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June 2020 Archives

June 1, 2020

EPIC v. AI Commission: Court Orders Commission to Hold Public Meetings

A federal court, ruling in EPIC v. AI Commission, has ordered the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence to open its meetings to the public. The Commission is charged with developing recommendations on the use of AI in national security and defense contexts. But after the Commission conducted much of its work in secret and without public input, EPIC filed an open government lawsuit against the Commission last year. In Monday’s decision, Judge Trevor N. McFadden ruled that the Commission is subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act and must therefore hold open meetings and regularly publish its records. “Today, the Court holds that Congress can and did impose Janus-like transparency obligations upon the AI Commission,” Judge McFadden wrote. “No rule of law forced Congress to choose just one.” EPIC previously won a court ruling that the AI Commission is subject to the Freedom of Information Act, and the Commission recently began disclosing its past records. The case is EPIC v. AI Commission, No. 19-2906.

June 3, 2020

EPIC Supports the Fight Against Systemic Oppression

The tragic deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor remind us that the needle has not moved on systemic issues of racism and police brutality in the United States. Across the country, protestors are demanding justice and challenging us to do our part to ensure this type of violence never happens again. EPIC understands that this problem is multi-layered. Black, brown, and indigenous communities are targets of more surveillance and policing than any other. This must end.

The consistent and disproportionate mistreatment of black people by police and other government entities further solidifies our commitment to government accountability, transparency, and the protection of civil liberties. We will continue to enforce open government obligations, expose illegal and intrusive behaviors by government bodies, and advocate for legislation that protects marginalized communities.

EPIC stands in solidarity with protestors, community groups, and advocates that fight against systemic oppression. We will not remain silent in the face of social injustice. EPIC will amplify the black voices working in our space, financially support programming aimed at supporting the black community, and be an ally to organizations fighting for racial justice. EPIC is not only looking outward in our efforts to protect the privacy and civil liberties of the black community, but we are also committed to upholding an inclusive workplace by eradicating the conscious and unconscious biases we hold.

Black Lives Matter.

June 5, 2020

Zoom's Additional Encryption Measures Will Only Protect Paying Users

The enhanced encryption measures announced by Zoom this week will only protect paying customers of the videoconferencing platform, according to the company’s CEO. Although Zoom said it will allow paying users to fully encrypt their video communications—a response to the security and privacy flaws that EPIC and others have identified—the platform will still be able to access the real-time communications of non-paying users. “Free users for sure we don't want to give [end-to-end-encryption] because we also want to work together with FBI, with local law enforcement in case some people use Zoom for a bad purpose,” Zoom CEO Eric Yuan said. Last year, EPIC sent a detailed complaint to the FTC citing numerous privacy and security flaws with Zoom and warning that the company had "exposed users to the risk of remote surveillance, unwanted video calls, and denial-of-service attack." In April, EPIC urged the FTC to open an investigation. Zoom’s announcement follows a recent settlement with the New York Attorney General over the company’s consumer safeguards.

June 9, 2020

EPIC v. DOJ: Court Orders Justice Department to Explain Mueller Report Redactions

A federal court, as part of EPIC v. DOJ, has ordered the Justice Department to appear before the court and provide more information about its redactions to the Mueller Report. Judge Reggie B. Walton is currently conducting an “in camera” review of the complete Mueller Report following the court’s recent ruling in EPIC’s case. But in Monday’s order, Judge Walton wrote that he “cannot assess the merits of certain redactions without further representations from the Department.” The court ordered the DOJ to appear at an “ex parte” (one-on-one) hearing on July 20 to discuss the undisclosed portions of the Mueller Report. The book EPIC v. DOJ: The Mueller Report is available for purchase at the EPIC Bookstore. EPIC's case—the first in the nation for the disclosure of the Mueller Report—is EPIC v. DOJ, No. 19-810.

Police Reform Bill Bans Use of Facial Recognition on Body Cam Recordings Without Warrant

The Justice in Policing Act, a sweeping police reform bill introduced this week, includes a ban on federal law enforcement’s use of facial recognition software to scan body camera footage without a warrant. Section 372 of the bill says body cam footage may not be “subjected to facial recognition or any other form of automated analysis unless [...] a judicial warrant providing authority is obtained” and the court finds "there is probable cause to believe that the requested use of facial recognition is relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation." Earlier this year, EPIC and over 40 organizations urged the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to recommend the suspension of face surveillance systems across the federal government. And last year, the Public Voice coalition called for a global moratorium on face surveillance. Over 100 organizations and several hundred experts from over 40 countries endorsed the Public Voice declaration.

