The AI literacy piece in schools is crucial, said Suzanne Bernstein, law fellow at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a nonprofit research center that advocates for stronger privacy standards. Students and teachers need to understand what to look for in AI products, to a degree that allows them to ask more questions and do … Continued
Calli Schroeder, senior counsel and global privacy counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information also said the leadership change should “give us a really interesting picture of how much the Irish data protection commission’s actions to date have been based on the commissioner and how much they’ve been based on the structure of the agency and … Continued
EPIC and a coalition of privacy, civil liberties, and civil rights groups urged key lawmakers including the Majority and Minority Leaders of both the House and Senate, to not allow any reauthorization of FISA Section 702 to be slipped into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in conference.
Yesterday, in a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Sen. Ron Wyden revealed stunning new details about the Drug Enforcement Agency’s Hemisphere program, now known as Data Analytical Services (DAS), a vast and highly-secretive surveillance authority run by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and the DEA.
HireVue, a Utah recruitment platform, began using EAI facial analysis in 2014 as part of its candidate interview process. The idea behind the tech was noble: The EAI was supposed to mitigate bias and spot ideal candidates by identifying soft skills, cognitive ability, psychological traits, and emotional intelligence during video interviews. Hundreds of businesses, including … Continued
EPIC released the following statements following Wired’s story revealing new details about the Drug Enforcement Agency’s Hemisphere program, now known as Data Analytical Services (DAS):
In comments filed November 13th, EPIC urged the Department of Education to establish safeguards that guide the development and deployment of any AI technologies funded by the Seedlings to Scale program. The Department of Education filed a Request for Information asking for insight to guide its efforts in funding technology intended to improve educational outcomes for all students.
As children and teens continue spend so much of their lives online in recreational, social and educational settings, it has become clear that existing laws and regulations do not sufficiently protect minors from online harms. In the face of emerging risks from AI and other technologies, EPIC recommended that the NTIA center safeguards like data minimization or a ban on targeted advertising to minors in any of its future recommendations.
Jeramie D. Scott, senior counsel and director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center’s (EPIC) Project on Surveillance Oversight told VOA that his group believes the law should only be renewed if major safeguards are added. “EPIC and our coalition partners have been very clear that Section 702 should not be reauthorized without significant reforms, including … Continued
WASHINGTON, DC – Today the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) announced the addition of eight members to its Advisory Board. Since its founding, EPIC has drawn on the expertise of leading scholars, experts, and advocates in the privacy, civil liberties, and cybersecurity space to inform its work. And today we are thrilled to see this … Continued
Regulatory agendas for generative AI have already been developed by NGOs like the Electronic Privacy Information Center. The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, Digital Markets Act, and Digital Services Act may also hammer firms that concentrate power or spew disinformation, even when they try to shift responsibility onto “experimental” AI. The more that rules … Continued
Groups including the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and Consumer Reports (CR) supported robust rules as part of the FCC’s proposed cybersecurity labeling program for smart devices in reply comments posted Monday in docket 23-239. In a letter posted last week, CTA, CTIA and other industry groups laid down a marker, saying the program should … Continued
EPIC—along with the Clinic to End Tech Abuse (CETA), the Madison Tech Clinic, Public Knowledge, and Ranking Digital Rights (RDR)—filed reply comments in the Federal Communications Commission’s proceeding on voluntary cybersecurity trust labels for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. “We firmly support the FCC’s creation of a voluntary cybersecurity labeling program and urge that the program be robust in its requirements, administration, and enforcement,” the coalition wrote.
EPIC and a coalition of privacy, civil liberties, and civil rights groups urged Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to refrain from including any short-term reauthorization of FISA Section 702 in the continuing resolution or any other “must-pass” legislation.
Caitriona Fitzgerald, deputy director at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington, D.C.-based research center, said that California and Colorado have both done more to pass “strong privacy or tech oversight legislation.” “Unless you’re acting really deceptively or unfairly, there’s very few limits on what companies can collect about us,” she said. Read more here.
