summaries are AI summaries of the linked article.

## 1. Online Behavioral Ads Fuel the Surveillance Industry—Here’s How

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Online-Behavioral-Ads-Fuel-the-Surveillance-IndustryHeres-How?index=0x677c4bbda64e8334fbfb00808d662747c6d1a042ec1819aa3ffa1780046852c956ae81d0
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/01/online-behavioral-ads-fuel-surveillance-industry-heres-how
- Shared 6 January 2025, 5 upvotes, 6 comments

The article, published by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, argues that online behavioral advertising, specifically real-time bidding (RTB), fuels surveillance and should be banned. It explains that each bid request broadcasts personal data, such as location and advertising ID, to thousands of companies, and that anyone posing as an ad buyer can access it. It cites the FTC's first action over RTB data abuse against Mobilewalla, which collected data on over a billion people, with an estimated 60% sourced from RTB auctions. It also says data brokers sold bidstream data to government agencies, including the U.S. Defense Department and the FBI.

## 2. Zero Knowledge Proofs Alone Not Digital ID Solution to Protecting User Privacy

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Zero-Knowledge-Proofs-Alone-Not-Digital-ID-Solution-to-Protecting-User-Privacy?index=0x6884120bbd7f22b3de9e589fd0107eda2c1e69883d92d706998e95995a275f096bc12d49
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/07/zero-knowledge-proofs-alone-are-not-digital-id-solution-protecting-user-privacy
- Shared 25 July 2025, 5 upvotes, 0 comments

Zero Knowledge Proofs alone do not solve privacy problems in digital ID, and the article argues that mandatory age verification should not move forward without stronger protections. It says ZKPs let a holder prove a yes-or-no claim, such as being over 18, without sharing a birth date, and Google plans to integrate ZKPs for age verification. However, ZKPs do not limit verifier over-asking, stop sites from collecting data like IP addresses, or address the data broker industry. The article also warns that expanding online ID checks could turn going online into a burden or a barrier for people who cannot obtain an ID.

## 3. What You Should Know When Joining Bluesky

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/What-You-Should-Know-When-Joining-Bluesky?index=0x67631ab61a5743c19bf3a6d7584a4f22da9063185ec4a91b134c8e702ca298d9cc01b7b4
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/what-you-should-know-when-joining-bluesky
- Shared 18 December 2024, 4 upvotes, 5 comments

The Electronic Frontier Foundation says new Bluesky users should know that the network is currently centralized and largely public, despite its promises of openness and user control. Nearly all of the network's infrastructure is run by one company, Bluesky PBLLC, and of about 25 million users, only 10,000 are hosted by non-Bluesky services. Posts, likes and blocks are visible to everyone, and direct messages are not end-to-end encrypted and can be accessed by Bluesky PBLLC. The article also reports that CEO Jay Graber has promised not to sell user content for AI training licenses, and that the company received $8 million and $15 million in funding rounds.

## 4. Science Must Decentralize

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Science-Must-Decentralize?index=0x68fd3c82b963871b3ac7a5f4f72a1273d55b14659fe9e7edcc583265ef63ca7e63d347c1
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/10/science-must-decentralize
- Shared 25 October 2025, 4 upvotes, 0 comments

Science must decentralize, the article argues, because major publishers and platforms threaten how scientific knowledge is accessed and can suppress it. It says publishers monopolize research through article processing charges and volunteer labor, and that large intermediary platforms are capturing other parts of the research process. It holds that Open Science and decentralization, with interoperable standards, are the only antidote, and that universities are well placed to lead, including by hosting Mastodon instances or Bluesky PDS servers for official accounts. The article is published by EFF, which notes its TOR University Challenge.

