Support Justice for Digital Creators and Tech Users
People work at EFF because they believe in wringing justice from a world that’s often unfair. For us, setting things right means legal work, activism, convincing policymakers, and creating tech tools to tip the balance of power back toward you. Will you move that mission forward by supporting EFF?
Support Digital Creators and Tech Users
This week, many EFFers will head to the Las Vegas hacker conferences—BSidesLV, Black Hat USA, and DEF CON—to rally behind researchers and tinkerers. EFF gives legal advice to folks like them all year because computer security has always relied on skilled hackers, and your privacy and free expression rely on strong web security. Check our conference Deeplinks post to get a full rundown of EFF's presentations and activities in Las Vegas.
For JusticeEFF's member t-shirt design for this year's DEF CON is inspired by the 11th card of the tarot: Justice. It can be challenging, and it can be slow. But that comes with the territory when your goal is truth and integrity. Your choices have meaningful consequences, so I hope you will support a better future for your privacy and free expression today.
Support EFF’s work at the Gold membership level and (for a short time!) you can choose EFF’s DEF CON 32 t-shirt design with some dazzling glow-in-the-dark details. The path to Justice will lead you to this year’s puzzle challenge, too! Donate today or even set up an easy automatic monthly donation. Help EFF spread the word about this “Virtual Vegas” membership week! Here’s some language you can use to share with friends:
Support privacy, free speech, and digital creators! EFF members have fought for rights online for decades, and it's more important now than ever before. https://eff.org/VV
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EFF takes tough stances and tackles complicated problems for tech creators and users like you because it’s the right thing to do. Please help fight for everyone’s freedom online by joining EFF.
Defend Digital Freedom
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EFF at the Las Vegas Hacker Conferences
Las Vegas is blazing hot and that means it's time for EFF to return to the hacker summer camp conferences—BSidesLV, Black Hat USA and DEF CON—to rally behind computer security researchers and tinkerers. EFF is glad to support members of this community all year long. Computer security has always relied on skilled hackers, and your privacy and free expression rely on strong web security. Below you will find all of EFF's scheduled talks and activities at the conferences.
As in past years, EFF staff attorneys will be present to help support speakers and attendees. If you have legal concerns regarding an upcoming talk or sensitive infosec research that you are conducting at any time, please email info@eff.org. Outline the basic issues and we will do our best to connect you with the resources you need. Read more about EFF's work defending, offering legal counsel, and publicly advocating for technologists on our Coders' Rights Project page.
EFF staff members will be on hand in the expo areas of all three conferences. You may encounter us in the wild elsewhere, but we hope you stop by the EFF tables to talk to us about the latest in online rights, get on our action alert list, or become an EFF member. We'll also have our limited-edition DEF CON 32 member t-shirts on hand starting Friday or snag yours online today! This year’s DEF CON member t-shirt is inspired by the 11th card of the tarot. The path to Justice will lead you to this year’s puzzle challenge—give it a try!
EFF Staff PresentationsAsk the EFF Panel at BSidesLV
At this interactive session, our panelists will share updates on critical digital rights issues and EFF's ongoing efforts to safeguard privacy, combat surveillance, and advocate for freedom of expression.
WHEN: Wednesday, August 7, 18:00
WHERE: Skytalks at the Tuscany Suites Hotel & Casino
Bricked & Abandoned: How To Keep The IoT From Becoming An Internet of Trash
After years of warnings from the cybersecurity community, alarms are finally sounding in the halls of power. But more is needed: a clarion call to reset, to redefine ownership and security in an age of smart, connected devices before it's too late. In this panel you’ll be enlisted to join the fight. You’ll hear from experts working at the forefront of a fight to challenge the status quo and seek solutions to safeguard our digital futures.Are you ready to stand up for your right to a secure, connected world? The battle for control, for transparency- for a sustainable and resilient digital future begins now!
WHEN: Friday, August 9, 17:00-17:45
WHERE: LVCC - L1 - HW1-11-01 (Track 1)
Ask the EFF at DEF CON 32
Our expert panelists will offer brief updates on EFF's work defending your digital rights, before opening the floor for attendees to ask their questions. This dynamic conversation centers challenges DEF CON attendees actually face, and is an opportunity to connect on common causes.
WHEN: Friday, August 9, 18:00-19:30
WHERE: DEF CON Room 307-308
DEF CON Keynote: Disenshittify or die! How hackers can seize the means of computation and build a new, good internet that is hardened against our asshole bosses' insatiable horniness for enshittification.
