How to Fix the Internet

It seems like everywhere we turn we see dystopian stories about technology's impact on our lives and our futures — from tracking-based surveillance capitalism to street level government surveillance to the dominance of a few large platforms choking innovation to the growing pressure by authoritarian governments to control what we see and say — the landscape can feel bleak. Exposing and articulating these problems is important, but so is envisioning and then building a better future. That's where our podcast comes in. EFF's How to Fix the Internet podcast offers a better way forward. Through curious conversations with some of the leading minds in law and technology, we explore creative solutions to some of today's biggest tech challenges.After tens of thousands of listeners tuned in for our pilot mini-series last year, we are continuing the conversation by launching a full season. Listen today to become deeply informed on vital technology issues and join the movement working to build a better technological future.Find the podcast via RSS, Stitcher, TuneIn, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. You can find an MP3 archive of all our episodes at the Internet Archive. Theme music by Nat Keefe of BeatMower.EFF is deeply grateful for the support of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology, without whom this podcast would not be possible.

Where is the internet we were promised? It feels like we're dominated by megalithic, siloed platforms where users have little or no say over how their data is used and little recourse if they disagree, where direct interaction with users is seen as a bug to be fixed, and where art and creativity are just “content generation.”But take a peek beyond those platforms and you can still find a thriving internet of millions who are empowered to control their own technology, art, and lives. Anil Dash, CEO of Glitch and an EFF board member, says this is where we start reclaiming the internet for individual agency, control, creativity, and connection to culture - especially among society's most vulnerable and marginalized members.Dash speaks with EFF's Cindy Cohn and Danny O'Brien about building more humane and inclusive technology, and leveraging love of art and culture into grassroots movements for an internet that truly belongs to us all.In this episode you'll learn about:What past and current social justice movements can teach us about reclaiming the internetThe importance of clearly understanding and describing what we want—and don't want—from technologyEnergizing people in artistic and fandom communities to become activists for better technologyTech workers' potential power over what their employers doHow Wordle might be a window into a healthier webThis podcast is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology.Music for How to Fix the Internet was created for us by Reed Mathis and Nat Keefe of BeatMower. This podcast is licensed Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, and includes the following music licensed Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported by their creators: http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/61577Get It - pop mix by J.Lang Feat: AnalogByNature & RJay http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/59729Probably Shouldn't by J.Lang http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/56377Smokey Eyes by Stefan Kartenberg http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/airtone/58703commonGround by airtone http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Skill_Borrower/41751Klaus by Skill_Borrower http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/NiGiD/62475Chrome Cactus by Martijn de Boer (NiGiD) 

U.S. democracy is at an inflection point, and how we administer and verify our elections is more important than ever. From hanging chads to glitchy touchscreens to partisan disinformation, too many Americans worry that their votes won't count and that election results aren't trustworthy. It's crucial that citizens have well-justified confidence in this pillar of our republic.Technology can provide answers - but that doesn't mean moving elections online. As president and CEO of the nonpartisan nonprofit Verified Voting, Pamela Smith helps lead the national fight to balance ballot accessibility with ballot security by advocating for paper trails, audits, and transparency wherever and however Americans cast votes.On this episode of How to Fix the Internet, Pamela Smith joins EFF's Cindy Cohn and Danny O'Brien to discuss hope for the future of democracy and the technology and best practices that will get us there.In this episode you'll learn about:Why voting online can never be like banking or shopping onlineWhat a “risk-limiting audit” is, and why no election should lack it Whether open-source software could be part of securing our votesWhere to find reliable information about how your elections are conductedPamela Smith, President & CEO of Verified Voting, plays a national leadership role in safeguarding elections and building working alliances between advocates, election officials, and other stakeholders. Pam joined Verified Voting in 2004, and previously served as President from 2007-2017. She is a member of the National Task Force on Election Crises, a diverse cross-partisan group of more than 50 experts whose mission is to prevent and mitigate election crises by urging critical reforms. She provides information and public testimony on election security issues across the nation, including to Congress. Before her work in elections, she was a nonprofit executive for a Hispanic educational organization working on first language literacy and adult learning, and a small business and marketing consultant.This podcast is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology.Music for How to Fix the Internet was created for us by Reed Mathis and Nat Keefe of BeatMower. This podcast is licensed Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, and includes the following music licensed Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported by their creators: http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Skill_Borrower/41751Klaus by Skill_Borrower http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/airtone/58703commonGround by airtonehttp://dig.ccmixter.org/files/NiGiD/62475Chrome Cactus by Martijn de Boer (NiGiD)

It often feels like machine learning experts are running around with a hammer, looking at everything as a potential nail - they have a system that does cool things and is fun to work on, and they go in search of things to use it for. But what if we flip that around and start by working with people in various fields - education, health, or economics, for example - to clearly define societal problems, and then design algorithms providing useful steps to solve them?Rediet Abebe, a researcher and professor of computer science at UC Berkeley, spends a lot of time thinking about how machine learning functions in the real world, and working to make the results of machine learning processes more actionable and more equitable.Abebe joins EFF's Cindy Cohn and Danny O'Brien to discuss how we redefine the machine learning pipeline - from creating a more diverse pool of computer scientists to rethinking how we apply this tech for the betterment of society's most marginalized and vulnerable - to make real, positive change in people's lives.In this episode you'll learn about:The historical problems with the official U.S. poverty measurement How machine learning can (and can't) lead to more just verdicts in our criminal courtsHow equitable data sharing practices could help nations and cultures around the worldReconsidering machine learning's variables to maximize for goals other than commercial profitThis podcast is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology.Music for How to Fix the Internet was created for us by Reed Mathis and Nat Keefe of BeatMower. This podcast is licensed Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, and includes the following music licensed Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported by their creators: http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/59729Probably Shouldn't by J.Langhttp://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Skill_Borrower/41751Klaus by Skill_Borrower http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/airtone/58703commonGround by airtonehttp://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/56377Smokey Eyes by Stefan Kartenberg http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/NiGiD/62475Chrome Cactus by Martijn de Boer (NiGiD)

