EPIC

16 Oct 2025

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epic.orgEPIC Alert

epic.orgEPIC Urges D.C. Council to Protect Student Privacy and Pass Strong Procurement Guidelines for EdtechEPIC submitted public testimony to the D.C. Council Committee of the Whole urging them to pass strong procurement guidelines for technology that utilizes AI or automated decision-making systems in sch...

EPIC recently urged the DC Council to pass strong procurement guidelines for AI usage in schools. ✏️ AI edtech tools can threaten students’ privacy & civil rights. EPIC encourages the Council to establish procurement guardrails that prevent harmful technology from entering schools.

epic.orgOn the Road to Risk: Connected Cars Put Drivers’ Privacy and Safety in Harm’s WayConnected car privacy is now a mainstream problem for nearly every driver, with even greater risks for certain populations, like targets of domestic violence (DV). Recent state laws, federal regulator...

🚘 Our latest blog post explores the privacy risks of connected cars, especially for domestic violence survivors. Several states have passed targeted connected-car statutes; however, work remains to ensure all drivers can use connected cars without facing privacy and safety risks.

EPIC urges New York Governor Kathy Hochul to sign and strengthen the One Fair Price Act, a bill that would ban surveillance pricing within the state. ⬇️

EPIC joined four other organizations: @consumerreports.org, @cdt.org, @groundwork.bsky.social, and @techequity.bsky.social Action, in sending a letter Monday explaining how the Governor could strengthen protections for New Yorkers and urging her to reject calls to weaken protections.

epic.orgEPIC Joins Coalition Urging New York Governor to Sign and Strengthen Surveillance Pricing Law

Surveillance pricing is incredibly unpopular with consumers, with polls finding that 76% say it’s unfair for companies to use customers’ personal information to charge different prices for the same products.

epic.orgMeta Fined $25 Billion by New Mexican Court for Violating Privacy During Cambridge Analytica ScandalOn Wednesday, the New Mexico Department of Justice announced that the state is issuing a $25 billion penalty against Meta for the company’s violations of New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act.

On Wednesday, the state of New Mexico fined social media giant Meta $25B for violating consumer privacy during the 2010s Cambridge Analytica scandal. EPIC continues to advocate for stronger data privacy standards online and robust enforcement against companies that violate consumer privacy rights.

EPIC wrote an amicus brief along with @techjusticelaw.bsky.social and scholars urging the Ninth Circuit to reject Big Tech’s claim that addictive, surveillance-based feeds are protected speech. ⬇️

epic.orgJudges Sides with EPIC and AG, Telling Google, TikTok, and Meta Their Addictive Social Media Features Are Not 1A SpeechBig Tech’s overbroad arguments that their addictive social media features are protected speech were dealt a major blow in an order issued Thursday in the combined TikTok, Meta, and Google v. Bonta cas...

EPIC’s brief in the district court stage of this case was cited multiple times in the judge’s order rejecting the companies’ claims.

epic.orgEPIC, Tech Justice Law, and Scholars Urge Ninth Circuit to Reject Big Tech’s Claim That Addictive, Surveillance-Based Feeds Are Protected Speech

Read more about Tuesday’s brief and EPIC's advocacy for social media design regulations:

epic.orgEncrypted Messaging Platforms Still Under AttackGlobal Encryption Day is an annual day of action when advocates, champions, and everyday people come together to celebrate, promote, and defend encryption, a key security approach that enables safe on...

Today is #GlobalEncryptionDay! 📱 Encryption is a critical piece of the cybersecurity puzzle, keeping messages and data safe. But what happens when platforms hosting encrypted messaging services are under attack? Learn how the commercial spyware industry threatens these platforms in our new blog:

epic.orgNew Jersey Advances Strong Chatbot Regulations Based on EPIC’s People-First ModelThe bill would put strong privacy safeguards in place for chatbots as well as create a liability framework that will allow New Jerseyans harmed by chatbots to hold companies accountable in court.

EPIC applauds New Jersey lawmakers on advancing A5607, a bill that would require chatbot providers to adopt strong privacy protections. 👏 EPIC Counsel Kara Williams testified on Monday in support of the bill. Read more about EPIC’s testimony at epic.org/new-jersey-a...

Join EPIC at the Wharf’s Politics and Prose on November 4 at 7pm for a conversation with EPIC Advisory Board member Sherry Turkle and Deborah Tannen on Sherry’s new book, Artificial Intimacy.

epic.orgCBP’s Predictive Policing Units Have Financial Data, Won’t Say How They Got ItA recent story by 404 Media revealed that Customs & Border Patrol’s (CBP) predictive policing units, or Predictive Intelligence Targeting Teams (PITT) have been using financial data to target individu...

In a new blog, EPIC delved into privacy concerns around CBP’s mysterious acquisition and use of financial data. CBP has been using financial info, travel data, and predictive algorithms to surveil people, all without telling us how it is getting this information. Read more: epic.org/cbps-predict...

