Jason Kelley
Slate
San Francisco, CA, United States
Contact Jason
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Past articles by Jason:
Elon Musk Is Pulling the Plug on a Tool That Made Twitter Great
What we’ll be left with is a Twitter that’s less fun, less open, less interesting, and more expensive—but with just as many problems as before. → Read More
KOSA Would Let the Government Control What Young People See Online
The latest version of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is focused on removing online information that people need to see—people of all ages. Letting governments—state or federal—decide what information anyone needs to see is a dangerous endeavor. On top of that, this bill, supposedly designed to... → Read More
If Caring About Your Digital Privacy Makes Me a Cult Member, Sign Me Up
An Arkansas prosecutor recently said that Americans who care about their digital security belong to a “cult of privacy.” → Read More
Federal Judge: Invasive Online Proctoring "Room Scans" Are Unconstitutional
Online proctoring companies employ a lengthy list of dangerous monitoring and tracking techniques in an attempt to determine whether or not students are potentially cheating, many of which are biased and ineffective. This week, one of the more invasive techniques—the “room scan”—was correctly... → Read More
Twitter Has a New Owner. Here’s What He Should Do.
Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter highlights the risks to human rights and personal safety when any single person has complete control over policies affecting almost 400 million users. And in this case, that person has repeatedly demonstrated that they do not understand the realities of platform policy at scale. → Read More
Podcast Episode: Hack to the Future
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... → Read More
Copyright is Not a Shortcut Around the Constitution’s Anonymous Speech Protections, EFF Tells Court
Anonymous speech is an important protection for those concerned about political or economic retribution, harassment, or even threats to their lives. The shield that protects those speakers’ anonymity in U.S. court is the First Amendment, and applying the appropriate constitutional test during... → Read More
Students Are Learning To Resist Surveillance: Year in Review 2021
It’s been a tough year for students - but a good one for resistance. As schools have shuffled students from in-person education to at-home learning and testing, then back again, the lines between “school” and “home” have been blurred. This has made it increasingly difficult for students to protect... → Read More
After Facebook Leaks, Here Is What Should Come Next
Every year or so, a new Facebook scandal emerges. These blowups follow a fairly standard pattern, at least in the U.S. First, new information is revealed that the company misled users about an element of the platform—data sharing and data privacy, extremist content, ad revenue, responses to abuse—... → Read More
Why EFF Flew a Plane Over Apple's Headquarters
For the last month, civil liberties and human rights organizations, researchers, and customers have demanded that Apple cancel its plan to install photo-scanning software onto devices. This software poses an enormous danger to privacy and security. Apple has heard the message, and announced that it... → Read More
Don’t Stop Now: Join EFF, Fight for the Future at Apple Protests Nationwide
We’re winning—but we can’t let up the pressure. Apple has delayed their plan to install dangerous mass surveillance software onto their devices, but we need them to cancel the program entirely. Next week, just before Apple’s big iPhone launch event, we need your help to make sure the company does... → Read More
25,000 EFF Supporters Have Told Apple Not To Scan Their Phones
Over the weekend, our petition to Apple asking the company not to install surveillance software in every iPhone hit an important milestone: 25,000 signatures. We plan to deliver this petition to Apple soon; and the more individuals who sign, the more impact it will have. We are deeply grateful to... → Read More
Illinois Bought Invasive Phone Location Data From Banned Broker Safegraph
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) purchased access to precise geolocation data about over 40% of the state’s population from Safegraph, the controversial data broker recently banned from Google’s app store. In an agreement signed in January 2019, IDOT paid $49,500 for access to two years’ worth of raw location data. The dataset consisted of over 50 million → Read More
What to Do When Schools Use Canvas or Blackboard Logs to Allege Cheating
Over the past few months, students from all over the country have reached out to EFF and other advocacy organizations because their schools—including teachers and administrators—have made flimsy claims about cheating based on digital logs from online learning platforms that don’t hold up to... → Read More
Proctoring Tools and Dragnet Investigations Rob Students of Due Process
In March, Dartmouth’s Committee on Student Performance and Conduct (CSPC) accused several students of accessing restricted materials online during exams. These accusations were based on a flawed review of an entire year’s worth of the students’ log data from Canvas, the online learning platform that contains class lectures and information. Similar to schools that rely heavily → Read More
Online-Only Vaccine Distribution Will Leave Too Many Behind
As the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines has begun across the U.S., there have been numerous reports of people having trouble getting it—not just because of its limited availability, but also because some counties and states have chosen to require computer and Internet access to sign up. This is a... → Read More
For Many, the Arab Spring Isn't Over
Ten years ago today, Egyptians took to the streets to topple a dictator who had clung to power for nearly three decades. January 25th remains one of the most important dates of the Arab Spring, a series of massive, civilian-led protests and uprisings that spread across the Middle East and North... → Read More
Face Surveillance and the Capitol Attack
After last week’s violent attack on the Capitol, law enforcement is working overtime to identify the perpetrators. This is critical to accountability for the attempted insurrection. Law enforcement has many, many tools at their disposal to do this, especially given the very public nature of most of... → Read More
ExamSoft Flags One Third of California Bar Exam Test Takers for Cheating
One of EFF’s chief concerns about exam proctoring software—in addition to the fact that it subjects students to excessive surveillance—is the risk that it will incorrectly flag students for cheating, called “false positives.” This can be due either to the software’s technical failures or to its... → Read More
The CASE Act Is Just the Beginning of the Next Copyright Battle
As we feared, the “Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act”—the CASE Act—that we’ve been fighting in various forms for two years has been included in a "must-pass" spending bill. This new legislation means Internet users could face up to $30,000 in penalties for sharing a meme or... → Read More