Computer scientists often build algorithms with a keen focus on “solving the problem,” without considering the larger implications and potential misuses of the technology they're creating. That's how we wind up with machine learning that prevents qualified job applicants from advancing, or blocks mortgage applicants from buying homes, or creates miscarriages of justice in parole and other aspects of the criminal justice system.James Mickens—a lifelong hacker, perennial wisecracker, and would-be philosopher-king who also happens to be a Harvard University professor of computer science—says we must educate computer scientists to consider the bigger picture early in their creative process. In a world where much of what we do each day involves computers of one sort or another, the process of creating technology must take into account the society it's meant to serve, including the most vulnerable.Mickens speaks with EFF's Cindy Cohn and Danny O'Brien about some of the problems inherent in educating computer scientists, and how fixing those problems might help us fix the internet.In this episode you'll learn about:Why it's important to include non-engineering voices, from historians and sociologists to people from marginalized communities, in the engineering processThe need to balance paying down our “tech debt” —cleaning up the messy, haphazard systems of yesteryear—with innovating new technologiesHow to embed ethics education within computer engineering curricula so students can identify and overcome challenges before they're encoded into new systemsFostering transparency about how and by whom your data is used, and for whose profitWhat we can learn from Søren Kierkegaard and Stan Lee about personal responsibility in technologyThis podcast is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology.Music for How to Fix the Internet was created for us by Reed Mathis and Nat Keefe of BeatMower. This podcast is licensed Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, and includes the following music licensed Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported by their creators: http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/59729Probably Shouldn't by J.Lang (c) copyright 2019 http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/airtone/58703commonGround by airtone (c) copyright 2018 http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/mwic/58883Xena's Kiss / Medea's Kiss by mwic (c) copyright 2018 http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Skill_Borrower/41751Klaus by Skill_Borrower (c) copyright 2013 http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/NiGiD/62475Chrome Cactus by Martijn de Boer (NiGiD) (c) copyright 2020

Too many young people – particularly young people of color – lack enough familiarity or experience with emerging technologies to recognize how artificial intelligence can impact their lives, in either a harmful or an empowering way. Educator Ora Tanner saw this and rededicated her career toward promoting tech literacy and changing how we understand data sharing and surveillance, as well as teaching how AI can be both a dangerous tool and a powerful one for innovation and activism.By now her curricula have touched more than 30,000 students, many of them in her home state of Florida. Tanner also went to bat against the Florida Schools Safety Portal, a project to amass enormous amounts of data about students in an effort to predict and avert school shootings – and a proposal rife with potential biases and abuses.Tanner speaks with EFF's Cindy Cohn and Jason Kelley on teaching young people about the algorithms that surround them, and how they can make themselves heard to build a fairer, brighter tech future.In this episode you'll learn about:Convincing policymakers that AI and other potentially invasive tech isn't always the answer to solving public safety problems.Bringing diverse new voices into the dialogue about how AI is designed and used.Creating a culture of searching for truth rather than just accepting whatever information is put on your plate.Empowering disadvantaged communities not only through tech literacy but by teaching informed activism as well.This podcast is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology.Music for How to Fix the Internet was created for us by Reed Mathis and Nat Keefe of BeatMower. This podcast is licensed Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, and includes the following music licensed Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported by their creators: Meet Me at Phountain by gaetanh (c) copyright 2022 http://ccmixter.org/files/gaetanh/64711Hoedown at the Roundabout by gaetanh (c) copyright 2022  http://ccmixter.org/files/gaetanh/64711JPEG of a Hotdog by gaetanh (c) copyright 2022 http://ccmixter.org/files/gaetanh/64711reCreation by airtone (c) copyright 2019 http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/airtone/59721    

The joy of tinkering, making, and sharing is part of the human condition. In modern times, this creative freedom too often is stifled by secrecy as a means of monetization - from non-compete laws to quashing people's right to repair the products they've already paid for.Adam Savage—the maker extraordinaire best known from the television shows MythBusters and Savage Builds—is an outspoken advocate for the right to repair, to tinker, and to put creativity and innovation to work in your own garage. He says a fear-based approach to invention, in which everyone thinks secrecy is the path to a big payday, is exhausting and counterproductive.Savage speaks with EFF's Cindy Cohn and Danny O'Brien about creating a world in which we incrementally keep building on each others' work, keep iterating the old into new, and keep making things better through collaboration.In this episode you'll learn about:How cosplay symbolizes what's best about the instincts to make and shareWhy it's better to live in the Star Trek universe than the Star Wars universeBalancing the desire for profit with wide dissemination of ideas that benefit society and cultureBuilding a movement to encourage more people to be makers - and getting the law out of the wayThis podcast is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology.Music for How to Fix the Internet was created for us by Reed Mathis and Nat Keefe of BeatMower. This podcast is licensed Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, and includes the following music licensed Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported by their creators: JPEG of a Hotdog by gaetanh http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/gaetanh/6471Tall Glass of Turnip Juice by gaetanh http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/gaetanh/6471Gone for Smokes by gaetanh http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/gaetanh/6471Declan's Dipsy Doodle by gaetanh http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/gaetanh/6471Whose Hand is That by gaetanh http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/gaetanh/6471

Democracy means allowing everyday people to have their voices heard on public matters involving their communities. One of the goals of civic technology is to allow a more diverse group of people to have input on government affairs through the use of technology and the internet. Beth Noveck, author of Solving Public Problems and Director of the Governance Lab, chats with EFF's Cindy Cohn and Danny O'Brien about how civic technology can enhance people's relationship with the government and help improve their communities.In this episode you'll learn about:What civic technology is and how it can be used to approach and fix public problems while enhancing the relationship between people and their government. The importance of deciding what problem you are trying to solve before working on a solution.Ways that civic technology can ensure that the government is held accountable for its actions. How we can build civic technology tools to increase inclusion, specifically for those who have been marginalized or previously left out of the conversation.Why civic technology allows for more people to get engaged in their democracy.The good and bad that can come with governments increasing their knowledge of technology.If you have any feedback on this episode, please email podcast@eff.org. Please visit the site page at https://eff.org/pod204 where you'll find resources – including links to important legal cases and research discussed in the podcast and a full transcript of the audio. This podcast is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology.Music for How to Fix the Internet was created for us by Reed Mathis and Nat Keefe of BeatMower. This podcast is licensed Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, and includes the following music licensed Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported by their creators: http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/37792Drops of H2O (The Filtered Water Treatment ) by J.Lang Ft: Airtonehttp://dig.ccmixter.org/files/mwic/58883Xena's Kiss / Medea's Kiss by mwic http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/AlexBeroza/59612Kalte Ohren by Alex Ft: starfrosch & Jerry Spoonhttp://dig.ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/59564rr4Come Inside by Snowflake Ft: Starfrosch, Jerry Spoon, Kara Square, spinningmerkabahttp://dig.ccmixter.org/files/zep_hurme/59681Come Inside by Zep Hurme Ft: snowflake