## 5. The GUARD Act Isn’t Targeting Dangerous AI—It’s Blocking Everyday Internet Use

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/The-GUARD-Act-Isnt-Targeting-Dangerous-AIIts-Blocking-Everyday-Internet-Use?index=0x69f11a39c6cf5c169e25049dbb650df5cca4bdc2e2365f3fe81572d96bc69f3c3753dd13
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/04/guard-act-isnt-targeting-dangerous-ai-its-blocking-everyday-internet-use
- Shared 28 April 2026, 3 upvotes, 2 comments

The GUARD Act, a bill restricting minors' access to online tools through age-gating, would in its broad form reach everyday internet use, not just risky AI companions, according to this piece, which argues against it. The article says the bill requires companies to verify every user's age, including through government ID or third-party systems, and to block anyone under 18 from a wide range of online systems. It cites fines of up to $100,000 per violation and says vague terms like "AI companion" will lead companies to overblock. The author's concern is that homework helpers and customer-service chatbots could be restricted, and that adults would face ID checks.

## 6. The UK Has It Wrong on Digital ID. Here’s Why.

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/The-UK-Has-It-Wrong-on-Digital-ID-Heres-Why?index=0x692a36ce60ee755401fd28cd8ed4942e675fe429adfbecb32b2728662e629d33c7b39e86
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/11/uk-has-it-wrong-digital-id-heres-why
- Shared 28 November 2025, 3 upvotes, 0 comments

The article argues that the UK government's planned mandatory digital ID scheme is incompatible with privacy and human rights, and that the government should abandon it. It states that Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced in late September a scheme to take effect no later than August 2029, creating a virtual ID on personal devices to verify people's right to work and live in the country. The article claims the scheme risks mission creep, cites Big Brother Watch's finding that about 20% of Universal Credit applicants can use online ID verification methods, and warns of data security risks given the government's use of U.S.-based cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services. It notes a petition with almost 3 million signatories opposing mandatory digital ID is due for debate on December 8th.

## 7. UK Parliament Undermined The Freedom Of All Internet Users

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/UK-Parliament-Undermined-The-Freedom-Of-All-Internet-Users?index=0x650cf3d0bf61964a2a94081218ed4b327ed3cf5efe148618e58ff50d03ba6113e5b094f9
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/09/today-uk-parliament-undermined-privacy-security-and-freedom-all-internet-users
- Shared 22 September 2023, 3 upvotes, 0 comments

The Electronic Frontier Foundation argues that the UK's Online Safety Bill will lead to a more censored, locked-down internet for British users and could undermine privacy and security worldwide. The article says a clause lets Ofcom, the British telecom regulator, require tech companies to scan all users for child abuse content, including end-to-end encrypted messages and files, which it describes as building a backdoor. It also warns that government decisions about content harmful to children could become politicized, and that the bill will lead to harmful age-verification systems that threaten anonymous speech.

## 8. Print Blocking is Anti-Consumer - Permission to Print Part 1

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Print-Blocking-is-Anti-Consumer-Permission-to-Print-Part-1?index=0x69d5f46865a1bc25c1123a875f5e735693eed30a640fc75eee28c2eab9de07488aecf801
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/04/print-blocking-anti-consumer-permission-print-part-1
- Shared 8 April 2026, 2 upvotes, 1 comment

Proposals in three U.S. states would require commercial 3D-printer makers to limit printers to their own software and screen each print for gun-like shapes, and some bills would add criminal penalties for bypassing these limits. Print blocking is described as anti-consumer and a form of DRM-style lock-in, citing Bambu Labs' firmware update that complicated use of the open source OrcaSlicer until community backlash forced accommodations. The text also notes that ghost guns are often bought as kits rather than printed at home, and warns the blocking system could expand to items such as replacement parts.

## 9. Blocking Internet Archive Won’t Stop AI, Will Erase the Web’s Historical Record

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Blocking-Internet-Archive-Wont-Stop-AI-Will-Erase-the-Webs-Historical-Record?index=0x69bc7851ddcdad91614101a4e41d18bfb2298c1385f33d24dd26955cc2fa6977b350a1a1
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/03/blocking-internet-archive-wont-stop-ai-it-will-erase-webs-historical-record
- Shared 19 March 2026, 2 upvotes, 1 comment

The Internet Archive's preservation of news sites is at risk because some publishers are blocking its crawlers, and the author argues this will erase the web's historical record without stopping AI training. The Times began blocking the Archive from crawling its website in recent months, using technical measures beyond robots.txt, and The Guardian seems to be following suit. The Times says the move is driven by concerns about AI companies scraping news content, and the article notes that Wikipedia alone links to more than 2.6 million news articles preserved at the Archive, according to Archive staff.