EPIC to Fifth Circuit: Do Not Allow Warrantless Cell Phone Searches at the Border

EPIC has filed an amicus brief that urges the Fifth Circuit to decline to extend the border search exception to the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement to searches of cell phones. The case, Anibowei v. Wolf, is a civil suit brought by a U.S. citizen attorney to challenge the warrantless searches of his cell phones at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. EPIC argued that the court should “follow the reasoning of Riley and Carpenter and decline to extend the border search exception to cell phones.” EPIC filed amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court concerning the privacy interests in cell phone data in both Riley v. California and Carpenter v. United States. The Chief Justice cited EPIC’s brief in his majority opinion in Riley.

June 10, 2020

Boston City Council Holds Hearing on Banning Facial Recognition

Yesterday, the Boston City Council held a public hearing on an ordinance to ban the use of facial recognition technology by the city of Boston. Several municipalities in Massachusetts have already banned the use of facial recognition. EPIC previously testified before the Massachusetts Legislature in support of a bill to establish a moratorium on the use of facial recognition by state agencies. EPIC has launched a campaign to Ban Face Surveillance and through the Public Voice coalition gathered the support of over 100 organizations and many leading experts across 30 plus countries. An EPIC-led coalition has also called on the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to recommend the suspension of face surveillance systems across the federal government.

June 11, 2020

EPIC, Coalition to Congress: Tech Responses to Covid-19 Must Protect Privacy & Civil Rights

EPIC and a group of over 80 consumer, privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties organizations have sent a letter to the House and the Senate that endorses "principles to protect the civil rights and privacy of all persons." The group stated that technology used in response to Covid-19 "must only be allowed if it is non-discriminatory, effective, voluntary, secure, accountable, and used exclusively for public health purposes." EPIC and a coalition of organizations previously sent a letter to the Coronavirus Task Force, urging the federal government to set guidelines that protect privacy and ensure equity in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The coalition raised concerns about public-private partnerships that utilize technology to respond to COVID-19 without the necessary privacy safeguards. Earlier this year, EPIC wrote to Congress stating that it is "essential that government agencies and private companies implement standards that safeguard privacy." EPIC has laid out several recommendations related to privacy and the pandemic.

Tech Companies Pull Back on Face Surveillance

Amid nationwide protests against police brutality and racist policing, three major technology firms said this week that they would abandon or prohibit law enforcement agencies from using their facial surveillance technologies. On Monday, IBM announced that it would no longer offer “general purpose IBM facial recognition or analysis software” and that it opposes the use of such technology for “mass surveillance, racial profiling, [and] violations of basic human rights and freedoms.” On Wednesday, Amazon said it would prohibit law enforcement agencies from using its facial surveillance software for one year and urged Congress to “place stronger regulations to govern the ethical use of facial recognition technology.” And on Thursday, Microsoft reiterated that it will “not sell facial-recognition technology to police departments in the United States until we have a national law in place, grounded in human rights, that will govern this technology.” EPIC has launched a campaign to Ban Face Surveillance and through the Public Voice coalition gathered the support of over 100 organizations and many leading experts across 30-plus countries. An EPIC-led coalition has also called on the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to recommend the suspension of face surveillance systems across the federal government.

June 12, 2020

EPIC v. DOJ: Justice Department Will Reprocess Mueller Report by June 19

The Justice Department, as part of the open government case EPIC v. DOJ, has agreed to reprocess the Mueller Report by June 19 and potentially release additional material pertaining to Roger Stone. The Justice Department has withheld significant portions of the Mueller Report on the theory that disclosure would interfere with the criminal case against Stone. But as EPIC noted in a recent filing, trial court proceedings in the Stone case have now ended. Judge Reggie B. Walton is currently conducting an “in camera” review of the complete Mueller Report following the court’s recent ruling in EPIC’s case. Earlier this week, the court ordered the Justice Department to appear before the court on July 20 and provide more information about its redactions to the Mueller Report. EPIC's case—the first in the nation for the disclosure of the Mueller Report—is EPIC v. DOJ, No. 19-810.