Join this DEF CON keynote address with author and EFF Special Advisor Cory Doctorow. The enshittification of the internet wasn't inevitable. The old, good internet gave way to the enshitternet because we let our bosses enshittify it. We took away the constraints of competition, regulation, interop and tech worker power, and so when our bosses yanked on the big enshittification lever in the c-suite, it started to budge further and further, toward total enshittification. A new, good internet is possible - and necessary - and it needs you.
WHEN: Saturday, August 10, 12:00-12:45
WHERE: DEF CON L1 - HW1-11-01 (Track 1)
We’re going all in on internet freedom. Join special guest hosts Tarah Wheeler and Cory Doctorow to face off with your competition at the tables—and benefit EFF! Your buy-in is paired with a donation to support EFF’s mission to protect online privacy and free expression for all. Every participant will receive a custom EFF deck of cards celebrating the tournament! Join us in the Horseshoe Poker Room as a player or spectator. Play for glory. Play for money. Play for the future of the web.
WHEN: Pre-tournament clinic on Friday, August 9, 11:00-12:00, Live tournament on Friday, August 9, 12:00-15:00
WHERE: Horseshoe Poker Room | 3645 Las Vegas Blvd Overpass, Las Vegas, NV 89109
Join us for some tech trivia on Saturday, August 10 at 6:30 PM! EFF's team of technology experts have crafted challenging trivia about the fascinating, obscure, and trivial aspects of digital security, online rights, and internet culture. Competing teams will plumb the unfathomable depths of their knowledge, but only the champion hive mind will claim the First Place Tech Trivia Trophy and EFF swag pack. The second and third place teams will also win great EFF gear.
WHEN: Saturday, August 10, 18:30-21:30 PM
WHERE: DEF CON Room 307-308
Rory & Chris from the organizing team will be hosting space for Electronic Frontier Alliance members to network in person at DEF CON. This is also open for anyone interested in joining the EFA too!
WHEN: Friday, August 9, 19:30 - 20:30
WHERE: DEF CON Room 307-308
Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like. Join EFF at the intersection of facial hair and hacker culture. Spectate, heckle, or compete in any of four categories: Full beard, Partial Beard, Moustache Only, or Freestyle (anything goes so create your own facial apparatus!). Prizes! Donations to EFF! Beard oil! Get the latest updates.
WHEN: Saturday, August 10, 11:00- 13:00
WHERE: DEF CON Contests Room (Look for the Moustache Flag)
Come find our table at BSidesLV (Middle Ground), Black Hat USA (back of the Business Hall), and DEF CON (Vendor Hall West) to learn more about the latest in online rights, get on our action alert list, or donate to become an EFF member. We'll also have our limited-edition DEF CON 32 shirts available starting Friday at DEF CON! These shirts have a puzzle incorporated into the design. You don't need to be a hacker to give it a try!
Support Security & Digital Innovation
JVN: リコーJavaTM PlatformのファームウェアアップデートによりTLS1.0、TLS1.1が有効になる脆弱性
「反戦訴え続けた生涯」描いたドキュメンタリー/毎日新聞が8.8上映会の記事
JVN: サイボウズ Officeにおけるカスタムアプリに関する閲覧制限回避の脆弱性
竹信三恵子:都知事選で負けたのは生活と労働だった
投稿 : 「平和の礎」を読み上げて思う/軍隊は住民を守らない
ICT Policy for Civil Society: Training Curriculum
[B] 日本ミャンマー協会の渡邉秀央会長死去 国軍支持で叙勲、民主派は抗議
To Fight Surveillance Pricing, We Need Privacy First
Digital surveillance is ubiquitous. Corporate snoops collect information about everything we do, everywhere we go, and everyone we communicate with. Then they compile it, store it, and use it against us.
Increasingly, companies exploit this information to set individualized prices based on personal characteristics and behavior. This “surveillance pricing” allows retailers to charge two people different prices for the exact same product, based on information that the law should protect, such as your internet browsing history, physical location, and credit history. Fortunately, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is stepping up with a new investigation of this dangerous practice.
What Is Surveillance Pricing?Surveillance pricing analyzes massive troves of your personal information to predict the price you would be willing to pay for an item—and charge you accordingly. Retailers can charge a higher price when it thinks you can afford to spend more—on payday, for example. Or when you need something the most, such as in an emergency.
For example, in 2019, investigative journalists revealed that prices on the Target app increased depending on a user’s location. The app collected the user’s geolocation information. The company charged significantly higher prices when a user was in a Target parking lot than it did when a user was somewhere else. These price increases were reportedly based on the assumption that a user who has already traveled to the store is committed to buying the product, and is therefore willing to pay more, whereas other shoppers may need a greater incentive to travel to the store and purchase the product.
Similarly, Staples used users’ location information to charge higher online prices to customers with fewer options nearby. The website did this by offering lower prices to customers located within approximately 20 miles of a brick-and-mortar OfficeMax or Office Depot store.
