In our 704th issue:

• UPDATES
• MINILINKS
• ANNOUNCEMENTS

With Windows 10, Microsoft Blatantly Disregards User Choice and Privacy

Microsoft had an ambitious goal with the launch of Windows 10: a billion devices running the software by the end of 2018. In its quest to reach that goal, the company aggressively pushed Windows 10 on its users and even offered free upgrades for a whole year. There’s nothing wrong with encouraging users to upgrade their software, but the user should always be in control.

In its eagerness to move every Windows user to Windows 10, Microsoft has ignored two of the keystones of modern computing: user choice and privacy. The company has used tactics that have essentially amounted to tricking users into making the upgrade. That’s particularly troubling when Windows 10 sends an unprecedented amount of user data to Microsoft servers.

EFF Updates

Civil Rights Coalition files FCC Complaint Against Baltimore Police Department

The Center for Media Justice, ColorOfChange.org, and New America’s Open Technology Institute recently filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission alleging the Baltimore police are violating the federal Communications Act with their use of cell site simulators, also known as Stingrays. This technology disrupts cellphone calls and interferes with the cellular network—and does it in a way that has a disproportionate impact on communities of color. If you want to see the FCC take action, tell the commissioners now.

Tell Your University: Don’t Sell Patents to Trolls

When universities invent, those inventions should benefit everyone. Unfortunately, they sometimes end up in the hands of patent trolls—companies that serve no purpose but to amass patents and demand money from innovators. If you think that universities shouldn’t do business with trolls, then join us in calling on your college or university to stand up for real innovation.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Wants to Know Who You Are on Twitter—But It’s a Flawed Plan

U.S. border control agents want to gather Facebook and Twitter identities from visitors from around the world. But this flawed plan would violate travelers’ privacy, and would have a wide-ranging impact on freedom of expression—all while doing little or nothing to protect Americans from terrorism.

The Global Ambitions of Pakistan’s New Cyber-Crime Act

Pakistan’s Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill (PECB) last week passed into law despite near unanimous condemnation from tech experts and serious concerns from civil liberties groups. The PECB isn’t only a tragedy for free expression and privacy within Pakistan; it also has dangerous ramifications for Pakistan nationals abroad and frightening implications for international criminal law in general.

California Lawmaker Pulls Digital Currency Bill After EFF Opposition

For the second year in a row, EFF and a coalition of virtual currency and consumer protection organizations have beaten back a California bill that would have created untenable burdens for the emerging cryptocurrency community.

White House Source Code Policy Should Go Further

A new federal government policy will result in the government releasing more of the software that it creates under free and open source software licenses. That’s great news, but the policy doesn’t go far enough in its goals or in enabling public oversight.

Word Games: What the NSA Means by “Targeted” Surveillance Under Section 702

We all know that the NSA uses word games to hide and downplay its activities. Words like “collect,” “conversations,” “communications,” and even “surveillance” have suffered tortured definitions that create confusion rather than clarity. There’s another one to watch: “targeted” surveillance.

The FCC Can’t Save Community Broadband—But We Can

While most of us were focused on the FCC’s Open Internet Order to protect net neutrality last year, the FCC quietly did one more thing: it voted to override certain state regulations that inhibit the development and expansion of community broadband projects. A federal appeals court recently rejected the FCC’s effort, but the fight for community broadband is far from over.

We Shouldn’t Wait Another Fifteen Years for a Conversation About Government Hacking

With high-profile hacks in the headlines and government officials trying to reopen a long-settled debate about encryption, information security has become a mainstream issue. But we feel that one element of digital security hasn't received enough critical attention: the role of government in acquiring and exploiting vulnerabilities and hacking for law enforcement and intelligence purposes.

miniLinks

How Digital Copyright Law Is Being Used to Run Roughshod Over Repairs (NBC News)

From agriculture to computers, copyright law’s protection for digital locks is making it difficult for people to repair their own products.

Father ‘Utterly Terrified’ After Trooper Points Gun at His 7-Year-Old During Traffic Stop (Washington Post)

How an error in automated license plate reader data put a child’s life at risk.

LinkedIn Sues Anonymous Data Scrapers (TechCrunch)

In EFF Senior Staff Attorney Nate Cardozo’s words, “If you make it illegal for bots to access websites, you’ve given existing search engines a monopoly.”

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Administrivia

Editor: Elliot Harmon, Activist
editor@eff.org

EFFector is a publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
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