Today almost everything is connected to the internet - from your coffeemaker to your car to your thermostat. But the “Internet of Things” may not be hardwired for security. Window Snyder, computer security expert and author, joins EFF hosts Cindy Cohn and Danny O'Brien as they delve into the scary insecurities lurking in so many of our modern conveniences—and how we can change policies and tech to improve our security and safety.Window Snyder is the founder and CEO of Thistle Technologies. She's the former Chief Security Officer of Square, Fastly and Mozilla, and she spent five years at Apple focusing on privacy strategy and features for OS X and iOS. Window is also the co-author of Threat Modeling, a manual for security architecture analysis in software.In this episode, Window explains why malicious hackers might be interested in getting access  to your refrigerator, doorbell, or printer. These basic household electronics can be an entry point for attackers to gain access to other sensitive devices on your network.  Some of these devices may themselves store sensitive data, like a printer or the camera in a kid's bedroom. Unfortunately, many internet-connected devices in your home aren't designed to be easily inspected and reviewed for inappropriate access. That means it can be hard for you to know whether they've been compromised.But the answer is not forswearing all connected devices. Window approaches this problem with some optimism for the future. Software companies have learned, after an onslaught of attacks, to  prioritize security. And she covers how we can bring the lessons of software security  into the world of hardware devices. In this episode, we explain:How it was the hard costs of addressing security vulnerabilities, rather than the sharp stick of regulation, that pushed many tech companies to start prioritizing cybersecurity. The particular threat of devices that are no longer being updated by the companies that originally deployed them, perhaps because that product is no longer produced, or because the company has folded or been sold.Why we should adapt our best current systems for software security, like our processes for updating browsers and operating systems, for securing newly networked devices, like doorbells and refrigerators.Why committing to a year or two of security updates isn't good enough when it comes to consumer goods like cars and medical technology. Why it's important for hardware creators to build devices so that they will be able to reliably update the software without “bricking” the device.The challenge of covering the cost of security updates when a user only pays once for the device – and how  bundling security updates with new features can entice users to stay updated.This podcast is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology.If you have any feedback on this episode, please email podcast@eff.org. Please visit the site page at eff.org/pod203 where you'll find resources – including links to important legal cases and research discussed in the podcast and a full transcript of the audio. Music for How to Fix the Internet was created for us by Reed Mathis and Nat Keefe of BeatMower. This podcast is licensed Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, and includes the following music licensed Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported by their creators: http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/37792Drops of H2O (The Filtered Water Treatment ) by J.Lang Ft: Airtonehttp://dig.ccmixter.org/files/admiralbob77/59533Warm Vacuum Tube  by Admiral Bob Ft: starfroschhttp://dig.ccmixter.org/files/mwic/58883Xena's Kiss / Medea's Kiss by mwichttp://dig.ccmixter.org/files/airtone/59721reCreation by airtone 

Like many young people, Zach Latta went to a school that didn't teach any computer classes. But that didn't stop him from learning everything he could about them and becoming a programmer at a young age. After moving to San Francisco, Zach founded Hack Club, a nonprofit network of high school coding clubs around the world, to help other students find the education and community that he wished he had as a teenager. This week on our podcast, we talk to Zach about the importance of student access to an open internet, why learning to code can increase equity, and how school's online security and the law often stand in the way. We'll also discuss how computer education can help create the next generation of makers and builders that we need to solve some of society's biggest problems. In this episode, you'll learn about:Why schools block some harmless educational content and coding resources, from common sites like Github to “view source” functions on school-issued devicesHow locked down digital systems in schools stop young people from learning about coding and computers, and create equity issues for students who are already marginalizedHow coding and “hack” clubs can empower young people, help them learn self-expression, and find community How pervasive school surveillance undermines trust and limits people's ability to exercise their rights when they are olderHow young people's curiosity for how things work online has helped bring us some of the technology we love most If you have any feedback on this episode, please email podcast@eff.org. Please visit the site page at eff.org/pod202 where you'll find resources – including links to important legal cases and research discussed in the podcast and a full transcript of the audio. This podcast is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology.Music for How to Fix the Internet was created for us by Reed Mathis and Nat Keefe of BeatMower. This podcast is licensed Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, and includes the following music licensed Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported by their creators: Warm Vacuum Tube  by Admiral Bob (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/admiralbob77/59533 Ft: starfroschDrops of H2O ( The Filtered Water Treatment ) by J.Lang (c) copyright 2012 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/37792 Ft: AirtonereCreation by airtone (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/airtone/59721

Imagine being detained by armed agents whenever you returned from traveling outside the country. That's what life became like for Academy Award-winning filmmaker Laura Poitras, who was placed on a terrorist watch-list after she made a documentary critical of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. Poitras was detained close to 100 times between 2006 and 2012, and border agents routinely copied her notebooks and threatened to take her electronics. It was only after Poitras teamed up with EFF to sue the government that she was able to see evidence of the government's six-year campaign of spying on her. This week on our podcast, Poitras joins EFF's Cindy Cohn and Danny O'Brien to talk about her continuing work to uncover spying on journalists, and what we can do to fight back against mass surveillance. In this episode you'll learn about: What life was like for Poitras when she was placed on a terror watch list and put under FBI surveillanceWhy security is a “team sport,” and what we can all do to protect ourselves as well as more vulnerable people  Poitras' new work about the NSO Group, an Israeli spyware company that has been accused of facilitating human rights abuses worldwideWhat legal strategies can be used to push back on mass surveillanceThe role of whistleblowers like Edward Snowden and human rights activists in uncovering spying abuses, and how they can be better protectedThe laws that we need to protect professional journalists and citizen journalists in an age where anyone can record the news If you have any feedback on this episode, please email podcast@eff.org. Please visit the site page at https://eff.org/podcast where you'll find resources – including links to important legal cases and research discussed in the podcast and a full transcript of the audio. This podcast is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology.Music for How to Fix the Internet was created for us by Reed Mathis and Nat Keefe of BeatMower. This podcast is licensed Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, and includes the following music licensed Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported by their creators: Come Inside by Snowflake (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/59564 Ft: Starfrosch, Jerry Spoon, Kara Square, spinningmerkaba_____http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/AlexBeroza/59612Kalte Ohren by Alex (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/AlexBeroza/59612 Ft: starfrosch & Jerry Spoon_____http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/zep_hurme/59681Come Inside by Zep Hurme (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/zep_hurme/59681 Ft: snowflake_____http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/37792Drops of H2O ( The Filtered Water Treatment ) by J.Lang (c) copyright 2012 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/37792 Ft: Airtone  

Our guest from Season 2, Ethan Zuckerman, has his own podcast: Reimagining the Internet. He had EFF's Jillian York as a guest on his show, and we thought you'd like to have a listen to it.

