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📁 How ICE Got My Data | EFFector 38.8

22 April 2026 at 20:25

When we use the internet, we're entrusting tech companies with some of our most private information. These companies have promised they'll keep our data safe. But what happens when the government comes knocking at their doors? In our latest EFFector newsletter, we hear from an EFF client whose data was given to ICE after Google broke its promise to him.

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For over 35 years, EFFector has been your guide to understanding the intersection of technology, civil liberties, and the law. This latest issue covers the ongoing fight to reform NSA surveillance, the many attempts to censor 3D printing, and the cost of Google's broken promise to its users.

Prefer to listen in? EFFector is now available on all major podcast platforms. This time, we're chatting with EFF Senior Staff Attorney F. Mario Trujillo about how state attorneys general can hold Google accountable for failing to protect users targeted by the government. You can find the episode and subscribe on your podcast platform of choice:

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Want to help us hold companies accountable? Sign up for EFF's EFFector newsletter for updates, ways to take action, and new merch drops. You can also fuel the fight for privacy and free speech online when you support EFF today!

EFF 🤝 HOPE: Join Us This August!

13 April 2026 at 21:21

Protecting privacy and free speech online takes more than policy work—it takes community. Conferences like HOPE are where that community comes together to learn, connect, and push these ideals forward. That's why EFF is proud to be at HOPE 26.

Join us at this year's Hackers On Planet Earth, August 14-16 at the New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan! Get your ticket now and support our work: throughout April EFF will receive 10% of all ticket proceeds for HOPE 26. 

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See EFF at HOPE 26 in New York

While you're there, be sure to catch talks from EFF's technologists, attorneys, and activists covering a wide range of digital civil liberties topics. You can get a taste of the talks to come by watching last year's EFF presentations at HOPE_16 on YouTube:

How a Handful of Location Data Brokers Actively Tracked Millions, and How to Stop Them
In the past year, a number of investigations have revealed the outsized role of a few select companies in gathering, storing, and selling the location data of millions of devices - and by extension people - worldwide. This talk will elaborate on the technologies, data flows, and industry players which comprise this complicated ecosystem.

Ask EFF
Get an update on current EFF work, including the ongoing case against the "Department" of Government Oversight, educating the public on their digital rights, organizing communities to resist ongoing government surveillance, and more.

Systems of Dehumanization: The Digital Frontlines of the War Against Bodily Autonomy
Daly covers the bad Internet bills that made sex work more dangerous, the ongoing struggle for abortion access in America, and the persecution of trans people across all spectrums of life. These issue-spaces are deeply connected, and the digital threats they face are uniquely dangerous. Come to learn about these threat models, as well as the cross-movement strategies being built for collective liberation against an authoritarian surveillance state. 

Snag a ticket by the end of April to help support EFF's work ensuring that technology works for everyone. We hope to see you there!

👁 Selling Mass Surveillance | EFFector 38.7

8 April 2026 at 18:24

Time and time again, we've seen police surveillance suffer from 'mission creep'—technology sold as a way to prevent heinous crimes ends up enforcing traffic violations, tracking protestors, and more. In our latest EFFector newsletter, we're diving into this troubling pattern and sharing all the latest in the fight for privacy and free speech online.

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For over 35 years, EFFector has been your guide to understanding the intersection of technology, civil liberties, and the law. This week's issue covers the urgent need to reform NSA spying; a victory for internet access in the Supreme Court; and how license plate readers are normalizing mass surveillance.

Prefer to listen in? EFFector is now available on all major podcast platforms. This time, we're chatting with EFF Privacy Litigation Director Adam Schwartz about some of the recent technologies we've seen suffer from "mission creep." And don't miss the EFFector news quiz! You can find the episode and subscribe on your podcast platform of choice

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Want to help us push back against mass surveillance? Sign up for EFF's EFFector newsletter for updates, ways to take action, and new merch drops. You can also fuel the fight for privacy and free speech online when you support EFF today!

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