The executive order also requires OMB to study how agencies’ collect, process, maintain, use, disseminate and dispose of commercial data in order to shape “potential guidance” on how to reduce individual privacy risks. “There’s never been a government-wide accounting like this of how agencies buy and use personal data from commercial vendors,” said John Davisson, … Continued
Ben Winters, a senior counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center who also leads its AI and Human Rights Project, called the lack of promptness and completeness in the disclosure “concerning.” “AI use case inventories are only as valuable as compliance with them is. It illustrates why the government does not have the adequate oversight, … Continued
Yesterday, EPIC published a Quick Guide to the Government Surveillance Reform Act (GSRA), exploring key provisions of the sweeping, bicameral, bipartisan bill and why they matter. The Quick Guide includes important context for each of the key provisions, as well as commentary on how the GSRA would prohibit harmful surveillance practices and close statutory loopholes.
Yet, the regulators’ statement stressed that even publicly available personal data is still subject to the protection of data privacy laws. In other words, they are worried web scraping authorized by social media companies may still run counter to individuals’ privacy expectations. As an Electronic Privacy Information Center article put it, “When we make information … Continued
But rights advocates say the electronic monitoring program is really a kind of “e-carceration”: a punitive, dehumanizing system that doesn’t actually reduce incarceration but expands it. “In reality, [the program] has been a default prescription for people who cross the border seeking asylum, and who pose no real flight risk,” says Jake Wiener, a lawyer … Continued
The legislation is supported by dozens of groups, including American Civil Liberties Union, Americans for Prosperity, Center for Democracy & Technology, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Electronic Privacy Information Center, Fight for the Future and Free Press Action. Read more here.
The 206-page reform act, co-sponsored by 21 lawmakers from both parties, would reauthorize the controversial amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for four years. It also includes a slew of reforms to government surveillance authorities beyond Section 702 – including requiring warrants for government purchases of private information from data brokers. The proposal … Continued
Tester’s new bipartisan bill is supported by a diverse coalition of advocates including the ACLU, Brennan Center, Center for Democracy & Technology, Demand Progress, and the Electronic Privacy Information Center. Read more here.
The bill has been endorsed by dozens of civil society organizations: Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC), AAPI Equity Alliance, AAPI Victory Alliance, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Americans for Prosperity, API Equality-LA, Asian American Federal Employees for Nondiscrimination (AAFEN), Asian Texans for Justice, Aurora Commons LLC, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, … Continued
The congressional unity was matched by the list of outside groups backing the proposal. They include the American Civil Liberties Union and Demand Progress from the left and Americans for Prosperity from the right. Also on board are digital-focused groups such as the Electronic Privacy Information Center. The left-right coalition could hold key ground in … Continued
Today, Senators Ron Wyden and Mike Lee, as well as Representatives Warren Davidson and Zoe Lofgren, introduced the Government Surveillance Reform Act (GSRA), a sweeping bipartisan, bicameral bill that would rein in the growing ecosystem of warrantless government surveillance authorities as part of reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which is due to expire on December 31.
Today, Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Mike Lee (R-UT), as well as Representatives Warren Davidson (R-OH) and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), introduced the Government Surveillance Reform Act (GSRA), a sweeping bipartisan, bicameral bill that would rein in the growing ecosystem of warrantless government surveillance authorities as part of reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which is due to expire on December 31.
Last week, the Biden-Harris Administration issued its Executive Order on AI: “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence.” The EO emphasizes the need for regulation of high-risk AI and—critically—recognizes the link between privacy and AI. The order promises federal support for the development and use of privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) and requires agencies to evaluate how they use commercially available information containing personally identifiable information, including data obtained from data brokers. In announcing the order, President Biden also called on Congress to pass bipartisan data privacy legislation.
Attorney General Nessel has established her own in-state initiative to crackdown on Robocalls. According to the National Consumer Law Center and Electronic Privacy Information Center, over 33 million scam robocalls are made to Americans every day. These scam calls include Social Security Administration fraud against seniors, Amazon scams against consumers, and many other scams targeting … Continued
“We’re cautiously optimistic that the unsealed complaint will persuade the court of the serious privacy injuries that Kochava routinely inflicts on consumers,” John Davisson, director of litigation at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said via email. Davisson called Kochava’s motion for sanctions a “desperate attempt to conceal the details of its harmful business model and … Continued
Officials from the Electronic Privacy Information Center said the U.S. Department of Justice and Attorney General Merrick Garland should review how the gunshot detection technology impacts Black and Latino neighborhoods where it tends to be located and how that correlates with federal funding for the system. In a letter to the department, EPIC states there … Continued
The city is also “carpeted” with automatic license plate readers, Electronic Privacy Information Center attorney Jake Wiener said. “The odds that any of those [trackers] are going to get used to solve a crime are remarkably low” because they aren’t widely deployed in pilot programs, he also said. Read more here.