June 17, 2020

EPIC, Coalition to Congress: Stop funding Surveillance Tech Aimed at Peaceful Protesters

Today, EPIC and a group of over 100 privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties organizations urged Congress to halt funding of surveillance technology recently used against peaceful protesters and disproportionately aimed at communities of color. The group stated the need "to address the unconstitutional and dangerous use of surveillance by state, local and federal police officers against demonstrators protesting the murder of George Floyd and so many others perpetuated by systemic police brutality." In response to reports that the government conducted surveillance of peaceful protesters, EPIC filed a series of Freedom of Information Act requests directed at the FBI the DEA and CBP. Earlier this year, EPIC filed similar FOIA requests with several government agencies after it was revealed that the agencies were using Clearview AI, the controversial facial recognition company.

June 18, 2020

In Reversal, Zoom Will Make Enhanced Encryption Available to All Users

Zoom announced Wednesday that it will make enhanced encryption measures available to all users of the videoconferencing platform who provide a cell phone number—not just those who pay for the service. Earlier this month, Zoom said it would allow some of its users to fully encrypt their video communications, a response to the security and privacy flaws that EPIC and others have identified. But the company initially stated that Zoom administrators would retain the ability to access the real-time communications of non-paying users. Last year, EPIC sent a detailed complaint to the FTC citing numerous privacy and security flaws with Zoom and warning that the company had "exposed users to the risk of remote surveillance, unwanted video calls, and denial-of-service attack." In April, EPIC urged the FTC to open an investigation. Zoom’s rollout of enhanced encryption follows a recent settlement with the New York Attorney General over the company’s consumer safeguards.

EPIC, Coalition Tell House Judiciary to Remove Provision in Police Reform Bill that Shields Officers Engaging in Racial Profiling

EPIC and a coalition of over 20 organizations sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee urging the committee to remove Section 343 from the Justice in Policing Act of 2020. In response to mass protests against police brutality and systemic racism in the wake of George Floyd's death, more than 200 members of Congress introduced the Justice in Policing Act 2020 to combat police misconduct, use of excessive force, and racial bias in law enforcement. Section 343 limits the release of information about law enforcement officers who engage in racial profiling under the Freedom of Information Act. The letter states, "[I]nformation on law enforcement agencies' compliance with requirements to eliminate racial profiling is vital to the public interest, including information on public officials." The letter further emphasized that provision "undercuts the bill's own proposed reforms" and that the "FOIA already contains exemptions that balance personal information with the public interest." The bill includes a ban on law enforcement using facial recognition software. EPIC has advocated for the suspension of face surveillance systems across the federal government, including federal law enforcement. EPIC advocates for strong government oversight and accountability through its Open Government Project, routinely using the FOIA to obtain information to ensure that the public is fully informed about the activities of the government.

Senator Brown Unveils Data Accountability and Transparency Act

Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown announced today that he will introduce the Data Accountability and Transparency Act of 2020, a comprehensive privacy and data protection bill. The bill would (1) prohibit both private companies and government agencies from collecting personal data unless it is “strictly necessary” to carry out one of a few specified purposes; (2) ban the use of facial surveillance technology; (3) prohibit discrimination on the basis of personal data; (4) require accountability and transparency for algorithmic decisionmaking; (5) establish a federal data protection agency with the power to issue rules and enforce dozens of federal privacy laws; (6) enable individuals and state attorneys general to enforce the law in court; and (7) allow states to enact more restrictive privacy laws if they choose to. “The Data Accountability and Transparency Act of 2020 sets a strong standard for data protection,” said Caitriona Fitzgerald, EPIC Interim Associate Director. “Senator Brown’s bill creates enforceable privacy rights and limits the amount of data companies can collect and keep about us.” EPIC has long advocated for the enactment of comprehensive privacy legislation and the creation of data protection agency. EPIC’s report Grading on a Curve: Privacy Legislation in the 116th Congress sets out the key elements of a modern privacy law.

June 19, 2020

New York City Passes New Surveillance Transparency Law

Yesterday the New York City Council passed the Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology (POST) Act, a law that enables public oversight of surveillance technologies used by the New York Police Department. The POST Act will require the police to publish documents explaining their use of surveillance technologies, accept public comments about them, and provide a final surveillance impact and use policy to the public. EPIC has worked for years to focus public attention on the privacy impact of emerging surveillance technologies, and has pursued open government cases against the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to release information about cell site simulators and other surveillance technologies. EPIC has recently launched a project to track and review algorithms used in the criminal justice system.