Marc Maron is the host of a successful podcast, and when he and some other pioneers started out he didn't have to think much about the layers of technology he was using, until a patent troll came to call, asking for thousands of dollars to pay for the “rights” to  podcasting because of a patent they were mis-using to get money from the nascent podcast world. Marc and his producer Brendan knew that if they didn't take up the fight to stop the trolls, then all of podcasting would be under threat, so they joined up with some EFF lawyers and a whole lot of listeners to win their fight. In this episode you'll learn about: The prior art, or evidence of earlier technology that EFF was able to present to courts to prove that the so-called “podcasting patent” was invalid. How the landmark Alice v. CLS Bank Supreme Court decision has helped make patent law better, but still didn't solve the problem of patent trolls Why patent trolls are a drain on innovationHow we should think about which ideas should be building blocks for the public good, and which should be owned Why the community that came together around the podcasting patent fight was critical to EFF's victory How EFF prevailed when the patent troll tried to get the names of EFF donorsThis podcast is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Additional music is used under creative commons licence from CCMixter includes: http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/admiralbob77/59533 Warm Vacuum Tube  by Admiral Bob (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/admiralbob77/59533 Ft: starfroschttp://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/37792Drops of H2O ( The Filtered Water Treatment ) by J.Lang (c) copyright 2012 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/37792 Ft: Airtonehttp://dig.ccmixter.org/files/mwic/58883Xena's Kiss / Medea's Kiss by mwic (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/mwic/58883 http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/admiralbob77/59533Warm Vacuum Tube  by Admiral Bob (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/admiralbob77/59533 Ft: starfroschhttp://dig.ccmixter.org/files/airtone/59721reCreation by airtone (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/airtone/59721

What if we re-imagined the internet to be built by more people, in new ways, that actually worked for us as a public good instead of a public harm? Join Ethan Zuckerman in conversation with Cindy Cohn and Danny O'Brien as they fix and reimagine the internet. They'll talk about what the internet could look like if a diversity of people built their own tools, how advertising could be less creepy, but still work, and how hope in the future will light the way to a better internet. In this episode you'll learn about:The challenges researchers face when gathering information and data about our relationship with social media platforms.Different ways to communicate with groups online and how these alternatives would improve online speech.Ways that third parties have tried to give more user control in social media platforms.How censorship, and who we worry about censoring speech, has changed as the internet has evolved.The problems with surveillance advertising and alternative ideas for advertisements on the internet.How the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act blocks research and innovation, and how we can fix it.How communication on the internet has changed over time, why social media giants aren't getting it right, and how to move forward.This podcast is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Additional music is used under creative commons license from CCMixter includes: http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/zep_hurme/59681Come Inside by Zep Hurme (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/zep_hurme/59681 Ft: snowflakehttp://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/60335Perspectives *** by J.Lang (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/60335 Ft: Sackjo22 and Admiral Bobhttp://dig.ccmixter.org/files/mwic/58883Xena's Kiss / Medea's Kiss by mwic (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/mwic/58883 http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/37792Drops of H2O ( The Filtered Water Treatment ) by J.Lang (c) copyright 2012 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/37792 Ft: Airtonehttp://dig.ccmixter.org/files/airtone/59721reCreation by airtone (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/airtone/59721 

Financial transactions reveal so much about us: the causes we support, where we go, what we buy, who we spend time with. Somehow, the mass surveillance of financial transactions has been normalized in the United States, despite the fourth amendment protection in the constitution. But it doesn't have to be that way, as explained by Marta Belcher, a lawyer and activist in the financial privacy world. Marta offers a deep dive into financial surveillance and censorship. In this episode, you'll learn about: The concept of the third party doctrine, a court-created idea that law enforcement doesn't need to get a warrant to access metadata shared with third parties (such as companies that manage communications and banking services);How financial surveillance can have a chilling effect on activist communities, including pro-democracy activists fighting against authoritarian regimes in Hong Kong and elsewhere;How the Bank Secrecy Act means that your bank services are sharing sensitive banking details on customers with the government by default, without any request from law enforcement to prompt it;Why the Bank Secrecy Act as it's currently interpreted violates the Fourth Amendment; The potential role of blockchain technologies to import some of the privacy-protective features of cash into the digital world;How one recent case missed an opportunity to better protect the data of cryptocurrency users;How financial surveillance is a precursor to financial censorship, in which banking services are restricted for people who haven't violated the law. This podcast is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Additional music is used under creative commons license from CCMixter includes: http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/zep_hurme/59681Come Inside by Zep Hurme (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/zep_hurme/59681 Ft: snowflakehttp://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/60335Perspectives *** by J.Lang (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/60335 Ft: Sackjo22 and Admiral Bobhttp://dig.ccmixter.org/files/AlexBeroza/59612Kalte Ohren by Alex (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/AlexBeroza/59612 Ft: starfrosch & Jerry Spoonhttp://dig.ccmixter.org/files/admiralbob77/59533Warm Vacuum Tube  by Admiral Bob (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/admiralbob77/59533 Ft: starfroschhttp://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/37792Drops of H2O ( The Filtered Water Treatment ) by J.Lang (c) copyright 2012 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/37792 Ft: Airtone

