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EFFector Vol. 35, No. 16 Monday, December 18, 2023 [email protected]

A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
ISSN 1062-9424

effector: n, Computer Sci. A device for producing a
desired change.

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In our 802nd issue:

* Think Twice Before Giving Surveillance for the Holidays
With the holidays upon us, it's easy to default to giving the tech gifts that
retailers tend to push on us this time of year: smart speakers, video
doorbells, bluetooth trackers, fitness trackers, and other connected gadgets
are all very popular gifts. But before you give one, think twice about what
you're opting that person into. A number of these gifts raise red flags for
us as privacy-conscious digital advocates.

Read more: [link removed]

* How to Secure Your Kid's Android Device
After finding risky software on an Android (Google’s mobile operating
system) device marketed for kids [1], we wanted to put together some tips to
help better secure your kid's Android device (and even your own). Despite the
dangers that exist, there are many things that can be done to at least
mitigate harm and assist parents and children. There are also safety tools
that your child can use at their own discretion.


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EFF Updates

* Victory! Montana’s Unprecedented TikTok Ban is Unconstitutional
A federal court blocked Montana’s effort to ban TikTok from the state,
ruling that the law violated users’ First Amendment rights to speak and to
access information online, and the company’s First Amendment rights to
select and curate users’ content. Montana passed a law in May that
prohibited TikTok from operating anywhere within the state and imposed
$10,000 penalties on TikTok or any mobile application store that allowed
users to access TikTok. The law was scheduled to take effect in January. EFF
opposed enactment of this law, along with ACLU, CDT, and others, and EFF and
the ACLU filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the challenge.

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* EFF Urges Supreme Court to Strike Down Texas and Florida Laws that Let States Dictate What Speech Social Media Sites Must Publish
EFF and five organizations defending free speech urged the Supreme Court to
strike down laws in Florida and Texas that let the states dictate certain
speech social media sites must carry, violating the sites’ First Amendment
rights to curate content they publish—a protection that benefits users by
creating speech forums accommodating their diverse interests, viewpoints, and
beliefs. The court’s decisions about the constitutionality of the Florida
and Texas laws—the first laws to inject government mandates into social
media content moderation—will have a profound impact on the future of free
speech. At stake is whether Americans’ speech on social media must adhere
to government rules or be free of government interference.

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* Meta Announces End-to-End Encryption by Default in Messenger
Meta announced that they have begun rolling out default end-to-end encryption
for one-to-one messages and voice calls on Messenger and Facebook. While
there remain some privacy concerns around backups and metadata, we applaud
this decision. It will bring strong encryption to over one billion people,
protecting them from dragnet surveillance of the contents of their Facebook
messages.

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* EFF Reminds the Supreme Court That Copyright Trolls Are Still a Problem
At EFF, we spend a lot of time calling out the harm caused by copyright
trolls and protecting internet users from their abuses. Copyright trolls are
serial plaintiffs who use search tools to identify technical, often low-value
infringements on the internet, and then seek nuisance settlements from many
defendants. These trolls take advantage of some of copyright law’s worst
features—especially the threat of massive, unpredictable statutory
damages—to impose a troublesome tax on many uses of the internet. EFF
continues the fight against copyright trolls by filing an amicus brief in
/Warner Chappell Music v. Nealy/, a case pending in the U.S. Supreme Court.

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* Digital Rights Groups Urge Meta to Stop Silencing Palestine
EFF and 17 other digital and human rights organizations are issuing an
updated set of demands to ensure that Meta considers the impact of its
policies and content moderation practices on Palestinians, and takes serious
action to ensure that its content interventions are fair, balanced, and
consistent with the Santa Clara Principles on Transparency and Accountability
in Content Moderation.

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* Audio Version of EFFector Newsletter
Here’s an audio version of EFFector. We hope you enjoy it!

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Announcements

* How We Fundraise
If you are reading EFFector, you might already be a donor to EFF (thank you!)
or are considering supporting us and want to do your due diligence. In this
blog post, we share some information about how EFF raises money for digital
rights and—perhaps more importantly—how we don’t.

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* Our Podcast is an Anthem Awards Finalist— Help Make It a Winner!
EFF’s “How to Fix the Internet [1]” podcast is a finalist in the Anthem
Awards Community Voice competition [2], and we need YOUR help before the end
of Thursday, Dec. 21 to put it over the top! 

By amplifying the voices (and podcasts) that spark global change, the Anthem
Awards seek to inspire others to take action in their own community. That’s
exactly why we launched “How to Fix the Internet” — through curious
conversations with some of the leading minds in law and technology, we want
our listeners to become deeply informed on vital technology issues and join
the movement working to build a better technological future. This nomination
is testament to our support by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Program in
Public Understanding of Science and Technology [3], and to all the amazing
thinkers, makers, and doers who have been our guests. We want to honor them
by winning this!

