Digital Library

EPIC Will Expand Work on Privacy and Tech Oversight in 2023

For nearly thirty years, EPIC has been fighting to secure the fundamental right to privacy for all, and the fight has never been more important. 2022 was a momentous year that brought new threats—in particular, the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs, which undid 50 years of precedent protecting the constitutional right to privacy—but also hope for the future. In 2023, EPIC will work to establish strong, comprehensive privacy and digital civil rights across the United States; we will help to develop new fairness and accountability mechanisms to ensure that AI and automated decision-making systems do not exacerbate inequities and discrimination; and we will work to ensure that intelligence and law enforcement surveillance programs are subject to robust oversight.

• Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights

• Consumer Privacy

• Privacy Laws

• Surveillance Oversight

• Analysis

NIST Releases First Final Draft of AI Risk Management Framework

• AI Policy

• Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights

• Commercial AI Use

• Updates

Privacy, Surveillance, and AI in the FY’23 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)

Each year, Congress passes the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which designates specific budgets and policies for the U.S. military and a host of other government entities. The NDAA, while at its core a national defense bill, is sweeping in scale, with this year’s version providing $816,700,000,000.00 in funding to the Department of Defense. Given the sheer size of this allocation, the NDAA has impacts well beyond the military. This year, as in the recent past, there are many provisions that relate to privacy, surveillance, and AI. EPIC highlights those provisions here to help you understand where this money will be spent in the upcoming years.

• Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights

• Consumer Privacy

• Data Protection

• Democracy & Free Speech

• Government AI Use

• Analysis

Public Benefits, Private Vendors: How Private Companies Help Run our Welfare Programs

If you’ve been following EPIC’s work on the algorithms used in public benefits programs, you may have caught something unusual: although we talk about public welfare programs, most of the systems we’ve uncovered are developed by private companies. That isn’t a coincidence. While a few state agencies have developed their own technical systems for public benefits programs, a large and growing number of states have chosen to outsource the technological systems undergirding public benefits programs to private vendors who promise accuracy, efficiency, and cost-savings. In reality, EPIC’s research suggests the opposite: many vendor systems are costly, prone to bias and error, and developed without considering agencies’ unique needs.

• Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights

• Freedom of Information Act

• Government AI Use

• Open Government

• Screening & Scoring

• Analysis

EPIC Submits Comments to Strengthen CFPB Proposals for Financial Data Rights Rulemaking

• Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights

• Consumer Privacy

• Updates

EPIC Urges GSA to Prevent Privacy Harms from New Fraud Prevention Tools on Login.gov

• Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights

• Consumer Privacy

• Data Brokers

• Data Protection

• Government Databases

• Government Records & Privacy

• Screening & Scoring

• Surveillance Oversight

• Updates

EPIC Comments: Modified System of Records Notice for Login.gov

• Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights

• Data Protection

• Government AI Use

• Government Databases

• Government Records & Privacy

• Screening & Scoring

• Surveillance Oversight

• APA Comments

FCW: Portman introduces two bills on facial recognition, AI in government

• Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights

• Face Surveillance & Biometrics

• Surveillance Oversight

• News

Wired: What You Should Know Before Using the Lensa AI App

• Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights

• Commercial AI Use

• Consumer Privacy

• News

Gonzalez v. Google

• Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights

• Democracy & Free Speech

• Privacy Laws

• Amicus Brief