EPIC - Electronic Privacy Information Center

10/20/2026

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 to the Assembly Committee on Public Safety and Preparedness.

“This bill would limit chatbot providers’ ability to continue exploiting users’ personal data by implementing specific privacy protections over the information users give chatbots,” Williams said in her testimony. “Equally important, this bill also sets out a robust liability framework for chatbot providers.”

10/19/2026

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.

10/16/2026

In a new blog, EPIC delved into privacy concerns surrounding CBP’s mysterious acquisition and use of financial data. CBP has been using financial information, travel data, and predictive algorithms to surveil people and feed leads to local law enforcement, regardless of whether that person is actually suspected of a crime. CBP isn't revealing how it has been getting people’s financial records for predictive policing, and existing legal protections aren’t keeping up with how the government has been conducting secret mass surveillance.

Lawmakers need to rein in predictive policing and hold agencies accountable. EPIC calls on Congress to investigate CBP’s predictive policing teams, amend existing laws, close the data broker loophole, and put the brakes on the use of automatic license plate reader networks for surveillance.

Read more:

A 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 individuals for anomalous financial activities and hiding their involvement behind local law enforcement. ...

10/15/2026

NEW LAWSUIT: EPIC, the League of Women Voters, and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) filed suit today challenging the Trump-Vance administration’s secretive and unlawful efforts to collect and compile millions of Americans’ voter records into a massive nationwide database. The plaintiffs are represented by Democracy Forward and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

DHS illegally obtained and processed voter records from at least 47 states as part of its sweeping efforts to investigate supposed voter fraud. These records contain highly sensitive personal information like Social Security numbers, birth dates, driver’s license numbers, political affiliations, and voting history. DHS also combined voting records with information purchased from data brokers to create an extensive collection of Americans’ personal information.

“DHS is sweeping up our most sensitive data by any means necessary to fuel its anti-immigration agenda and chase down nonexistent voter fraud. As part of this agenda, the agency is greatly overstepping its authority, violating federal privacy law, and trampling on our privacy, fundamental rights, and democratic values,” said Alan Butler, Executive Director and President of EPIC. “EPIC is proud to join the League and LULAC to stand up against this blatant abuse of our data and defend the fundamental right to privacy.”

Read more ⬇️

The 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 administration’s secretive and unlawful effort to collect and compile sensitive personal information about millio...

10/14/2026

EPIC Advisory Board member Sherry Turkle will be in conversation with EPIC’s Alan Butler, Professor Yoshi Kohno, and Professor Elissa Redmiles about the ethical, psychological, legal, and policy challenges raised by AI chatbots. As part of Georgetown’s Fritz Digital Ethics Forum, the panel will discuss themes from Professor Turkle’s new book "Artificial Intimacy: Who We Become When We Talk to Machines"

🗓️ When: November 5 @ 7:30pm
📍 Where: Georgetown University, Gaston Hall
⬇️ Register for free:

A Fritz Digital Ethics Forum with Sherry Turkle, author of Artificial Intimacy: Who We Become When We Talk to Machines (Little, Brown and Compa...

10/13/2026

Yesterday, EPIC’s Abigail Kunkler and Mayu Tobin-Miyaji published an analysis piece in Tech Policy Press about Spirit Airline’s attempts to sell employee data to Google in its bankruptcy proceedings. For $10 million, Google is proposing to buy troves of employee data for AI training purposes. Much of this sensitive information includes payroll, disciplinary records, travel, and internal communications.

There are significant privacy issues at stake with the sale of employees’ data, and the sale agreement is insufficient to protect workers’ privacy. This is an important case for those interested in privacy and worker power, and Kunkler and Tobin-Miyaji's piece highlights what must change to protect worker interests moving forward when tech companies have an insatiable appetite for AI training data.

EPIC also filed an amicus brief supporting the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO's objection to the sale of employee data in Spirit Airline’s bankruptcy proceedings. The hearing on the sale of the deidentified data will be held tomorrow, October 14.

Read more here:

Spirit’s bankruptcy makes clear what privacy advocates have warned about for years, write Abigail Kunkler and Mayu Tobin-Miyaji, both counsels at EPIC.

10/09/2026

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Salazar v. Paramount, a case that will determine whether the 1988 federal privacy law the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) applies to modern technologies like pixel tracking.

EPIC’s new blog post—the second of two blog posts on the Salazar case—explores the broader context of pixel tracking litigation under laws other than the VPPA, including the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) and California’s state law equivalent, the California Invasion of Privacy Act (C**A).

Read more: https://epic.org/looking-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 to hear the upcoming privacy case in Salazar v. Paramount Global under the VPPA, broader trends in pixel tracking litigation reveal concerted efforts to counteract harmful online tracking and surveillance. Though Salazar is one example, plaintiffs have pursued these cas...

10/08/2026

EPIC Counsel Mayu Tobin-Miyaji testified this week in a rare council-wide hearing of the New York City Council. She urged councilmembers to prioritize combatting the harms AI systems are causing New Yorkers now rather than focusing on discussing hypothetical risks.

In particular, EPIC voiced support for Intro 2599, which was based on EPIC’s People-First Chatbot model bill, and Intro 2600, which would create clear liability for foreseeable harm caused by AI products.

The hearing lasted nearly 10 hours and featured stakeholders including representatives from AI companies, whistleblowers, advocates, NYC government leaders, and the public.

Learn more about the hearing:

On 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).

10/07/2026

Last week, EPIC submitted comments to the Vermont Attorney General on proposed rules implementing the state’s Age-Appropriate Design Code. Our comments encouraged the AG to more specifically identify abusive design practices that companies may not deploy to minors and suggested ways to ensure age-assurance techniques preserve privacy while effectively protecting kids.

Strong rules are essential to ensure that the AADC can effectively protect minors online. Read more about our recommendations:

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

10/06/2026

Last week, EPIC and Professor Seema Patel filed an amicus brief challenging Spirit Airlines’ sale of employee data to Google in its bankruptcy proceedings.

Spirit Airlines proposed to sell troves of employee data to Google for AI training purposes. Much of this sensitive information includes payroll, disciplinary records, travel, and internal communications. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO filed a limited objection to the sale of employee data, and EPIC supports their objection.

There are privacy issues at stake with the sale of employees’ data. The sale agreement doesn’t clearly state that it will protect employee data and will only create incentives for other employers to over-collect employee data in the hopes of monetizing that data if they were to go through bankruptcy.

Read more about EPIC’s brief:

On 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 to be used for AI training. The brief was filed with Harvard Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic’s rep...