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Technology Can’t Predict Crime, It Can Only Weaponize Proximity to Policing Special thanks to Yael Grauer for additional writing and research. In June 2020, Santa Cruz, California became the first city in the United States to ban municipal use of predictive policing, a method of deploying law enforcement resources according to data-driven analytics that supposedly are able to predict perpetrators, victims, or locations of future crimes. Especially interesting is that Santa Cruz was one of the first cities in the country to experiment with the technology when it piloted, and then adopted, a predictive policing program in 2011. That program used historic and current crime data to break down some areas of the city into 500 foot by 500 foot blocks in order to pinpoint locations that were likely to be the scene of future crimes. However, after nine years, the city council voted unanimously to ban it over fears of how it perpetuated racial inequality.  Predictive policing is a self

COVID-19 Tracking Technology Will Not Save Us Technology may be part of the solution to stopping the spread of COVID-19, but apps alone will not save us . As more states develop COVID exposure notification apps, institutions and the people they serve should remain skeptical and remember the bigger picture. This is still experimental, unproven technology, both in terms of how it works under the hood and how humans will interact with it. And even the best-designed app will be no substitute for public health basics like widespread testing and interview-based contact tracing . On top of that, any benefits of this technology will be unevenly distributed. Any app-based or smartphone-based solution will systematically miss the groups least likely to have a cellphone and more at risk of COVID-19 and in need of resources: in the United States, that includes elderly people, people without housing, and those living in rural communities.  Ultimately, exposure notification technology

Pass the Payment Choice Act A growing number of retail businesses are refusing to let their customers pay in cash. This is bad for privacy. Higher-tech payment methods, like credit cards and online payment systems, often create an indelible record of what we bought, and at what time and place. How can you stop data thieves , data brokers , and police from snooping on your purchase history? Pay in cash. Stores with “cash not accepted” policies are also unfair to the millions of Americans who are unbanked or underbanked , and thus lack the ability to pay without cash. This cohort disproportionately includes people of color and people with lower incomes. Stores that require high-tech payment methods discriminate against people without access to that tech. So EFF supports the Payment Choice Act ( S. 4145 , H.R. 2650 ), a federal bill sponsored by Senators Kevin Cramer and Robert Menendez and Representative Donald Payne. It would require retail stores to accept cash from in-person c

EFF Pilots an Audio Version of EFFector Today, we are launching an audio version of our monthly-ish newsletter EFFector to give you a new way to learn about the latest in online freedom, and offer greater accessibility to anyone who is visually impaired or would just like to listen! Listen Now! Surveillance Shouldn’t Be a Prerequisite for an Education - EFFector 32.25 Since 1990 the Electronic Frontier Foundation has published EFFector to help keep readers up to date on digital rights issues. The intersection of technology, civil liberties, human rights, and the law can be complicated, so EFFector is a great way to stay on top of things. The newsletter is jam-packed with links to updates, announcements, blog posts, and other stories to help keep readers up to date on the movement to protect online privacy and free expression. The audio version of EFFector is a reading of our newsletter, made to bring EFF issues to more people in a new way. Be sure to listen on our YouTube chann

Cryptographer and Entrepreneur Jon Callas Joins EFF as Technology Projects Director Some of the most important work we do at EFF is build technologies to protect users’ privacy and security, and give developers tools to make the entire Internet ecosystem more safe and secure. Every day, EFF’s talented and dedicated computer scientists and engineers are creating and making improvements to our free, open source extensions, add-ons, and software to solve the problems of creepy tracking and unreliable encryption on the web. Joining EFF this week to direct and shepherd these technology projects is internationally-recognized cybersecurity and encryption expert Jon Callas . He will be working with our technologists on Privacy Badger , a browser add-on that stops advertisers and other third-party trackers from secretly tracking users’ web browsing, and HTTPS Everywhere , a Firefox, Chrome, and Opera extension that encrypts user communications with major websites, to name of few of EFF

It’s Past Time for Coinbase to Issue Transparency Reports EFF has become increasingly concerned that payment processors are being asked to turn over information on their customers, without any mechanism for the public to know who is making those requests, or how often. That’s why we are calling on Coinbase—one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the country—to start releasing regular transparency reports that provide insight into how many government requests for information it receives, and how it deals with them. These are difficult decisions with serious consequences, and they should not be made in the dark. Cryptocurrency exchanges should especially understand the importance of the privacy of this information Financial data can be among the most sensitive types of information we produce. How you spend your money can reveal a lot about your daily habits, the causes you care about, who you hang out with, and where you go. Choosing to comply with or reject a government req

How California’s Assembly Killed The Effort to Expand Broadband for All Californians California is facing a broadband access crisis, as parents are relying more on the Internet every day trying to keep their jobs in the midst of the pandemic while remotely educating their kids. The people of California need help, and the state should move forward now to begin the work needed to finally close the digital divide. Yet with just hours left in this year’s legislative session, the California Assembly refused to hear SB 1130, or any deal, to expand broadband access—a refusal that came out of the blue, without any explanation to the more than 50 groups that supported this bill. And that kind of blockade is only possible at the direction of California’s Speaker of the Assembly, Speaker Anthony Rendon. A deal to expand broadband would have secured more than 100 million dollars a year to secure access to high-speed Internet for families, first responders, and seniors across the state. Senat