The Senate Judiciary today unanimously approved the Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies (EARN IT) Act of 2020 (S. 3398) by a vote of 22-0. In a statement to the Committee on a previous version of the EARN IT Act, EPIC supported both end-to-end encryption and reform to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. EPIC pointed out that actual end-to-end encryption "protects users, promotes commerce, and ensures cybersecurity." The Committee today adopted an amendment from Senator Patrick Leahy that clarified that companies that provide end-to-end encryption are not subject to liability because they cannot access user communications. In an amicus brief in Herrick v. Grindr, EPIC objected to a court decision that found "online platforms bear no responsibility for the harassment and abuse their systems enable."
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case this fall over a Congressional subpoena for the complete Mueller Report, the Court announced today. The Court will review a decision by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in March that the House Judiciary Committee was entitled to redacted grand jury material from the Report. EPIC is currently litigating a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit for disclosure of the complete Mueller Report. EPIC’s suit led to the disclosure of new material from the Report last month. Judge Reggie B. Walton is also conducting an “in camera” review of the complete Mueller Report following the court’s March 5 ruling in EPIC’s case. The court is expected to decide as early as next month whether more material must be released. EPIC's case—the first in the nation for the disclosure of the Mueller Report—is EPIC v. DOJ, No. 19-810.
Today, EPIC and a coalition privacy, civil liberties, and civil rights groups urged Congress to "take action to prevent the harms associated with face recognition and other invasive and discriminatory surveillance technologies." The Coalition called upon Congress to pass the Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act of 2020, cease funding police use of invasive and discriminatory technologies, and ensure policing reform bills prevent the use of facial recognition on body cameras and dash cams. Last year, EPIC launched a campaign to Ban Face Surveillance and through the Public Voice coalition gathered the support of over 100 organizations and many leading experts across 30 plus countries. EPIC previously testified before the Massachusetts Legislature in support of a bill to establish a moratorium on the use of facial recognition by state agencies.
