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Deeplinks Blog

Deeplinks Blog by Joe Mullin | February 17, 2023

Two Ways The U.S. Patent Office Could Do Better At Examination

The patent examination process is rife with problems. Too often, patent law supports applicants seeking unwarranted monopolies—not the public interest. That’s why we get things like Amazon’s patent on white-background photography. This is especially true when it comes to software and so-called “business methods,” a catchall term for patents...

Deeplinks Blog by Josh Richman | February 16, 2023

Section 230 is On Trial. Here's What You Need to Know.

The Supreme Court will hear two cases — Gonzalez v. Google on Tuesday, Feb. 21, and Twitter v. Taamneh on Wednesday, Feb. 22 — that could dramatically affect users’ speech rights online.

Deeplinks Blog by Carlos Wertheman, Veridiana Alimonti, Dave Maass | February 16, 2023

How We Fought For and Won Access to Records About Predictive Policing in General Escobedo, Mexico

What started with a simple public records request became a journey into the absurd depths of Mexican bureaucracy. But we emerged victorious, and learned a lot about how a city experimented with a dangerous surveillance tool. Filing public records requests for government information is a vital tool that EFF uses...

Event | March 23, 2023

Open Source 101

EFF is proud to support this year's Open Source 101, hosted by a team at All Things Open! Open Source 101 is a one-day conference with the purpose of educating attendees on topics and technologies considered foundational to open source. The conference will feature sessions and workshops on 30...

Deeplinks Blog by Hayley Tsukayama | February 13, 2023

EFF Backs California Bill to Protect People Seeking Abortion and Gender-Affirming Care from Dragnet Digital Surveillance

EFF proudly joins ACLU California Action and If/When/How to co-sponsor new California legislation to protect people seeking abortion and gender-affirming care from dragnet-style digital surveillance. A coalition of more than 25 reproductive justice, civil liberties, and privacy groups are supporting the bill at introduction. Support A.B. 793Stop All Digital...

Deeplinks Blog by Ernesto Falcon | February 13, 2023

Why is New York City Removing Free Broadband In Favor of Charter?

In January 2020, former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced New York City’s Internet Master Plan, setting a path to deliver broadband for low-income New Yorkers by investing in public fiber infrastructure. The plan was a clear response to the gap created from systemic digital redlining (an industry...

Deeplinks Blog by Christian Romero | February 10, 2023

Digital Rights Updates with EFFector 35.2

Have no fear, EFF is here to keep you updated on your digital rights! Version 35, issue 2 of our EFFector newsletter is out now. Catch up on the latest EFF news by reading our newsletter or listening to the audio version below. This issue covers the new season...

Deeplinks Blog by Cooper Quintin | February 10, 2023

Uncle Sow: Dark Caracal in Latin America

In 2018, EFF along with researchers from Lookout Security published a report describing the Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) we dubbed "Dark Caracal." Now we have uncovered a new Dark Caracal campaign operating since March of 2022, with hundreds of infections across more than a dozen countries. In this report...

Event | February 23, 2023

Student Press Freedom Day FOIA Workshop

Under the federal Freedom of Information Act and public records laws in all 50 states, anyone can request information from federal, state and local agencies like the FBI, the EPA, your local police department, or even your local public school or university. Lots of things can inspire public records or...

Deeplinks Blog by Bill Budington | February 8, 2023

Stalkerware Maker Fined $410k and Compelled to Notify Victims

Last week, the New York Attorney General secured a $410,000 fine from Patrick Hinchy and 16 companies that he runs which produce and sell spyware and stalkerware. In addition, he and his companies must modify their stalkerware to alert victims that their devices have been compromised. This sends a...

Deeplinks Blog by Ross Schulman | February 7, 2023

Participation in the Fediverse

Parts of the fediverse have been in something of an uproar recently over an experimental search service that was under development called (appropriately enough) Searchtodon. The project aimed to enable people to search their own home timeline and worked by being authorized by a user to access that user’s timeline...

Deeplinks Blog by Josh Richman | February 7, 2023

Podcast Episode: When Tech Comes to Town

When a tech company moves to your city, the effects ripple far beyond just the people it employs. It can impact thousands of ancillary jobs – from teachers to nurses to construction workers – as well as the community’s housing, transportation, health care, and other businesses. And too often, these...

Deeplinks Blog by Aaron Mackey | February 3, 2023

Courts Must Not Allow Litigants to Plead Around The First Amendment’s Speech Protections

Meritless defamation lawsuits can deter legal speech by forcing people to spend time and money fighting them. That is why courts must diligently protect people’s First Amendment rights by quickly dismissing claims that target people’s protected opinions.That did not happen in a case on appeal to the U.S. Court of...

Press Release | February 2, 2023

EFF, ACLU Seek to Protect the Public’s Right to Access Judicial Records

ST. LOUIS — The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) today filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of an appeal filed by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP). The brief argues that RCFP has standing to sue to...

Deeplinks Blog by Ross Schulman | February 2, 2023

The Breadth of the Fediverse

The Washington Post recently published an op-ed by Megan McArdle titled "Twitter might be replaced, but not by Mastodon or other imitators." The article argues that Mastodon is falling into a common trap for open source projects: building a look-alike alternative which improves things a typical user doesn’t care...

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