## 10. A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/A-Declaration-of-the-Independence-of-Cyberspace?index=0x65101bc57372bc0838f03c4b6dac2d130a35da92a6b0f8577613a5d48a230e73dd5106f6
- Source: https://www.eff.org/cyberspace-independence
- Shared 24 September 2023, 2 upvotes, 0 comments

John Perry Barlow's 1996 "A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace," written in Davos, Switzerland, addresses industrial world governments and asks them to leave cyberspace alone, declaring it independent of their sovereignty. The text argues that governments have no consent from the governed in cyberspace, that their legal concepts of property, expression and identity do not apply there, and that order will instead emerge from ethics, enlightened self-interest and the commonweal. It criticizes the United States' Telecommunications Reform Act as repudiating the Constitution, and it names China, Germany, France, Russia, Singapore, Italy and the United States as places where governments are trying to block liberty through guard posts at cyberspace's frontiers.

## 11. Book Bans to Internet Bans: Wyoming Lets Parents Control Access to The Internet

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Book-Bans-to-Internet-Bans-Wyoming-Lets-Parents-Control-Access-to-The-Internet?index=0x68a7879cfe93e67c2def7d230554d28b94b670bd38f264370a47e0a7830f9495a1489aa7
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/08/book-bans-internet-bans-wyoming-lets-parents-control-whole-states-access-internet
- Shared 21 August 2025, 1 upvote, 1 comment

Wyoming and South Dakota enacted laws, effective July 1, requiring any website that hosts sexual content to use age verification, and the article argues these laws are unconstitutional and will lead to censorship. The article says the laws could reach any site with even one instance of such material, including social media, retailers and streaming platforms. It describes Wyoming's HB0043 as a bounty law that lets any resident with a child sue websites, with no state enforcement, and it says the law resembles similar laws in Louisiana and Utah. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which the article represents, urges readers to contact their lawmakers.

## 12. Face Scans to Estimate Our Age: Harmful and Creepy AF

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Face-Scans-to-Estimate-Our-Age-Harmful-and-Creepy-AF?index=0x6794a5546a2cac621b53ecdb44a25ed82e29269e687e164f622bf6685a5e0a063166f3d7
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/01/face-scans-estimate-our-age-creepy-af-and-harmful
- Shared 25 January 2025, 1 upvote, 1 comment

Age verification laws that require face scans to estimate users' ages should be stopped, according to this EFF-style opinion piece, which argues the technology is inaccurate, discriminatory, and creates privacy and security risks. The piece says studies show face scans are more likely to err in estimating the age of people of color and women, and that the same underlying technology could be used to estimate names, gender, ethnicity, emotions, or honesty. It also says that many visitors will turn away from restricted websites rather than submit to a scan, and it cites a hacker breach of an age verification company last year. The author's group supports a government ban on its use and strict regulation of corporate use.

## 13. EFF Transition Memo to Trump Administration 2025

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/EFF-Transition-Memo-to-Trump-Administration-2025?index=0x678fc90b8739308f78c6f7fc34ba4e3c3119c9dbe6310aa3b6da7acc0dac86a0fb7decc8
- Source: https://www.eff.org/wp/eff-transition-memo-incoming-trump-administration
- Shared 21 January 2025, 1 upvote, 1 comment

The Electronic Frontier Foundation's transition memo to the Trump administration urges Congress and the administration to restore limits on government surveillance and reform FISA, which it says has been chipped away since the 1970s. The memo states that Section 702 is used to conduct surveillance on hundreds of thousands of individuals without individualized court review, and that in 2023 the government targeted over 250,000 people and intelligence agencies ran nearly 4,000 backdoor searches on U.S. persons. It recommends that Congress not renew Section 702 without significant, comprehensive reform, and it says facial recognition technology is flawed and misidentifies people, particularly people of color, women, young people, and transgender and nonbinary people.

