The California Bar released data last week confirming that during its use of ExamSoft for the October Bar exam, over one-third of the nearly nine-thousand online examinees were flagged by the software. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is concerned that the exam proctoring software is incorrectly flagging students for cheating “due either to the software’s technical failures or to its requirements that…
Tag: Electronic Frontier Foundation
Facebook’s Criticism of Apple’s Tracking Change Called ‘Laughable’ by EFF
The MacRumors site writes:
Facebook’s recent criticism directed at Apple over an upcoming tracking-related privacy measure is “laughable,” according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a non-profit organization that defends civil liberties in the digital world. Facebook has claimed that Apple’s new opt-in tracking policy will hurt small businesses who benefit from personalized advertising, but the EFF believes that Facebook’s campaign against…
GitHub Reinstates YouTube-dl Library After EFF Intervention
GitHub has reinstated today the youtube-dl open-source project, a Python library that lets users download the source audio and video files behind YouTube videos. From a report: GitHub, a code-hosting repository, had previously removed the library from its portal after it received a controversial DMCA takedown request from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on October 23. In a DMCA…
Police Will Pilot a Program To Live-Stream Amazon Ring Cameras
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Electronic Frontier Foundation: This is not a drill. Red alert: The police surveillance center in Jackson, Mississippi, will be conducting a 45-day pilot program to live stream the Amazon Ring cameras of participating residents. Now, our worst fears have been confirmed. Police in Jackson, Mississippi, have started a pilot program that would allow…
The Best Chrome Extensions To Prevent Creepy Web Tracking
Wired has highlighted several browser extensions that “are a simple first step in improving your online privacy.” Other steps to take include adding a privacy-first browser and VPN to further mask your web activity. An anonymous reader shares the report: Privacy Badger is one of the best options for blocking online tracking in your current browser. For a start, it’s created…
Democrats Pitch $100 Billion Broadband Plan, Repeal of State Limits On Muni Networks
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: House Democrats yesterday unveiled a $100 billion broadband plan that’s gaining quick support from consumer advocates. “The House has a universal fiber broadband plan we should get behind,” Electronic Frontier Foundation Senior Legislative Counsel Ernesto Falcon wrote in a blog post. House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC.) announced the Accessible, Affordable Internet…
Stalkerware Detection Rates Are Improving Across Antivirus Products
Detections rates for stalkerware applications on Android and Windows devices are slowly improving, according to the findings of a seven-month research project carried out by independent antivirus testing lab AV-Comparatives and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. From a report: The study, published earlier this week, took place in two phases, with the first in November 2019, and the second in May 2020….
ACLU Sues LA Over Controversial Scooter Tracking System
The American Civil Liberties Union sued Los Angeles Monday over the city’s requirement that electric scooter rental companies provide anonymized real-time location data. The Verge reports: The lawsuit centers on the Los Angeles Department of Transportation’s use of a digital tool called the Mobility Data Specification program (MDS), which the agency created as a way to track and regulate electric scooters…
What Would The Internet Look Like If America Repeals Section 230?
“REVOKE 230!” President Trump tweeted Friday, and NPR reports that the movement to revoke its safeguards “is increasingly becoming a bipartisan consensus… But experts caution that eliminating the legal protections may have unintended consequences for Internet users that extend far beyond Facebook and Twitter.” “We don’t think about things like Wikipedia, the Internet Archive and all these other public goods that…
Court Upholds Public Right of Access To Court Documents
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Electronic Frontier Foundation: A core part of EFF’s mission is transparency and access to information, because we know that in a nation bound by the rule of law, the public must have the ability to know the law and how it is being applied. That’s why the default rule is that the public…