Surveillance Pricing Hurts Us AllThe American privacy deficit makes surveillance pricing possible. Unlike many other countries, the U.S. lacks a comprehensive privacy law. As a result, companies can often surveil us with impunity. Unregulated data brokerages buy and sell the enormous amounts of information generated every time you swipe a credit card, browse the internet, visit the doctor, drive your car, or simply move through the world while in possession of a mobile phone. And it is difficult to shield yourself from prying eyes.
Corporate surveillance yields comprehensive—but often inaccurate and unappealable—personal profiles. Surveillance pricing uses these profiles to set prices for everything from homes to groceries.
This is fundamentally unfair. You have a human right to privacy (even though U.S. lawmakers haven’t updated privacy laws in decades). You shouldn’t be spied on, period. And constant surveillance pricing compromises your ability to freely use the internet without fear of adverse economic consequences.
Worse, surveillance pricing will often have disparate impacts on people of color and those living in poverty, who have historically suffered greater price increases when companies adopted AI-powered pricing tools. For example, an algorithmic pricing model used by the Princeton Review—a test prep company—allegedly charged higher prices to Asian American customers than to customers of other racial backgrounds. Likewise, ridesharing apps—such as Uber and Lyft—have charged higher fares to residents of neighborhoods with more residents of color and residents living below the poverty line.
Further, surveillance pricing tools are notoriously opaque. Lack of transparency into pricing decisions makes it difficult for customers and regulators to assess harms and seek redress for these problems.
Surveillance pricing—a form of “price gouging,” according to U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown—may also suppress market competition. It incentivizes the continuous, fine-grained extraction of your data, because it offers big companies a competitive advantage—and the ability to charge higher prices—by collecting more personal information than their competitors. This fosters a race to the bottom that rewards companies that win by violating our privacy rights. And it puts smaller competitors at a disadvantage when they don’t have reams of intimate data about their potential customers.
Consumers know that surveillance pricing is unfair, but our legal rights to resist it are exceedingly limited. Some websites simply ignore browsers’ requests not to be tracked. Others have even charged higher prices to consumers who use digital privacy tools to prevent tracking. For example, they increase regular prices, and then offer discounts only to customers who allow the companies to collect their data. This kind of pay-for-privacy scheme undermines your personal choices, and disproportionately harms people who can’t afford to pay for their basic rights.
Putting a Stop to Surveillance PricingThis is a critical time to resist surveillance pricing: most vendors have not adopted it yet. Correcting course is still possible, and it’s vital for our right to privacy.
Good news: the FTC recently announced that it is investigating surveillance pricing practices. Specifically, the FTC ordered eight companies to provide information about surveillance pricing tools they make available to others. The FTC sent these orders to Mastercard, Revionics, Bloomreach, JPMorgan Chase, Task Software, PROS, Accenture, and McKinsey & Co.
These eight firms play a key role in the collection, analysis, and weaponization of your private information: they are the “middlemen” that provide surveillance pricing tools to other companies. In particular, the FTC instructed the companies to submit reports detailing technical specifics of tools, the types and sources of consumer information they use, which companies are currently using them, and how they impact consumer prices.
As FTC Chair Lina Khan explained:
Firms that harvest Americans’ personal data can put people’s privacy at risk. Now firms could be exploiting this vast trove of personal information to charge people higher prices...Americans deserve to know whether businesses are using detailed consumer data to deploy surveillance pricing.
These FTC investigations are an important step towards public understanding of opaque business pricing practices that may be harming consumers. Increased transparency into new pricing models will facilitate efforts to curb this unfair pricing practice and could be the prelude to a rulemaking or enforcement action to halt the practice altogether.
We can mitigate surveillance pricing’s myriad harms by preventing surveillance. How? By doing privacy first.
Comprehensive privacy legislation would prevent companies from accumulating massive amounts of our information in the first place. Companies cannot charge prices based on our personal information if they don’t have it.
Economic research shows that opt-in privacy regulations—such as the GDPR—mitigate the negative effects of surveillance pricing and make us all better off. When all businesses, big and small, must respect customers’ privacy, surveillance will no longer create a competitive advantage for the biggest online platforms.
That’s in addition to the myriad other benefits of strong privacy protections, which would help combat financial fraud, support local and national news outlets, protect reproductive rights, mitigate foreign government surveillance on apps like TikTok, and improve competition in the tech sector.
Most importantly, strong legal protections for your privacy would guard against the emergence of new, increasingly harmful ways of weaponizing your data against you. Without a strong, comprehensive federal privacy law, “surveillance pricing” may give way to a never-ending parade of ways to use the most intimate facts about your life against you.