## 14. Systemic Risk Reporting: A System in Crisis?

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Systemic-Risk-Reporting-A-System-in-Crisis?index=0x678a8cfbad0efd74fed0373cd29b7ea2cf11742c5e70d64f3575b218ef1821df8021baae
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/01/systemic-risk-reporting-system-crisis
- Shared 17 January 2025, 1 upvote, 1 comment

The first DSA systemic risk reports from the largest online platforms have been published, and the article argues they offer little value in their current form because the framework gives companies wide latitude to define risks and mitigation. Using TikTok's report on the Romanian election as an example, the article notes that TikTok dedicates eight pages to election risks but defines them around election misinformation without mentioning coordinated inauthentic behavior or recommender system manipulation. It also says the external audit by KPMG could not assess TikTok's compliance because of two pending European Commission investigations. The article calls for joint benchmarks, standardized methodologies and civil society involvement.

## 15. Big Tech to EU: "Drop Dead"

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Big-Tech-to-EU-Drop-Dead?index=0x6649dcd9cd870ee97627c441456d7f5e08cdef6d8e63cb6fbaeeac0200983d10bf05bdbb
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/05/big-tech-eu-drop-dead
- Shared 19 May 2024, 1 upvote, 1 comment

The Electronic Frontier Foundation argues that Big Tech companies are resisting the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA), which aims to give users more control over the software and services they use. The article says Apple's compliance plan falls well short of the regulation's goal of fostering app store competition, citing a €0.50 per-use "Core Technology Fee" and removal of developers who sell through rival stores. It says Meta's "Pay or Okay" system is prohibited under the DMA and GDPR, and that the DMA's fines could reach 10 percent of a company's global income, rising to 20 percent for noncompliance.

## 16. The House Passed The KIDS Act—The Senate Should Reject It 

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/The-House-Passed-The-KIDS-ActThe-Senate-Should-Reject-It?index=0x6a5181b82f2b26f0981ab54d4b191ee6e07ed65f47bdaaa4b9d86597b563e48d77c88d57
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/07/house-passed-kids-act-senate-should-reject-it
- Shared 10 July 2026, 1 upvote, 0 comments

The House passed the KIDS Act 267-117, and EFF, which opposed the bill, is urging the Senate to reject it. The package combines a revised Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) with several other internet bills, study bills, reporting requirements, and new regulations, and it pressures online services to impose age-gating schemes. The article argues that no method of determining a user's age online is both privacy protective and accurate, since every system links offline identity to online activity and the collected data can be leaked, hacked, or misused. It also says the revised KOSA language pressures platforms to police lawful speech, such as content about gambling or substance abuse recovery, and instead proposes a comprehensive privacy law for all users.

## 17. Internet Age-Gates Are a Growing Global Threat

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Internet-Age-Gates-Are-a-Growing-Global-Threat?index=0x6a25b2a496e38e44fc5cf1fdbee6f60070df59eb1335fc96d46aa8b1223e4ab28d693477
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/06/internet-age-gates-are-growing-global-threat
- Shared 7 June 2026, 1 upvote, 0 comments

Governments in Australia, the UK, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil and the European Union are introducing or enforcing age-verification rules for online services, and the article argues this approach threatens privacy and free expression for all users. Australia's law, rolled out in late 2025, bans users under 16 from social media accounts, with fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars ($32 million USD) for non-compliance, and Reddit is challenging it in court on constitutional grounds. Indonesia will deactivate under-16 accounts on "high risk" platforms from 28 March, and Malaysia plans to ban under-16 accounts on platforms with at least 8 million users in Malaysia. The article holds that age checks require users to upload private data such as a face scan or passport, and that no verification method has proven effective.

## 18. Utah’s New Law Targeting VPNs Goes Into Effect Next Week

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Utahs-New-Law-Targeting-VPNs-Goes-Into-Effect-Next-Week?index=0x69f79a1f3cf8881f8b99c2ed65c0f3f081685e6c4b33c3c8b1907bff310934140bad7188
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/04/utahs-new-law-regulating-vpns-goes-effect-next-week
- Shared 3 May 2026, 1 upvote, 0 comments

EFF argues that Utah's SB 73, signed by Governor Spencer Cox on March 19, 2026, threatens digital privacy by targeting VPN use to avoid age verification. Its VPN section treats anyone physically in Utah as accessing sites from the state, even through a VPN, and bars commercial sites hosting substantial harmful-to-minors material from facilitating VPN use. EFF says this liability could push sites to block known VPN addresses or require age checks for all visitors. Utah agreed not to enforce the law against Aylo, Pornhub.com's parent company, pending a court ruling or final rules.

