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Surveillance Shouldn’t Be a Prerequisite for an Education - EFFector 32.25
EFFector Issue #768
Sept 8, 2020 VIEW AS WEBPAGE
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Top Features
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Proctoring Apps Subject Students to Unnecessary Surveillance
The use of proctoring apps—privacy-invasive software products that “watch” students as they take tests or complete schoolwork—has skyrocketed. These apps make a seductive promise: that schools can still rely on high-stakes tests, where they have complete control of a student's environment, even during remote learning. But that promise comes with a huge catch. These apps violate student privacy, negatively impact some populations, and will likely never fully stop creative students from outsmarting the system.
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EFF Launches Searchable Database of Police Agencies and the Tech Tools They Use to Spy on Communities
In partnership with the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno, we’ve launched the largest-ever collection of searchable data on police use of surveillance technologies—with a map and a database of over 5300 datapoints. Learn about facial recognition, drones, license plate readers, and other devices law enforcement agencies are acquiring to spy on our communities.
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The New EARN IT Bill Still Threatens Encryption and Free Speech
The whole idea behind Section 230 is to make sure that you are responsible for your own speech online—not someone else’s. Currently, if a state prosecutor wants to bring a criminal case related to something said or done online, or a private lawyer wants to sue they must seek out the actual speaker in most cases. They can’t just haul a website owner into court because of the user’s actions. But that will change if EARN IT passes. Once websites lose Section 230 protections, they’ll take drastic measures to mitigate their exposure. That will limit free speech across the Internet.
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EFF Updates
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Victory! EFF Defends Public’s Right to Access Court Records About Patent Ownership
The public’s right of access to court proceedings is well-established as a legal principle, but it needs constant defending. In part, that’s because private parties keep asking publicly-funded courts to resolve their disputes in secret. As we and others have written before, this problem is especially great in patent cases, where parties on opposite sides of a case often agree with each other to keep as much of the litigation as possible hidden from view.
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Report: San Francisco Police Accessed Business District Camera Network to Spy on Protestors
The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) conducted mass surveillance of protesters at the end of May and in early June using a downtown business district's camera network, according to new records obtained by EFF. The records show that SFPD received real-time live access to hundreds of cameras as well as a "data dump" of camera footage amid the ongoing demonstrations against police violence.
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University App Mandates Are the Wrong Call
As students, parents, and schools prepare the new school year, universities are considering ways to make returning to campus safer. Some are even mandating that students install COVID-related technology on their personal devices, but this is the wrong call.
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EFF and 45 Human Rights and Civil Liberties Groups Condemn Federal Law Enforcement Actions Against Protesters in Portland
EFF joined dozens of other groups in a letter condemning the behavior of federal law enforcement agencies in Portland, Oregon. Despite the wishes of Portland officials, the federal government deployed law enforcement, including U.S. Marshals and Customs and Border Protection officers. The federal government officially explained these actions as an effort to protect federal buildings, but it appears to be a militarized counter-insurgent effort to suppress protesters and the residents of Portland.
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MiniLinks
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Face masks are breaking facial recognition. Good. (The Verge)
This article explores the ways in which masks and face coverings increase the error rates in facial recognition systems.
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History shows that efforts to control infectious disease through policing and incarceration have undermined public health aims and exacerbated racial disparities. (Washington Post)
No surprise: It will increase racial disparities in policing. History teaches us that when we rely on law enforcement to police public health, we will re-entrench inequality.
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The NSA is advising its employees to limit location services on smart phones. For once we agree. (The Hill)
The NSA "rolled out guidance warning that location data from mobile and other internet-connected devices could pose a security threat for users if it were accessed by adversaries."
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About EFF
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading organization protecting civil liberties in the digital world. Founded in 1990, we defend free speech online, fight illegal surveillance, promote the rights of digital innovators, and work to ensure that the rights and freedoms we enjoy are enhanced, rather than eroded, as our use of technology grows. EFF is a member-supported organization. Find out more at https://eff.org.
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