EPIC's @sarageoghegan.bsky.social attended Wednesday's SCOTUS hearing for Salazar v. Paramount Global, a key digital privacy case. Check out her takeaways 👇

Sara Geoghegan@sarageoghegan.bsky.social

Funky women’s wrestling videos, gas station sushi, and gobbledygook: my takeaways from attending the Supreme Court’s hearing about the Blockbuster law, Salazar v. Paramount Global

epic.orgPRESS RELEASE: Voting Rights and Privacy Organizations Sue Trump-Vance Administration Over Secretive Collection of Millions of Americans’ Voter RecordsThe League of Women Voters, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) filed a lawsuit today challenging the Trump-Vance…

NEW LAWSUIT: EPIC, @lwv.org, and @lulacorg.bsky.social is suing the Trump-Vance administration for their secretive & unlawful efforts to collect and compile millions of Americans’ voter records into a nationwide database and using it as a means to investigate supposed voter fraud. Read more ⬇️

events.georgetown.eduFritz Digital Ethics Forum: A Panel Discussion with Sherry Turkle on “Artificial Intimacy: Who We Become When We Talk to Machines”A Fritz Digital Ethics Forum with Sherry Turkle, author of Artificial Intimacy: Who We Become When We Talk to Machines (Little, Brown and Compa...

On Nov 5, EPIC Advisory Board member Sherry Turkle will be in conversation with EPIC’s Alan Butler, Professor Yoshi Kohno, and Professor Elissa Redmiles about artificial intimacy and AI chatbots @ Georgetown’s Fritz Digital Ethics Forum. Register for free ➡️ events.georgetown.edu/digital-ethi...

techpolicy.pressSpirit Airlines Is Selling Its Workers’ Data. That Can’t Fly.Spirit’s bankruptcy makes clear what privacy advocates have warned about for years, write Abigail Kunkler and Mayu Tobin-Miyaji, both counsels at EPIC.

✍️ EPIC’s Abigail Kunkler and Mayu Tobin-Miyaji wrote about the privacy issues in Spirit Airline’s attempts to sell employee data to Google for AI training. We also filed an amicus brief supporting @afacwa.org's objections to the sale; the hearing on the sale of worker data will be held tomorrow.

epic.orgLooking Ahead: Pixel Tracking Litigation under ECPA and CIPA can Provide Useful Guidelines for the Supreme Court in Salazar v. Paramount Global

As the Supreme Court prepares for oral argument in Salazar v. Paramount—a case that will decide whether the 1988 federal Video Privacy Protection Act applies to modern technologies like pixel tracking—a new EPIC blog explores the broader context of pixel tracking litigation. epic.org/looking-ahea...

epic.orgEPIC to NYC Council: Address the AI Harms Already Affecting New YorkersOn Monday, Mayu Tobin-Miyaji, Counsel at EPIC, testified at New York City Council’s rare council-wide hearing on a series of bills to establish safeguards on artificial intelligence (AI).

EPIC Counsel Mayu Tobin-Miyaji testified this week in a council-wide hearing of the New York City Council. She urged the Council to prioritize combatting the harms AI systems are causing New Yorkers now rather than focusing on hypothetical risks. Learn more: epic.org/epic-to-nyc-...

epic.orgEPIC Offers Comments on Vermont Age-Appropriate Design Code RulemakingOn October 2, EPIC provided comments on two proposed rules announced by the Vermont Attorney General implementing Vermont’s Age-Appropriate Design Code.

Last week, EPIC submitted comments to the Vermont AG on proposed rules for the state’s AADC, encouraging the AG to identify abusive design practices not to be deployed to minors and suggesting ways to ensure age-assurance preserves privacy while protecting kids. Read more: epic.org/epic-issues-...

epic.orgEPIC Files Amicus Brief Challenging Spirit Airlines’ Bankruptcy Sale of Employee Data to GoogleOn Thursday, EPIC, along with Professor Seema Patel, filed an amicus brief using privacy grounds to challenge the sale of sensitive employee data in Spirit Airlines’ bankruptcy proceedings to Google t...

Last week, EPIC filed an amicus brief challenging Spirit Airlines’ sale of employee data to Google for AI training. We support @afacwa.org's objections to the sale and have long advocated for more privacy protections on workers’ data. Read more about the case: epic.org/epic-files-a...

Your Attention Please, a new film about how social media is built to be addictive, and the people pushing back, is available now on Apple TV, Amazon, and Doc+.

epic.orgEPIC’s Model Age-Appropriate Design CodeEPIC’s Model Age-Appropriate Design Code (AADC) protects kids online by prohibiting addictive design features for minors, giving them control over their privacy, and preventing companies from…

The film shows that the harm comes from the design of the platforms, and EPIC’s model AADC prohibits platforms from offering addictive features. Read it here: epic.org/epic-model-a...

epic.orgMeta’s Mass Data Collection Is Not A-Muse-ing

Meta’s “personal AI agent,” Muse, encourages users to hand over troves of personal data about themselves and their contacts, including financial, communications, health, and other sensitive data. Please don’t. epic.org/metas-mass-d...