## 19. So, You’ve Hit an Age Gate. What Now?

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/So-Youve-Hit-an-Age-Gate-What-Now?index=0x697238f0396b04d91a5c3a5126b3e20f70155e8236afea8a78d9003876353b6c4ebabdca
- Source: https://www.eff.org/pages/use-guide-navigating-age-assurance
- Shared 22 January 2026, 1 upvote, 0 comments

EFF's guide helps users decide how to handle age verification mandates, which it opposes but notes are already in effect across the web. It recommends submitting the least data possible and asking who can access, retain, audit and see each verification method. The guide notes that facial age estimation works less well for people of color, trans and nonbinary people, and people with disabilities. It cites Discord's breach, which exposed nearly 70,000 photos of users' ID documents, and says Incode holds ID images forever by default for TikTok. For Meta, it says Meta holds uploaded IDs for 30 days before deletion.

## 20. Age Verification A Windfall for Big Tech— A Death Sentence For Smaller Platforms

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Age-Verification-A-Windfall-for-Big-Tech-A-Death-Sentence-For-Smaller-Platforms?index=0x68c6f97006895ec6105a226aa7ef9425e539e7dc22d24f1bdc7e5adc994a491991ad0ef0
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/09/age-verification-windfall-big-tech-and-death-sentence-smaller-platforms
- Shared 14 September 2025, 1 upvote, 0 comments

Age verification mandates entrench Big Tech and push smaller platforms offline, according to this EFF piece. Bluesky and Dreamwidth both blocked all users in Mississippi rather than risk fines under H.B. 1126, the state's age verification law, which took effect after the Supreme Court lifted an injunction. Dreamwidth said that even a single $10,000 fine would be rough for it, while the per-user, per-incident fine structure is an existential threat. The article also cites UK forums that shut down under the Online Safety Act while Reddit, YouTube and Spotify added age checks.

## 21. Keeping the Web Up Under the Weight of AI Crawlers

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Keeping-the-Web-Up-Under-the-Weight-of-AI-Crawlers?index=0x684398c13df54c4db58d47e460e2ee1afef18915a0faf5884d77739087996befefe1566d
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/06/keeping-web-under-weight-ai-crawlers
- Shared 7 June 2025, 1 upvote, 0 comments

Site operators have reported a sharp rise in automated bot traffic over recent months, which they mostly attribute to AI companies gathering training data from the open web. The article says scrapers can be useful, but when they are deployed carelessly they can raise hosting costs, lower performance, and cause outages. It recommends that scrapers follow robots.txt instructions, send a labeled User Agent string with operator, purpose and contact details, and offer a way for site operators to request back-offs or report problems. Suggested mitigations for operators include caching layers, static content, and targeted rate limiting, while noting that scraping itself is not the problem.

## 22. The EU’s “Encryption Roadmap” Makes Everyone Less Safe

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/The-EUs-Encryption-Roadmap-Makes-Everyone-Less-Safe?index=0x683f692e26bb31e0873882f6e5ec4b91230a993729479874e11e77ae90d3655687cd7dcb
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/06/eus-encryption-roadmap-makes-everyone-less-safe
- Shared 3 June 2025, 1 upvote, 0 comments

EFF joined more than 80 civil society organizations, companies, and cybersecurity experts in a letter urging the European Commission to change course on its "Technology Roadmap on Encryption," part of the EU's ProtectEU strategy. The letter argues that no technical "lawful access" to end-to-end encrypted messages preserves security and privacy, and that circumvention methods such as client-side scanning create new vulnerabilities. It also calls on EU officials to scrap any roadmap focused on circumvention and to invest instead in stronger, more widespread use of end-to-end encryption.