*If you’re a fan of How to Fix the Internet (and EFF), here’s how you can
help:*

1.) Go to this link to get to the Anthem Awards website [4].

2.) Scroll down until you see the tile for EFF’s “How to Fix the
Internet,” and “celebrate” us with your vote! The site requires a
quick, free, sign-up, but we hope you’ll feel comfortable helping us out
this way.

3.) Share with your friends! Suggested post: I’m a fan of EFF, so I am
voting for their podcast, How to Fix the Internet, in the Anthem Awards.
Please vote for them too: [link removed] [5]

4.) You can also share our posts on Twitter [6], Facebook [7], Mastodon [8],
and Bluesky [9].

Thanks for your support, and stay tuned for details of the next season of
“How to Fix the Internet,” coming in early 2024! 


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* Shoutout to an Organizational Member!
Thank you to Zamzar [1], an EFF organizational member whose support helps us
defend digital privacy, free speech, and innovation.


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* "Speaking Freely" continues
EFF's series of interviews with free-speech thought leaders continues. Cindy
Cohn interviewed Alison Macrina [1], founder and executive director of the
Library Freedom Project [2], which won a 2023 EFF Award [3] for its work
creating a network of values-driven librarian-activists taking action
together to build information democracy. LFP offers trainings, resources, and
community building for librarians on issues of privacy, surveillance,
intellectual freedom, labor rights, power, technology, and more—helping
create safer, more private spaces for library patrons to feed their minds and
express themselves. And Jillian York interviewed Ron Deibert [4], a Canadian
professor of political science, a philosopher, an author, and founder of the
renowned Citizen Lab [5], situated in the Munk School of Global Affairs at
the University of Toronto. He is perhaps best known to readers for his
research on targeted surveillance, which won the Citizen Lab a 2015 EFF Award
[6].


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Job Openings

* No available positions at this time, but bookmark our opportunities page for future options!
 

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MiniLinks

- TikTok’s Good Week in US Courts Deals a Setback to State Curbs (Bloomberg Law)
A federal judge’s order blocking Montana’s first-in-the-nation TikTok ban
from going into effect is the latest blow to states’ efforts to rein in the
social media app owned by the China-based Bytedance Ltd. The judge called the
measure unconstitutional—agreeing with what EFF had argued in its amicus
brief. “Hopefully decisions like the Montana one today will redirect
legislators to what they should be doing, which is protecting all consumers
from surveillance from technology companies,” EFF’s Adam Schwartz said. 

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- Defending Digital Rights with Cindy Cohn (DWebDecoded podcast by Filecoin Foundation)
EFF’s Cindy Cohn joins former EFFer Danny O’Brien to discuss why
decentralization is core to EFF’s vision for user empowerment online. She
also gives advice to decentralized tech builders on thinking through policy
obstacles, getting the law on your side, and lifting up positive examples of
how the tech helps people.

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- Houston PD's top cop wants 'thousands' of cameras to deter crime, but experts worry it'll do more harm (KTRK ABC13 Houston)
As America’s fourth-largest city contemplates creating a camera network
that would let police see everything everywhere all the time, EFF’s Matthew
Guariglia pushes back: "Cameras going up everywhere and blanketing a city
does not stop people from committing crimes." And the police chief had no
statistics handy to back up his claims!

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- Could your student’s school devices be violating privacy, used against them? (KXAN NBC36 Austin)
Great coverage of EFF’s Red Flag Machine project, in which we found widely
used student-monitoring software is dangerously wrong much of the time. “We
just got these huge datasets where GoGuardian was flagging, as they call it,
students for just doing their homework, for looking for jobs online—for
doing the things that you expect kids to do,” EFF’s Dave Maass said.

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- Are social media companies legally responsible if their algorithms serve harmful content to minors? (KMGH ABC7 Denver)
The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) will lead to censorship for kids and adults
alike, with the bill becoming a political tool rather than a safety one,
EFF’s Aaron Mackey warns. A comprehensive consumer data privacy law would
do far more to curb social media’s harms.

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-------- SUPPORTED BY DONORS
-------------------------------------------------

Our members make it possible for EFF to bring legal and technological
expertise into crucial battles about online rights. Whether defending free
speech online or challenging unconstitutional surveillance, your
participation makes a difference. Every donation gives technology users who
value freedom online a stronger voice and more formidable advocate. Check out
our FAQ for information on memberships, donations, shop orders, corporate
giving, matching gifts, and other ways to give.
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If you aren't already, please consider becoming an EFF member today.


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* Administrivia

Editor:
[email protected]

EFFector is published by:
The Electronic Frontier Foundation
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Membership & donation queries:
[email protected]

General EFF, legal, policy, or online resources queries:
[email protected]

Reproduction of this publication in electronic media is
encouraged. MiniLinks do not necessarily represent
the views of EFF.

Back issues of EFFector are available via the Web at:
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