Through EPIC's lawsuit against the DHS, EPIC obtained a previously undisclosed Report about security breaches prior to the 2016 Presidential Election. The DHS/FBI report "Threats of Federal, State, and Local Government Systems" describes attacks on US elections and includes recommendations for cybersecurity risks. In the FOIA lawsuit, EPIC seeks to determine whether the DHS responded effectively to election security threats in 2016, The case is EPIC v. DHS, 17-2047 (D.D.C.).
Today the FCC announced proposed fines against T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint for selling customers' location information. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said: "This FCC will not tolerate phone companies putting Americans' privacy at risk." The companies are given an an opportunity to respond to the FCC before the Commission makes a final decision. EPIC has long advocated for protection of location privacy. EPIC pursued a lawsuit against a mobile app company that led to greater protection of users' location data. EPIC also successfully petitioned the FCC to safeguard sensitive data collected by phone companies. And EPIC filed an amicus brief in Carpenter v. US. The Supreme Court held in that case that the Fourth Amendment protects cell site location information.
Speaking at the launch of the OECD AI Policy Observatory in Paris, EPIC President Marc Rotenberg urged OECD member countries to defend
"the rule of law, fundamental rights, and democratic institutions." Rotenberg praised the OECD for its work on the AI Principles, noted the influence of the OECD Privacy Guidelines, but also warned that AI decisionmaking will have a profound impact on employment, education, and criminal justice. "The OECD is uniquely situated,:" Rotenberg said "to promote economic growth and protect democratic values." EPIC helped establish the OECD Civil Society Advisory Council and has gathered support for the Universal Guidelines for AI, a policy framework to protect human rights. EPIC's Rotenberg first urged "algorithmic transparency" at the OECD global forum in Japan in 2014.