Earlier today, three days after President Biden’s Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence, former President Obama posted a piece entitled “What I’m Reading on the Rise of Artificial Intelligence.” One of the articles the former President highlighted was a framework developed by EPIC, AI Now Insitute, and Accountable Tech entitled “Zero Trust AI Governance”.
Asking people to give them copies of their work so that OpenAI can avoid training on it in the future is “ridiculous,” said Calli Schroeder, senior counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, or EPIC. She also doesn’t think artists will trust the company to keep its word. “Since they’re the ones benefiting from all … Continued
EPIC submits amicus brief urging the Court to recognize the limits of Section 230 in case involving tech companies’ profiting from illegal gambling apps.
On October 27, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) adopted an urgent binding decision that the Irish Data Protection Authority (DPA) must ban Meta from behavioral advertising in the European Economic Area by November 10th.
Some privacy advocates say Commerce’s response doesn’t go far enough to alleviate concerns about human rights’ abuses. Calli Schroeder, senior counsel and global privacy counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), told The Register that the Feds should make public the full training guidance and all applicable policies, as well as the list of … Continued
There’s no question online privacy is a serious concern. Plaintiffs’ lawyers point to findings by the Electronic Privacy Information Center that show consistent support among Americans for stronger privacy laws, with nearly 9 in 10 adults saying they are “very concerned” about data privacy. Read more here.
Today’s fraudsters aren’t just your standard telemarketers. With advancements in AI, these frequent calls and messages have become eerily personal, sometimes mimicking the tone, language and phone number of a close friend or family member, making it challenging for consumers to differentiate between genuine and deceptive texts and calls. According to the National Consumer Law … Continued
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed a complaint with the agency against the dating app Grindr detailing data privacy concerns. Read more here.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released draft guidance outlining federal agencies’ obligations and suggested actions around the responsible development, use, and procurement of AI technologies. The OMB guidance establishes new agency roles and resources for managing government AI systems; requires agencies to build internal processes, strategies, and capacity to increase their use and procurement of responsible AI; and sets out minimum AI risk management practices that most executive agencies are expected to follow.
“RealPage and the defendant landlords illegally colluded to artificially raise rents by participating in a centralized, anticompetitive scheme, causing District residents to pay millions of dollars above fair market prices,” said DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb.
In addition to recommending that ONCD incorporate privacy concepts into its process, EPIC and Consumer Reports urged ONCD to immediately begin advancing bare minimum cybersecurity standards that appear in nearly all cybersecurity requirements and best practices.
“Threads looks like they’re collecting much more information than they actually need in order for the service to function. And some of the information they’re collecting is pretty sensitive,” says Calli Schroeder, global privacy counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a nonprofit focused on privacy and free speech online. “I think this is just … Continued
The Biden-Harris Administration issued an Executive Order entitled “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence” that emphasizes the need for regulation of high-risk AI and critically recognizes the link between privacy and AI.
“Many of the privacy components of this order are going to improve privacy protections for Americans and at the same time lay down those human rights safeguards on the use of AI, so it’s serving two purposes,” said John Davisson, director of litigation at the nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center. The order will also have … Continued
The disproportionate focus on tech leaders’ perspectives has also allowed for an unhelpful framework on how regulation could impact innovation to take root, said Calli Schroeder, a senior counsel and global privacy counsel at the non-profit Electronic Privacy Information Center. “They still have it a little bit set up in their head that this is … Continued
As part of our project Assessing the Assessments—supported by the Rose Foundation—EPIC will endeavor to track instances of specific AI harms relevant to enforcement of the California Consumer Privacy Act. These instances are listed below with the setting and application of the system, a real example of that harm happening, and what types of harm are done. This … Continued
“Automated decision-making systems have become increasingly prevalent throughout the hiring and employment process in recent years, and the bias, opacity, and inaccuracy of such systems has caused significant harm to workers,” EPIC Senior Counsel Ben Winters said.
systems, including requiring disclosure of safety testing results to the federal government, and provisions that address algorithmic discrimination.
“EPIC commends the Biden-Harris Administration for this landmark executive action, which calls on agencies throughout the federal government to combat algorithmic discrimination and establish human rights safeguards around AI,” said EPIC Executive Director Alan Butler.