One of the supposed promises of AI was that it would be able to take the bias out of human decisions, and maybe even lead to more equity in society. But the reality is that the errors of the past are embedded in the data of today, keeping prejudice and discrimination in. Pair that with surveillance capitalism, and what you get are algorithms that impact the way consumers are treated, from how much they pay for things, to what kinds of ads they are shown, to if a bank will even lend them money. But it doesn't have to be that way, because the same techniques that prey on people can lift them up. Vinhcent Le from the Greenlining Institute joins Cindy and Danny to talk about how AI can be used to make things easier for people who need a break. In this episode you'll learn about: Redlining—the pernicious system that denies historically marginalized people access to loans and financial services—and how modern civil rights laws have attempted to ban this practice.How the vast amount of our data collected through modern technology, especially browsing the Web, is often used to target consumers for products, and in effect recreates the illegal practice of redlining.The weaknesses of the consent-based models for safeguarding consumer privacy, which often mean that people are unknowingly waving away their privacy whenever they agree to a website's terms of service. How the United States currently has an insufficient patchwork of state laws that guard different types of data, and how a federal privacy law is needed to set a floor for basic privacy protections.How we might reimagine machine learning as a tool that actively helps us root out and combat bias in consumer-facing financial services and pricing, rather than exacerbating those problems.The importance of transparency in the algorithms that make decisions about our lives.How we might create technology to help consumers better understand the government services available to them.

Matt Mitchell started Crypto Harlem to teach people in his community about how online and real life surveillance works, and what they could do about it. Through empowering people to understand their online privacy choices, and to speak up for change when their privacy in real life is eroded, Matt is building a movement to make a better future for everyone.In this episode you'll learn about: Cryptoparties being organized by volunteers to educate people about what surveillance technology looks like, how it works, and who installed itHow working within your own community can be an extremely effective (and fun) way to push back against surveillanceHow historically surveilled communities have borne the brunt of new, digital forms of surveillanceThe ineffectiveness and bias of much new surveillance technology, and why it's so hard to “surveill yourself to safety”Why and how heavily surveilled communities are taking back their privacy, sometimes using new technologyThe ways that Community Control Of Police Surveillance (CCOPS) legislation can benefit communities by offering avenues to learn about and discuss surveillance technology before it's installedHow security and digital privacy has improved, with new options, settings, and applications that offer more control over our online livesThis podcast is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Additional music is used under creative commons licence from CCMixter includes: http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/mwic/58883Xena's Kiss / Medea's Kiss by mwic (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/mwic/58883 http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/admiralbob77/59533Warm Vacuum Tube  by Admiral Bob (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/admiralbob77/59533 Ft: starfroschhttp://dig.ccmixter.org/files/airtone/59721reCreation by airtone (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/airtone/59721

We don't always think about what it means to have the information on our devices stay secure, and it may seem like the locks on our phones are enough to keep our private lives private. But there is increasing pressure from law enforcement to leave a back door open on our encrypted devices. Meanwhile, other government agencies, including consumer protection agencies, want more secure devices. We dive into the nuances of the battle to secure our data and our lives, and consider what the future would be like if we can finally end the “crypto wars” and tackle other problems in society. On this episode, hosts Cindy Cohn and Danny O'Brien are joined by Riana Pfeffercorn from Stanford's Centre for Internet and Society to talk about device encryption and why it's important. This podcast is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Additional music is used under creative commons licence from CCMixter includes: http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/AlexBeroza/59612Kalte Ohren by Alex (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/AlexBeroza/59612 Ft: starfrosch & Jerry Spoonhttp://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/37792Drops of H2O ( The Filtered Water Treatment ) by J.Lang (c) copyright 2012 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/37792 Ft: Airtonehttp://dig.ccmixter.org/files/mwic/58883Xena's Kiss / Medea's Kiss by mwic (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/mwic/58883  

Join us for a live chat as hosts Cindy and Danny speak with cybersecurity expert Tarah Wheeler on Thursday Dec 9th at 2pm PT. They will continue the conversation that started on this episode of the podcast, exploring how we can incentivize computer security and fix computer crime laws: https://www.eff.org/tarahchat======================There are flaws in the tech we use everyday- from little software glitches to big data breaches, and security researchers often know about them before we do. Getting those issues fixed is not always as straightforward as it should be. It's not always easy to bend a corporation's ear, and companies may ignore the threat for liability reasons putting us all at risk. Technology and cybersecurity expert Tarah Wheeler joins Cindy Cohn and Danny O'Brien to explain how she thinks security experts can help build a more secure internet. On this episode, you'll learn:About the human impact of security vulnerabilities—and how unpatched flaws can change or even end lives;How to reconsider the popular conception of hackers, and understand their role in helping build a more secure digital world;How the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), a law that is supposed to punish computer intrusion, has been written so broadly that it now stifles security researchers;What we can learn from the culture around airplane safety regulation—including transparency and blameless post-mortems;How we can align incentives, including financial incentives, to improve vulnerability reporting and response;How the Supreme Court case Van Buren helped security researchers by ensuring that the CFAA couldn't be used to prosecute someone for merely violating the terms of service of a website or application;How a better future would involve more collaboration and transparency among both companies and security researchers.This podcast is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology.Resources: ResourcesConsumer Data Privacy:Equifax Data Breach Update: Backsliding (EFF)EFF's Recommendations for Consumer Data Privacy Laws (EFF)Strengthen California's Next Consumer Data Privacy Initiative (EFF)Ransomware:A Hospital Hit by Hackers, a Baby in Distress: The Case of the First Alleged Ransomware Death (WSJ)FAQ: DarkSide Ransomware Group and Colonial Pipeline (EFF)Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA):CFAA and Security Researchers (EFF)Van Buren is a Victory Against Overbroad Interpretations of the CFAA, and Protects Security Researchers (EFF)Van Buren v. United States (SCOTUS)EFF CFAA Revisions – Penalties and Access (EFF)Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and Reform (EFF)Electoral Security:Election Security (EFF)This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Additional music is used under creative commons licence from CCMixter includes: http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/admiralbob77/59533Warm Vacuum Tube  by Admiral Bob (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/admiralbob77/59533 Ft: starfroschhttp://dig.ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/59564rr4Come Inside by Snowflake (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/59564 Ft: Starfrosch, Jerry Spoon, Kara Square, spinningmerkabahttp://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/37792Drops of H2O ( The Filtered Water Treatment ) by J.Lang (c) copyright 2012 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/37792 Ft: Airtonehttp://dig.ccmixter.org/files/airtone/59721reCreation by airtone (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/airtone/59721

