Transparency

Knowing “what the government is up to” is often the first step in ensuring that the government respects the civil liberties of its citizens. Transparency is especially important given the government’s increasingly secretive use of new technologies for law enforcement and national security purposes. From cell phone location tracking, the use of surveillance drones, secret interpretations of electronic surveillance law, and the expanding use of biometrics, EFF wants to hold the government accountable and uphold your digital rights. To that aim, EFF’s transparency work is dedicated to using federal and state freedom of information laws, the courtroom, and our megaphone to shine light on government activities. One of the major tools we use is the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a federal law that gives people the right to request information kept by federal government agencies. Our team of FOIA lawyers also submit requests on a variety of digital civil liberties issues and often take cases to court when we believe the government is unduly withholding information. But anyone can make a request under FOIA, and you can go here to learn how you can submit your own. While emerging technologies give the government new tools that threaten citizen civil liberties, technology also has the potential to create a more democratic relationship between public institutions and the citizens they serve. Today, a broad range of new tools are allowing the public to more closely examine government and corporate entities and to hold them accountable for deception, censorship, and corruption. In addition to using freedom of information laws to shed light on government actions, EFF also wants to highlight technologies that help the transparency process —whether it’s making it easier to file and track FOIA requests, websites dedicated to whistleblowing, or open government initiatives that can improve access to information.

Transparency Highlights

Legal Case

FISC Orders on Illegal Government Surveillance

EFF has sued the Department of Justice (DOJ), demanding answers about illegal email and telephone call surveillance at the National Security Agency (NSA). The FISA Amendments Act (FAA) of 2008 gave the NSA expansive power to spy on Americans’ international email and telephone calls. However, last month, a government...

Deeplinks Blog | March 11, 2018

The Foilies 2018

Recognizing the Year’s Worst in Government TransparencyGovernment transparency laws like the Freedom of Information Act exist to enforce the public’s right to inspect records so we can all figure out what the heck is being done in our name and with our tax dollars. But when a public agency ignores,...

Legal Case

Automated License Plate Readers- ACLU of Southern California & EFF v. LAPD & LASD

EFF and the ACLU of Southern California each sent California Public Records Act requests to the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department seeking documents about each agency's use of Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) systems—sophisticated cameras mounted on squad cars and street poles that read...

Transparency Updates

Press Release | February 2, 2023

EFF, ACLU Seek to Protect the Public’s Right to Access Judicial Records

ST. LOUIS — The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) today filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of an appeal filed by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP). The brief argues that RCFP has standing to sue to...

Deeplinks Blog byDave Maass | January 30, 2023

California Law Says Electronic Search Data Must Be Posted Online. So Where Is It?

Up until last year, CADOJ was doing a pretty good job at uploading this data to its OpenJustice website, where it hosts a number of public datasets related to criminal justice. Advocacy groups and journalists used it to better understand the digital search landscape and hold law enforcement accountable.

The banner for the 2022 Year in Review blog series

Deeplinks Blog byBill Budington, Cooper Quintin | December 24, 2022

EFF’s Threat Lab Sharpens Its Knives: 2022 in Review

EFF’s Threat Lab is dedicated to deep-dive investigations that examine technology-enforced power imbalances in society. In 2022 we’ve sharpened our knives and honed our skills in an effort to bring down the stalkerware industry, taken aim at invasive surveillance by police, raised red flags around the security and privacy...

Deeplinks Blog byBeryl Lipton | December 16, 2022

Federal Agencies Keep Rejecting FOIA Requests for Their Procedures for Handling FOIA Requests

The majority of federal agencies — including law enforcement agencies like Customs and Border Protection — are refusing to release some of the most basic guidance materials used by their Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) offices: procedures for how they do their jobs.Government Attic, a website that regularly files FOIA...

Press Release | November 29, 2022

EFF Releases Images of CBP Surveillance Technology Along the Southern Border

SAN FRANCISCO—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on Tuesday published scores of new photos of surveillance technology recently deployed along the U.S.-Mexico border, depicting a digital dragnet that threatens civil liberties and human rights.“The rapid expansion of digital surveillance along the U.S.-Mexico border doesn’t just affect migrants—it affects anyone living near...

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