Muse also collects information on individuals who are not Muse users and have not consented to their data being used in this way. Examples include reading communications exchanges, analyzing images, reviewing calendars, and even creating lists of doxxing targets.

Meta’s abysmal track record with personal information and user manipulation should concern people considering handing over personal data and control over decisions. Trust is earned, and Meta has a lot of earning to do.

epic.orgMeta’s Mass Data Collection Is Not A-Muse-ing

There are already multiple examples of Muse overstepping user instructions and either disregarding limits or interpreting instructions as broadly as possible to allow for more data collection and use—such as by scanning emails without permission and sharing a user’s address.

eocampaign1.comEPIC Fights Voter Citizenship Lists + Submits Chatrie Geofence BriefEPIC urged a federal court to swiftly rule on th Trump administration’s plan

Check out the new edition of The EPIC Alert! Our monthly newsletter is the best way to stay up to date on all things EPIC, from lawsuits to legislation. Didn't receive The Alert in your inbox or not yet a subscriber? Take a look at this month's issue here: eocampaign1.com/web-version?...

Reminder! If you hate online scams and want to learn what you can do to protect yourself and hold Big Tech accountable, join the National Day of Action to stop online scams today at 1 p.m.: www.unitedtostoponlinescams.org.

epic.orgEPIC Urges Third Circuit to Uphold Pennsylvania’s Protections Against Posting Voter Data Online

Last week, EPIC urged the Third Circuit to protect Pennsylvania voter data. In an amicus brief defending a PA law banning the online publication of voter registration lists, EPIC argued that the law is viewpoint-neutral and does not violate the First Amendment. Read more: epic.org/epic-urges-t...

epic.orgEPIC and Consumer Groups Urge FTC to Treat Surveillance Pricing as an Unfair Practice

EPIC and consumer groups are urging the FTC to crack down on surveillance pricing, a practice in which companies charge different people different prices based on their personal data. Telling consumers it's happening isn't enough. The practice should be prohibited. epic.org/epic-and-con...

We're urging the FTC to withdraw its claim that it lacks authority to prohibit personalized pricing and to consider using its Section 18 rulemaking authority to ban the practice outright.

Thanks to our co-signers @digitaldemoc.bsky.social, @consumerfed.bsky.social, @demandprogress.bsky.social, and @nationalconsumers.bsky.social and to the NYU Technology Law & Policy Clinic for its assistance.

epic.orgEPIC and Consumer Groups Urge FTC to Treat Surveillance Pricing as an Unfair Practice

As our comment explains: "[D]isclosure does not solve any of these three elements because it does not lower the price charged, does not return the data collected, and does not give consumers a realistic path to act on the information once received."

New York's Algorithmic Pricing Disclosure Act shows the problem in practice. Companies are placing the required disclosures below the checkout button or behind info icons, where shoppers can finish a purchase without ever seeing them.

epic.orgEPIC and Consumer Groups Urge FTC to Treat Surveillance Pricing as an Unfair Practice

The FTC's proposed policy statement would require companies to disclose when a price was personalized using consumers' data, including why and what data was used. We commend the FTC for acting, but disclosure alone can't cure the harms.

Surveillance pricing meets every element of the FTC Act's unfairness test. It causes substantial injury, consumers can't reasonably avoid it, and the harm isn't outweighed by benefits to consumers or competition.

Next month, the Supreme Court will decide how a privacy law from 1988 applies to the modern internet. 🧵 on the case ⬇️

EPIC filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court arguing that a definition of “consumer” that includes an individual that subscribed to any goods or services from a Video Tape Service Provider is a plain-text interpretation of the law and is consistent with the law’s intent.

epic.orgSCOTUS to Resolve Circuit Split on VPPA “Consumer” Definition in Salazar V. Paramount Global

Read more about the case and the circuit split that led here: epic.org/scotus-to-re...

Next month, the Supreme Court will decide how a privacy law from 1988 applies to the modern internet. 🧵 on the case ⬇️

Congress originally passed the VPPA as a reaction to Judge Robert Bork’s video rental history being made public during his nomination to the Supreme Court in 1987. The VPPA made clear that it is a violation of the fundamental right to privacy to disclose video viewing habits without consent.

In this case, Michael Salazar alleges that Paramount Global violated the VPPA by sharing his video viewing history from its website 247Sports.com with Meta through a third-party tracking pixel embedded in the site. These tracking pixels are embedded in sites all across the internet.

Next month, the Supreme Court will decide how a privacy law from 1988 applies to the modern internet. 🧵 on the case ⬇️

The case, Salazar v. Paramount Global, asks the Supreme Court to resolve a circuit split about who qualifies as a consumer under the Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988 (VPPA).

Tech platforms have become a playground for predators and scammers. People are being scammed out of their life savings, and tech billionaires are getting rich from it. Join the National Day of Action on Sept. 30 to stop online scams. RSVP at www.unitedtostoponlinescams.org