The bots that try to moderate speech online are doing a terrible job, and the humans in charge of the biggest tech companies aren't doing any better. The internet's promise was as a space where everyone could have their say. But today, just a few platforms get to decide what billions of people see and say online. What's a better way forward? How can we get back to a world where communities and people decide what's best for content moderation, rather than tech billionaires or government dictates?  Join Daphne Keller, from Stanford's Centre for the Internet and Society, in conversation with  EFF's Cindy Cohn and Danny O'Brien about a better way to moderate speech online. In this episode you'll learn about: — Why giant platforms do a poor job of moderating content—What competitive compatibility (ComCom) is, and how it's a vital part of the solution to our content moderation puzzle— Why machine learning algorithms won't be able to figure out who or what a “terrorist” is, and who it's likely to catch instead— What is the debate over “amplification” of speech, and is it any different than our debate over speech itself? —Why international voices need to be included in discussion about content moderation—and the problems that occur when they're not—How we could shift towards “bottom-up” content moderation rather than a concentration of power  

Open source software touches every piece of technology that touches our lives- in other words, it's everywhere. Free software and collaboration is at the heart of every device we rely on, and much of the internet is built from the hard work of people dedicated to the open source dream: ideals that all software should be licenced to be free, modified, distributed and copied without penalty. The movement is growing, and that growth is creating pressure: from too many projects, and not enough resources. The culture is shifting, too, as new people around the world join in and bring different ideas and different dreams for an open source future. James Vasile has been working in open source software for decades, and he joins Cindy Cohn and Danny O'Brien to talk about the challenges that growth is creating, and the opportunities it presents to make open source, and the Internet, even better. If you have any feedback on this episode, please email podcast@eff.org. Please visit the site page at https://eff.org/pod102 where you'll find resources – including links to important legal cases and research discussed in the podcast and a full transcript of the audio, at This podcast is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Your phone is a window to your soul - and that window has been left open to law enforcement. Today, even small-town police departments have powerful tools that can easily access the most intimate information on your cell phone. Upturn's Executive Director Harlan Yu joins EFF hosts Cindy Cohn and Danny O'Brien to talk about a better way for law enforcement to treat our data. When Upturn researchers surveyed police departments on the mobile device forensic tools they were using on mobile phones, they discovered that the tools are being used by police departments large and small across America. There are few rules on what law enforcement can do with the data they download, and not very many policies on how the information should be stored, shared, or destroyed.In this episode you'll learn about:Mobile device forensic tools (MDFTs) that are used by police to download data from your phone, even when it's lockedHow court cases such as Riley v. California powerfully protect our digital privacy-- but those protections are evaded when police get verbal consent to search a phoneHow widespread the use of MDFTs are by law enforcement departments across the country, including small-town police departments investigating minor infractions The roles that phone manufacturers and mobile device forensic tool vendors can play in protecting user data How re-envisioning our approaches to phone surveillance helps address issues of systemic targeting of marginalized communities by police agenciesThe role of warrants in protecting our digital data. If you have any feedback on this episode, please email podcast@eff.org. Please visit the site page at https://eff.org/pod101 where you'll find resources – including links to important legal cases and research discussed in the podcast and a full transcript of the audio. This podcast is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Fix the Internet from the Electronic Frontier Foundation brings you ideas, solutions, and pathways to a better digital future for all. 