## 23. Supreme Court Case on Texas Age Verification Law, Free Speech Coalition v Paxton

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Supreme-Court-Case-on-Texas-Age-Verification-Law-Free-Speech-Coalition-v-Paxton?index=0x67858421f9265dcde71668053479572e3a4815f23cfa28105fcad44b6ff4001c79bf1bfc
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/01/five-things-know-about-supreme-court-case-texas-age-verification-law-free-speech
- Shared 13 January 2025, 1 upvote, 0 comments

The Electronic Frontier Foundation argues that the Supreme Court should strike down Texas HB1181, which requires websites where one-third or more of the material is "sexual material harmful to minors" to verify all visitors' ages. It says the law would expose adults to privacy and security risks, noting that fifteen million adult U.S. citizens lack a driver's license and that age verification company AU10TIX had a breach last year. It also warns that a ruling for Texas could affect the more than a third of U.S. states that have introduced or enacted similar laws, and it cites the 1997 Reno v. ACLU decision, which struck down a federal online age-verification provision.

## 24. 2024 Year in Review EFF

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/2024-Year-in-Review-EFF?index=0x67699a70c66f0a76460058378a24a1ede066fb5dfce9690026fd3d2da77b00e7b616c26a
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/2024-year-review
- Shared 23 December 2024, 1 upvote, 0 comments

EFF's end-of-year review argues that law and policy on digital rights should be careful, precise, practical, and technologically neutral, so that protections apply regardless of which technology is used. The review says generative AI dominated public discussion in 2024, and that EFF will oppose any use of technology against people's rights. Other work it highlights includes efforts on the EU's rules for large online platforms, legal defense for citizen journalists targeted for posting city council meeting clips, and outreach to the U.S. Congress on press freedom and laws that would cut kids off from information.

## 25. Amazon and Google Must Keep Their Promises on Project Nimbus

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Amazon-and-Google-Must-Keep-Their-Promises-on-Project-Nimbus?index=0x674ec93c293283919c817ae071111fd98f20e0625b69b535ab04cae66b01cdfb9cccd8cf
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/amazon-and-google-must-keep-their-promises-project-nimbus
- Shared 3 December 2024, 1 upvote, 0 comments

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) says Amazon and Google have failed to answer its letters asking how they are complying with public promises that their technologies will not facilitate human rights violations. EFF publicly called on the companies in August 2024 to disclose their involvement in Project Nimbus, a joint cloud computing initiative reportedly used for surveillance of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. It sent letters in late September 2024 to Amazon's Global Head of Public Policy and Google's Global Head of Human Rights, requesting answers by November 1, 2024, and the companies did not respond. EFF now says it is increasingly concerned about the companies' complicity.

## 26. Police Location Tracking Tool. How To Protect Yourself

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Police-Location-Tracking-Tool-How-To-Protect-Yourself?index=0x673cf983737046571008c3a27ebb2d844f8a6b88ffec9f0349f85fc3a140b1e57f9c7cad
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/11/creators-police-location-tracking-tool-arent-vetting-buyers-heres-how-protect
- Shared 19 November 2024, 1 upvote, 0 comments

Electronic Frontier Foundation's article (author not named in the text) explains how people can limit location tracking by mobile devices after reports on Locate X, a tool run by Babel Street that compiles smartphone location data and is designed for law enforcement. The article says an investigator working with Atlas Privacy gained access to Locate X simply by asserting they planned to work with law enforcement in the future. It recommends disabling mobile advertising identifiers, auditing app trackers and permissions, using airplane mode or offline maps near sensitive sites, and carrying a separate device for sensitive trips. It also calls for a federal privacy law with a strong private right of action.

## 27. Germany Rushes to Expand Biometric Surveillance

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Germany-Rushes-to-Expand-Biometric-Surveillance?index=0x67360b1eb280f8e2245da308d492af8b876cb09d6cc1aa062c9a4a50571a9e5538bd346b
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/10/germany-rushes-expand-biometric-surveillance
- Shared 14 November 2024, 1 upvote, 0 comments

The German government is pushing a "security package" through Parliament at record speed that would sharply expand biometric surveillance, which the article argues undermines European law, the German constitution and the government's own coalition agreement. The package was introduced after a knife attack in Solingen in late August and includes allowing law enforcement to compare biometric data of suspects against all publicly available internet data. It would also let the Federal Office for Migration and Asylum identify asylum seekers without IDs this way, and it would expand AI-enabled data mining of police records. The article notes that Germany's highest court ruled Palantir-enabled data mining by two states unconstitutional.