BREAKING: Justice Department Releases More of Mueller Report in EPIC Case

The Justice Department, as part of an open government lawsuit brought by EPIC, today disclosed previously unreleased portions of the Mueller Report concerning Roger Stone (Volume 1, Volume 2, Appendices). The disclosure marks the first time that new material from the Mueller Report has been published since a redacted version of the report was released in April 2019. Stone was convicted of obstruction and other charges in connection with Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The Justice Department previously argued that disclosure of information concerning Stone would interfere with his criminal case, but as EPIC noted in a recent filing, Stone's trial court proceedings have now ended. Judge Reggie B. Walton is also conducting an “in camera” review of the complete Mueller Report following the court’s March 5 ruling in EPIC’s case. The court is expected to decide as early as next month whether more material must be released. EPIC's case—the first in the nation for the disclosure of the Mueller Report—is EPIC v. DOJ, No. 19-810.

June 22, 2020

EPIC Urges Election Commission to Protect Secret Ballot

EPIC has filed comments to the Election Assistance Commission on the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines 2.0 Requirements. EPIC urged the Commission to remove a provision allowing "recallable ballots," which are ballots that have already been cast but can be "individually retrieved." By their very definition, recallable ballots require linking the voter’s identity with the voter’s cast ballot. "This is too great a risk to our democracy and violates the VVSG 2.0 Principles themselves, as well as many state laws and constitutional provisions," EPIC told the Commission. Though states are not mandated to comply with the Voting System Guidelines, the Guidelines shape the election security market. In 2016, EPIC published a report on the importance of the secret ballot, finding that all fifty states have constitutional provisions or statutes that require a secret ballot. EPIC has a long history of working to protect voter privacy and election integrity.

June 23, 2020

Indiana Supreme Court Says No to Compelled Decryption of Cell Phones

The Indiana Supreme Court ruled today that the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination prevents law enforcement from compelling an individual to unlock their smartphone. The court declared that an exception to the Fifth Amendment did not apply because the government had not demonstrated sufficient knowledge of the files it intended to access. The court also questioned whether the exception should apply to cell phones at all because the type and amount of information cell phones contain make compelled production of their contents different than compelled production of physical documents, citing the Supreme Court’s decisions in Riley v. California and Carpenter v. United States. The court wrote that “the Supreme Court has hesitated to apply even entrenched doctrines to novel dilemmas, wholly unforeseen when those doctrines were created.” EPIC urged the New Jersey Supreme Court to adopt the same reasoning in State v. Andrews, arguing that, under Riley and Carpenter, individuals cannot be compelled to decrypt their cell phones unless the government has specific knowledge about the files it will access. The New Jersey court has not issued a ruling in the case.

June 24, 2020

Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act Weakens Encryption, Undermines Public Safety

Senators Lindsey Graham, Tom Cotton, and Marsha Blackburn introduced the “Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act” yesterday. The bill would would make it illegal for manufacturers to build systems that cannot be accessed by law enforcement. EPIC strongly opposes this measure. “The Lawful Access To Encrypted Data Act will make it easier for bad actors to access people’s communications. You cannot build a backdoor that only law enforcement can access. That’s not how encryption works,” said Alan Butler, EPIC Interim Executive Director. EPIC recently told the Senate Judiciary Committee that "now is not the time to undermine the systems that we all rely upon to secure our data and communications." EPIC cited growing problems of data breach and cyber attack. EPIC led the effort in the United States in the 1990s to support strong encryption tools and played a key role in the development of the international framework for cryptography policy that favored the deployment of strong security measures to safeguard personal information. EPIC also filed an amicus brief in Apple v. FBI in support of encryption.

Germany's Highest Court Rules Facebook Illegally Combines Users' Data, Abusing Its Market Dominance

In an important decision for data privacy, Germany's Federal Court of Justice sided with antitrust regulators in a case challenging Facebook’s practice of combining user data across different sources, including WhatsApp and Instagram. The Court held that Facebook’s terms of use were abusive because they did not allow users to use the platform without also consenting to Facebook’s collection of their data from other sites. The decision emphasized Facebook’s dominant market position in Germany and recognized that Facebook thus had a special responsibility towards maintaining market competition. EPIC has repeatedly urged U.S. antitrust agencies to more aggressively regulate Facebook and other platforms, whose large mergers compromise user privacy and consolidate market power in a handful of companies. EPIC recently objected to the FTC’s settlement with Facebook. EPIC continues to work with international stakeholders to ensure user privacy.

