AI systems enable new scales of surveillance, discrimination, and manipulation. Biometric capture is expanding. Algorithmic decisions shape access to housing, credit, liberty without meaningful review.
AI innovation operates within a strong rights and freedom framework. Surveillance is constrained. Bias is measured and mitigated. Data protection is robust. People retain meaningful control over how AI affects their lives.
A federal district court allowed EFF's lawsuit (on behalf of UAW, CWA, AFT) to proceed challenging the Trump administration's AI-driven surveillance of noncitizens' social media speech.
A federal court allowed EFF's lawsuit challenging the 'Catch and Revoke' AI surveillance program—which used AI to monitor online speech and revoke visas of government critics—to proceed, marking a procedural win for civil liberties against AI-enabled speech suppression.
A DHS Inspector General audit found TSA's facial recognition vendor accessed sensitive passenger biometric data without TSA knowledge, revealing significant oversight gaps. EFF reports TSA concurred with all three OIG recommendations to improve data protection and transparency.
EFF and ACLU of Wisconsin filed a petition to the Wisconsin Supreme Court seeking to require law enforcement to obtain warrants before retrospective searches of automated license plate reader databases, following a recent Oklahoma federal court ruling that ALPRs constitute indiscriminate mass surveillance.
An Oklahoma federal court ruled ALPRs constitute mass surveillance requiring 4th Amendment warrant protection, while a California trial court dismissed EFF's parallel ALPR challenge. Conflicting outcomes leave the legal status of warrantless AI-powered license plate surveillance unsettled.
A US appeals court blocked Minnesota's law prohibiting AI-generated nudified images in a lawsuit brought by Elon Musk's xAI, raising First Amendment questions about AI-generated harmful imagery restrictions.
Apple announced it will add notifications flagging when AI applications request access to Mac data, responding to user privacy concerns raised by Meta's Muse AI assistant.
Washington Post investigation reveals unaccountable Flock AI license plate recognition cameras deployed in a Florida county with no identifiable owner, highlighting gaps in AI surveillance accountability.
EFF and the ACLU of Northern California documented that the Marin County Sheriff's Office illegally shared Flock ALPR surveillance data with out-of-state and federal agencies over 254,000 times in late 2024, violating California law and a 2022 settlement agreement.
The EFF's EFFector newsletter examines the privacy implications of AI features in Apple's iOS 27 Siri update, contrasting on-device and server-side AI processing and guiding users on how to limit data access to protect digital privacy.
EFF, MediaJustice, and Upturn hosted an all-day Oakland Tech Week event on Sept. 30 focused on community organizing against AI surveillance and big tech influence, with panels on California AI regulation.
San Francisco decided to retain its Automated License Plate Reader surveillance network despite EFF advocacy to end the program, adopting policies without warrant requirements that allow ICE data access.
The EFF formally opposed the SFPD's proposed drone surveillance policy, arguing it fails to protect privacy and civil liberties and could enable sweeping unspecified surveillance. The advocacy follows two years of SFPD drone expansion that has outpaced oversight, including a 2024 violation of California's AB 481 equipment acquisition law.
The Pentagon has requested $30.3 million over five years to develop an AI-enhanced polygraph system (Polygraph+) using machine learning scoring algorithms and standoff physiological sensing, expanding AI biometric interrogation capabilities without established oversight constraints.
The US Pentagon is seeking $30.3 million over five years to develop an AI-powered lie detector, expanding AI-assisted interrogation capabilities without a stated oversight framework.