Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)

COVID-19 has pushed millions of people to work from home, and a flock of companies offering software – or “bossware” – for tracking workers has swooped in to pitch their products to employers.

All internet users rely on Section 230, which provides important legal protections when platforms offer their services to the public and when they moderate the content that relies on those services, from the proverbial cat video to an incendiary blog post.

Some governments want a technological silver bullet to solve the public health crisis, but many of the tools aimed at solving problems come with a host of other problems that will undermine the public health goals for which they are adopted, and create new unintended consequences.

Immunity passports would threaten our privacy and information security, and would be a significant step toward a system of national digital identification that could be used to collect and store our personal information and track our location.

In a lawsuit filed by EFF, researchers are seeking access to public records on race and ethnicity in parole hearings.

EFF strongly backs calls, including from California Senate Judiciary Chair Hannah-Beth Jackson, for Governor Gavin Newsom to ensure that his response to this crisis respects Californians’ constitutional right to privacy.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made obvious how important the Internet and digital tools are to our lives and how vital it is that we maintain an open and secure approach to them.

At a time when many government agencies are collecting and analyzing personal information about large numbers of identifiable people, we must carefully consider the way that “big data” containment tools impact our digital liberties.