EPIC Settles ICE Lawsuit About Technology Used for Warrantless Searches of Mobile Devices

EPIC has settled a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. EPIC sought records about the agency's use of mobile forensic technology used to conduct warrantless searches of mobile devices. EPIC obtained ICE contracts with Cellebrite and documents showing that Cellebrite's mobile forensic technology can bypass passcodes to extract email, voicemails, video, audio, photos, web browsing activity, and historical location data. A slide entitled "Legal Considerations" explicitly cited the U.S. v. Riley case, which held in an unanimous decision that police generally require a warrant to search cell phones. EPIC's amicus brief in that case, which was joined by twenty-four legal scholars and technical experts from the EPIC Advisory Board, was cited twice in the Court's opinion.

Boston City Council Votes to Ban Facial Recognition

Yesterday, the Boston City Council voted unanimously to ban the use of facial recognition technology by the city of Boston. The ordinance noted the "racial bias in face surveillance" and makes it illegal for the city of Boston to "obtain, retain, possess, access, or use any face surveillance system." Several municipalities in Massachusetts have already banned the use of facial recognition. EPIC previously testified before the Massachusetts Legislature in support of a bill to establish a moratorium on the use of facial recognition by state agencies. EPIC has launched a campaign to Ban Face Surveillance and through the Public Voice coalition gathered the support of over 100 organizations and many leading experts across 30 plus countries. An EPIC-led coalition has also called on the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to recommend the suspension of face surveillance systems across the federal government.

June 25, 2020

Bill to Ban Face Surveillance Introduced in Congress

Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), along with Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) today introduced legislation to stop government use of biometric surveillance, including facial recognition tools. The Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act prohibits the use of facial recognition and other biometric technologies by federal agencies, including Customs and Border Protection. “The use of face surveillance technology needs to end. Face surveillance violates Americans’ right to privacy, treats all individuals as suspicious, and threatens First Amendment-protected rights,” said Caitriona Fitzgerald, EPIC Interim Associate Director and Policy Director. “The technology has been shown time and time again to be biased and inaccurate, frequently misidentifying people of color. EPIC has repeatedly called for a moratorium on the use of face surveillance and the Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act of 2020 would stop the use of this dangerous technology. EPIC is proud to support it.” EPIC recently settled a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against Customs and Border Protection regarding the agency's "alternative screening procedures" to determine whether travelers are able to to opt-out of facial recognition at airports. EPIC has launched a campaign to Ban Face Surveillance. Previously, EPIC and a coalition urged the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to suspend the use of face surveillance systems across the federal government. And last year, the Public Voice coalition called for a global moratorium on face surveillance.

June 26, 2020

EPIC Seeks Release of Records About Election Cybersecurity

EPIC has filed a cross motion for summary judgement in EPIC v. DHS seeking records about the agency's assessment of election vulnerabilities in 2016 and 2018. EPIC filed the Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security after the agency designated election systems as "critical infrastructure" in 2017. The agency has released hundreds of pages of records to EPIC about the agency's role in election cybersecurity, but continues to withhold four categories of records including: (1) documents concerning contacts between DHS and state election officials, (2) Election Security Task Force meeting minutes, (3) the agency's assessment of cybersecurity risks to election infrastructure in September 2016, and (4) incident reports concerning vulnerabilities to election systems. EPIC explained that “[t]here is a profound and urgent public interest in the release of [these] records" because it "is necessary for the public to evaluate DHS's response to past incidents, to assess future threats to election systems, and to ensure accountability of the federal agency with the legal authority to safeguard our election systems." With the 2020 presidential election mere months away, it is critical that the public and Congress have access to these records so they can assess the effectiveness of the agency's election cybersecurity program and what steps the agency has taken to protect our democratic institutions. The case is EPIC v. DHS, No. 17-2047 (D.D.C.).

June 30, 2020

ACM U.S. Technology Policy Committee Calls for Immediate Suspension of Facial Recognition

The Association of Computing Machinery's U.S. Technology Policy Committee published a statement today calling for the "immediate suspension of the current and future private and governmental use of FR technologies in all circumstances known or reasonably foreseeable to be prejudicial to established human and legal rights." The statement notes that facial recognition technology "often compromise[s] fundamental human and legal rights of individuals to privacy, employment, justice and personal liberty." Last year, EPIC filed a complaint with the FTC against HireVue for the company's unfair and deceptive practices involving the use of facial recognition technology in evaluating job applicants. EPIC has launched a campaign to Ban Face Surveillance and through the Public Voice coalition gathered the support of over 100 organizations and many leading experts across 30 plus countries. EPIC is supporting the recently introduced Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act, which would prohibit the use of facial recognition and other biometric technologies by federal agencies.

About June 2020

This page contains all entries posted to epic.org in June 2020. They are listed from oldest to newest.

May 2020 is the previous archive.

July 2020 is the next archive.

Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.