Chris Lewis joins EFF hosts Cindy Cohn and Danny O'Brien as they discuss how our access to knowledge is increasingly governed by "click-wrap" agreements that prevent users from ever owning things like books and music, and how this undermines the legal doctrine of “first sale” – which states that once you buy a copyrighted work, it's yours to resell or give it away as you choose. They talk through the ramifications of this shift on society, and also start to paint a brighter future for how the digital world would thrive if we safeguard digital first sale. In this episode you'll learn about: The legal doctrine of first sale—in which owners of a copyrighted work can resell it or give it away as they choose—and why copyright maximalists have fought it for so long; The Redigi case, in which a federal court held that the Redigi music service, which allows music fans to store and resell music they buy from iTunes, violated copyright law—and why that set us down the wrong path; The need for a movement that can help champion digital first sale and access to knowledge more generally; How digital first sale connects to issues of access to knowledge, and how this provides a nexus to issues of societal equity; Why the shift to using terms of service to govern access to content such as music and books has meant that our access to knowledge is intermediated by contract law, which is often impenetrable to average users; How not having a strong right of digital first sale undermines libraries, which have long benefited from bequests and donations; How getting first sale right in the digital world will help to promote equitable access to knowledge and create a more accessible digital world. Christopher Lewis is President and CEO at Public Knowledge. Prior to being elevated to President and CEO, Chris served for as PK's Vice President from 2012 to 2019 where he led the organization's day-to-day advocacy and political strategy on Capitol Hill and at government agencies. During that time he also served as a local elected official, serving two terms on the Alexandria City Public School Board. Chris serves on the Board of Directors for the Institute for Local Self Reliance and represents Public Knowledge on the Board of the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (BITAG). Before joining Public Knowledge, Chris worked in the Federal Communications Commission Office of Legislative Affairs, including as its Deputy Director. He is a former U.S. Senate staffer for the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and has over 18 years of political organizing and advocacy experience, including serving as Virginia State Director at GenerationEngage, and working as the North Carolina Field Director for Barack Obama's 2008 Presidential Campaign and other roles throughout the campaign. Chris graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelors degree in Government and lives in Alexandria, VA where he continues to volunteer and advocate on local civic issues. You can find Chris on Twitter at @ChrisJ_Lewis Please subscribe to How to Fix the Internet via RSS, Stitcher, TuneIn, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or your podcast player of choice. You can also find the Mp3 of this episode on the Internet Archive.  If you have any feedback on this episode, please email podcast@eff.org. You'll find legal resources – including links to important cases, books, and briefs discussed in the podcast – as well a full transcript of the audio at https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/12/podcast-episode-you-bought-it-do-you-own-it. Audio editing for this episode by Stuga Studios: https://www.stugastudios.com. Music by Nat Keefe: https://natkeefe.com/   This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abi Hassen joins EFF hosts Cindy Cohn and Danny O'Brien as they discuss the rise of facial recognition technology, how this increasingly powerful identification tool is ending up in the hands of law enforcement, and what that means for the future of public protest and the right to assemble and associate in public places. In this episode you'll learn about: The Black Movement Law Project, which Abi co-founded, and how it has evolved over time to meet the needs of protesters; Why the presumption that people don't have any right to privacy in public spaces is challenged by increasingly powerful identification technologies; Why we may need to think big when it comes to updating the U.S. law to protect privacy; How face recognition technology can have a chilling effect on public participation, even when the technology isn't  accurate; How face recognition technology is already leading to the wrongful arrest of innocent people, as seen in a recent case of a man in Detroit; How gang laws and anti-terrorism laws have been the foundation of a legal tools that can now be deployed against political activists; Understanding face recognition technology within the context of a range of powerful surveillance tools in the hands of law enforcement; How we can start to fix the problems caused by facial recognition through increased transparency, community control, and hard limits on law enforcement use of face recognition technology, How Abi sees the further goal is to move beyond restricting or regulating specific technologies to a world where public protests are not so necessary, as part of reimagining the role of law enforcement. Abi is a political philosophy student, attorney, technologist, co-founder of the Black Movement-Law Project, a legal support rapid response group that grew out of the uprisings in Ferguson, Baltimore, and elsewhere. He is also a partner (currently on leave) at O'Neill and Hassen LLP, a law practice focused on indigent criminal defense. Prior to this current positions, he was the Mass Defense Coordinator at the National Lawyers Guild. Abi has also worked as a political campaign manager and strategist, union organizer, and community organizer. He conducts trainings, speaks, and writes on topics of race, technology, (in)justice, and the law. Abi is particularly interested in exploring the dynamic nature of institutions, political movements, and their interactions from the perspective of complex systems theory. You can find Abi on Twitter at @AbiHassen, and his website is https://AbiHassen.com Please subscribe to How to Fix the Internet via RSS, Stitcher, TuneIn, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or your podcast player of choice. You can also find the Mp3 of this episode on the Internet Archive.  If you have any feedback on this episode, please email podcast@eff.org. You'll find legal resources – including links to important cases, books, and briefs discussed in the podcast – as well a full transcript of the audio at https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/11/podcast-episode-your-face-their-database. Audio editing for this episode by Stuga Studios: https://www.stugastudios.com. Music by Nat Keefe: https://natkeefe.com/   This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Cory Doctorow joins EFF hosts Cindy Cohn and Danny O'Brien as they discuss how large, established tech companies like Apple, Google, and Facebook can block interoperability in order to squelch competition and control their users, and how we can fix this by taking away big companies' legal right to block new tools that connect to their platforms – tools that would let users control their digital lives. In this episode you'll learn about: How the power to leave a platform is one of the most fundamental checks users have on abusive practices by tech companies—and how tech companies have made it harder for their users to leave their services while still participating in our increasingly digital society; How the lack of interoperability in modern tech platforms is often a set of technical choices that are backed by a legal infrastructure for enforcement, including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). This means that attempting to overcome interoperability barriers can come with legal risks as well as financial risks, making it especially unlikely for new entrants to attempt interoperating with existing technology; How online platforms block interoperability in order to silence their critics, which can have real free speech implications; The “kill zone” that exists around existing tech products, where investors will not back tech startups challenging existing tech monopolies, and even startups that can get a foothold may find themselves bought out by companies like Facebook and Google; How we can fix it: The role of “competitive compatibility,” also known as “adversarial interoperability”  in reviving stagnant tech marketplaces; How we can fix it by amending or interpreting the DMCA, CFAA and contract law to support interoperability rather than threaten it. How we can fix it by supporting the role of free and open source communities as champions of interoperability and offering alternatives to existing technical giants. Cory Doctorow (craphound.com) is a science fiction author, activist and journalist. He is the author of many books, most recently ATTACK SURFACE, RADICALIZED and WALKAWAY, science fiction for adults, IN REAL LIFE, a graphic novel; INFORMATION DOESN'T WANT TO BE FREE, a book about earning a living in the Internet age, and HOMELAND, a YA sequel to LITTLE BROTHER. His latest book is POESY THE MONSTER SLAYER, a picture book for young readers. Cory maintains a daily blog at Pluralistic.net. He works for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, is a MIT Media Lab Research Affiliate, is a Visiting Professor of Computer Science at Open University, a Visiting Professor of Practice at the University of North Carolina's School of Library and Information Science and co-founded the UK Open Rights Group. Born in Toronto, Canada, he now lives in Los Angeles. You can find Cory on Twitter at @doctorow. Please subscribe to How to Fix the Internet via RSS, Stitcher, TuneIn, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or your podcast player of choice. You can also find the Mp3 of this episode on the Internet Archive.  If you have any feedback on this episode, please email podcast@eff.org. A transcript of the episode, as well as legal resources – including links to important cases, books, and briefs discussed in the podcast – is available at https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/11/podcast-episode-control-over-users-competitors-and-critics.   Audio editing for this episode by Stuga Studios: https://www.stugastudios.com. Music by Nat Keefe: https://natkeefe.com/   This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Jumana Musa joins EFF hosts Cindy Cohn and Danny O'Brien as they discuss how the third-party doctrine is undermining our Fourth Amendment right to privacy when we use digital services, and how recent court victories are a hopeful sign that we may reclaim these privacy rights in the future. In this episode you'll learn about: How the third-party doctrine is a judge-created legal doctrine that impacts your business records held by companies, including metadata such as what websites you visit, who you talk to, your location information, and much more; The Jones case, a vital Supreme Court case that found that law enforcement can't use continuous location tracking with a GPS device without a warrant; The Carpenter case, which found that the police must get a warrant before accessing cell site location information from a cell phone company over time; How law enforcement uses geofence warrants to scoop up the location data collected by companies from every device that happens to be in a geographic area during a specific period of time in the past; How getting the Fourth Amendment right is especially important because it is part of combatting racism: communities of color are more frequently surveilled and targeted by law enforcement, and thus slipshod legal standards for accessing data has a disproportionate impact on communities of color; Why even a warrant may not be an adequate legal standard sometimes, and that there are circumstances in which accessing business records should require a “super warrant” – meaning law enforcement could only access the data for investigating a limited number of crimes, and only if the data would be important for the crime.  Jumana Musa is a human rights attorney and racial justice activist. She is currently the Director of the Fourth Amendment Center at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. As director, Ms. Musa oversees NACDL's initiative to build a new, more durable Fourth Amendment legal doctrine for the digital age. The Fourth Amendment Center educates the defense bar on privacy challenges in the digital age, provides a dynamic toolkit of resources to help lawyers identify opportunities to challenge government surveillance, and establishes a tactical litigation support network to assist in key cases. Ms. Musa previously served as NACDL's Sr. Privacy and National Security Counsel. Prior to joining NACDL, Ms. Musa served as a policy consultant for the Southern Border Communities Coalition, a coalition of over 60 groups across the southwest that address militarization and brutality by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in border communities. Previously, she served as Deputy Director for the Rights Working Group, a national coalition of civil rights, civil liberties, human rights, and immigrant rights advocates where she coordinated the “Face the Truth” campaign against racial profiling. She was also the Advocacy Director for Domestic Human Rights and International Justice at Amnesty International USA, where she addressed the domestic and international impact of U.S. counterterrorism efforts on human rights. She was one of the first human rights attorneys allowed to travel to the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and served as Amnesty International's legal observer at military commission proceedings on the base. You can find Jumana on Twitter at @musajumana. Please subscribe to How to Fix the Internet via RSS, Stitcher, TuneIn, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or your podcast player of choice. You can also find this episode on the Internet Archive. If you have any feedback on this episode, please email podcast@eff.org. A transcript of the episode, as well as legal resources – including links to important cases, books, and briefs discussed in the podcast – is available at https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/11/podcast-episode-fixing-digital-loophole-fourth-amendment. Audio editing for this episode by Stuga Studios: https://www.stugastudios.com. Music by Nat Keefe: https://natkeefe.com/   This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Gigi Sohn joins EFF hosts Cindy Cohn and Danny O'Brien as they discuss broadband access in the United States – or the lack thereof. Gigi explains the choices American policymakers and tech companies made to create a country where there are millions of Americans who lack access to reliable broadband, and what steps we need to take to fix the problem now. In this episode you'll learn: How does the FCC define broadband Internet and why that definition makes no sense in 2020; How many other countries adopted policies that either incentivized competition among Internet providers or invested in government infrastructure for Internet services, while the United States did neither, leading to a much of the country having only one or two Internet service providers, high costs, and poor quality Internet service; Why companies like AT&T and Verizon aren't investing in fiber; How the FCC uses a law about telephone regulation to assert authority over regulating broadband access, and how the 1996 Telecommunication Act granted the FCC permission to forbear – or not apply – certain parts of that law; How 19 states in the U.S. have bans or limitations on municipal broadband, and why repealing those bans is key to increasing broadband access How Internet access is connected to issues of equity, upward mobility, and job accessibility, as well as related issues of racial justice, citizen journalism and police accountability; Specific suggestions and reforms, including emergency subsidies and a major investment in infrastructure, that could help turn this situation around. Gigi is a Distinguished Fellow at the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy and a Benton Senior Fellow and Public Advocate.  She is one of the nation's leading public advocates for open, affordable and democratic communications networks. From 2013-2016, Gigi was Counselor to the former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Tom Wheeler. She advised the Chairman on a wide range of Internet, telecommunications and media issues, representing him and the FCC in a variety of public forums around the country as well as serving as the primary liaison between the Chairman's office and outside stakeholders. From 2001-2013, Gigi served as the Co-Founder and CEO of Public Knowledge, a leading telecommunications, media and technology policy advocacy organization. She was previously a Project Specialist in the Ford Foundation's Media, Arts and Culture unit and Executive Director of the Media Access Project, a public interest law firm. You can find Gigi on her own podcast, Tech on the Rocks, or you can find her on Twitter at @GigiBSohn. A transcript of the episode, as well as legal resources – including links to important cases, books, and briefs discussed in the podcast – is available at https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/11/podcast-episode-why-does-my-internet-suck.  Please subscribe to How to Fix the Internet using your podcast player of choice. If you have any feedback on this episode, please email podcast@eff.org. Audio editing for this episode by Stuga Studios: https://www.stugastudios.com. Music by Nat Keefe: https://natkeefe.com/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