## 28. Google Breaks Promise to Block Third-Party Cookies

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Google-Breaks-Promise-to-Block-Third-Party-Cookies?index=0x66af720b54df974d10a8406a7032bc11d5a68098922750b9b7cbb63466e325584d9abec6
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/08/google-breaks-promise-block-third-party-cookies
- Shared 4 August 2024, 1 upvote, 0 comments

Google has reversed its earlier promise to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome, a decision the article presents as bad for user privacy and good for Google's business. The article explains that third-party cookies let companies such as Google, Amazon, X, Microsoft, Lotame, LiveRamp and Experian build profiles of browsing habits across sites. It cites an example where a visit to WebMD's "HIV & AIDS Resource Center" set 257 third-party cookies at the time of writing. The article also says Safari and Firefox have blocked third-party cookies since 2020, and it argues for comprehensive federal privacy legislation.

## 29. Now The EU Council Should Finally Understand: No One Wants “Chat Control”

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Now-The-EU-Council-Should-Finally-Understand-No-One-Wants-Chat-Control?index=0x668a4cbf4ffe03e7546b205236eead10e2a4858e5ad250ab36c05aae7b0a6a4107767b64
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/06/now-eu-council-should-finally-understand-no-one-wants-chat-control
- Shared 7 July 2024, 1 upvote, 0 comments

The EU Council's Belgian Presidency ended without a deal on the controversial message-scanning proposal, often called "chat control," which has been debated in the EU for more than two years. News reports indicate the sponsors withdrew it because they could not get a majority of member states to support it. EFF, which has opposed the legislation from the start, published a statement with EU civil society groups calling for the proposal to be withdrawn. The proposal would create "detection orders" to compare messages, files, and photos from hundreds of millions of users against government databases of child abuse images.

## 30. Don’t Fall for the Latest Changes to the Dangerous Kids Online Safety Act

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Dont-Fall-for-the-Latest-Changes-to-the-Dangerous-Kids-Online-Safety-Act?index=0x65d069d9ea09e46ded617af3784b04eb8052c06feb818aed397156be1cfec2e202202d3b
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/02/dont-fall-latest-changes-dangerous-kids-online-safety-act
- Shared 17 February 2024, 1 upvote, 0 comments

The Electronic Frontier Foundation argues that the amended 2024 Kids Online Safety Act remains an unconstitutional censorship bill and urges readers to oppose it. The article says the revised "duty of care" still exposes platforms to liability for hosting lawful content, now replacing "design and operation" with "reasonable care in the creation and implementation of any design feature." It also says the latest version removes state attorneys general's power to enforce the duty of care but leaves them other enforcement routes, and that the bill still effectively requires age verification.

## 31. Tornado Cash Civil Decision Limits the Reach of Treasury Department’s Actions

- Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Tornado-Cash-Civil-Decision-Limits-the-Reach-of-Treasury-Departments-Actions?index=0x64ea47190294d72124fcc2dc4d37e1dda1615ede80481847f46d3e1070749c299e52d159
- Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/08/tornado-cash-civil-decision-limits-reach-treasury-departments-actions-while
- Shared 26 August 2023, 1 upvote, 0 comments

A federal District Court dismissed the civil challenge brought in Van Loon v. Department of the Treasury, which argued the Treasury Department overstepped by placing the Tornado Cash open-source project on the sanctions list. EFF had filed an amicus brief urging the court to require the Treasury Department to follow strict First Amendment limits, but the court did not find that the government had violated the First Amendment. In interpreting the sanction, the court said it blocks only transactions in property Tornado Cash holds an interest in, such as smart contracts, and that developers may lawfully analyze the code and teach cryptocurrency concepts with it, but cannot execute it to conduct transactions. EFF said it was disappointed the court did not conduct a full First Amendment analysis but found the ruling gives coders some relief.