Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman have received the 2016 Turing Award for the discovery of public key encryption, the cornerstone of network security. The award is named for Alan Turing, a computer scientist who helped pioneer modern computing and broke the German Enigma code, hastening the end of the Second World war. The Turing award is considered the Nobel Prize of computer science and is given for major contributions of lasting importance by the Association of Computing Machinery. Diffie, a member of the EPIC Advisory Board, was one of the founders of the Electronic Privacy Information Center and received the EPIC Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012.
EPIC has filed an amicus brief in Smith v. LexisNexis Screening Solutions. The case was brought by a job applicant who was denied employment after a background report incorrectly stated that he had a criminal record. A court found that LexisNexis had violated Fair Credit Reporting Act by failing to take reasonable steps to ensure "maximum possible accuracy" in the report. LexisNexis appealed. In the amicus brief, EPIC highlighted the industry practice of selling background reports with inaccurate information. EPIC argued that companies should be strictly liable when they fail to maintain accuracy in these reports. In 2005, EPIC filed a famous FTC complaint about the data broker ChoicePoint, which ultimately led to a $10 million dollar settlement.
Magistrate Judge Orenstein denied a government request under the All Writs Act to force Apple to unlock an iPhone. Judge Orenstein stated "the government's construction of the [All Writs Act] produces absurd results in application." The ruling comes the day before a Congressional hearing to address recent efforts to force Apple to decrypt iPhones. Apple is opposing a court order in another case that would require the company to make changes to the iPhone to enable government access. In 2015, EPIC gave the Champion of Freedom Award to Apple CEO, Tim Cook, for his work protecting privacy and promoting encryption.