In the inaugural episode of EFF's "How to Fix the Internet" podcast, the Cato Institute's specialist in surveillance legal policy, Julian Sanchez, joins EFF hosts Cindy Cohn and Danny O'Brien as they delve into the problems with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, also known as the FISC or the FISA Court. Sanchez explains how the FISA Court signs off on surveillance of huge swaths of our digital lives, and how the format and structure of the FISA Court is inherently flawed. In this episode, you'll learn about: How the FISA Court impacts your digital privacy The makeup of the FISA Court and how judges are chosen How almost all of the key decisions about the legality of America's mass Internet spying projects have been made by the FISC How the current system promotes ideological hegemony within the FISA court How the FISC's endless-secrecy-by-default system insulates it from the ecosystem of jurisprudence that could act as a guardrail against poor decisions as well as accountability for them How the FISC's remit has ballooned from approving individual surveillance orders to signing off on broad programmatic types of surveillance Why we need a stronger amicus role in the FISC, and especially a bigger role for technical experts to advise the court Specific reforms that could be enacted to address these systemic issues and ensure a more fair review of surveillance systems Julian is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and studies issues at the intersection of technology, privacy, and civil liberties, with a particular focus on national security and intelligence surveillance. Before joining Cato, Julian served as the Washington editor for the technology news site Ars Technica, where he covered surveillance, intellectual property, and telecom policy. He has also worked as a writer for The Economist's blog Democracy in America and as an editor for Reason magazine, where he remains a contributing editor. Sanchez has written on privacy and technology for a wide array of national publications, ranging from the National Review to The Nation, and is a founding editor of the policy blog Just Security. He studied philosophy and political science at New York University. Find him on Twitter at @Normative. A transcript of the episode, as well as legal resources – including links to important cases, books, and briefs discussed in the podcast – is available at https://eff.org/deeplinks/2020/11/secret-court-approving-secret-surveillance. Please subscribe to How to Fix the Internet using your podcast player of choice. If you have any feedback on this episode, please email podcast@eff.org. Audio editing for this episode by Stuga Studios: https://www.stugastudios.com. Music by Nat Keefe: https://natkeefe.com/   This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.