 Welcome to Effector from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. This is the audio edition of EFF's email newsletter geared towards keeping you on the bleeding edge of your digital rights. This is Effector, Volume 35, Issue 9, titled Fighting for Internet Freedoms Around the World. This issue was published on June 24, 2023, and I'm your host, Membership Advocate Christian Romero. Let's start with our top features. First draft of UN Cybercrime Treaty drops troubling provisions, but dangerous and open-ended cross-border surveillance powers are back on the table. The much-anticipated official first negotiated draft of the proposed UN Cybercrime Convention shaped by many months of Member States-led negotiations, in which EFF has been deeply involved, is now public. With the release of this zero draft, Member States will start article by article negotiations to reach consensus on a final draft during a two-week marathon session, from August 21st through September 1st. EFF will be there, continuing our push for robust human rights protections in the treaty. Settled human rights standards as building blocks for platform accountability and regulation, a contribution to the Brazilian debate. Read EFF's in-depth report on the current discussion about platform regulation in Brazil, both in the draft bill known as PL2630, and in constitutional cases pending the country's Supreme Court. Much effort is going into addressing these challenges, but proper responses are not simple to craft. We should be able to tailor these responses safeguarding the positive potential of digital technologies and the essential role that freedom of expression, including access to information, plays in preserving democratic societies. And for our last feature, DSA must follow a human rights-centered enforcement process, with regulators engaging international civil society voices. EFF and its partners in the Digital Services Act Human Rights Alliance called on European regulators today to engage international civil society voices and forge a human rights centered approach in talks about the implementation and enforcement of the DSA, which sets out new responsibilities and rules for how platforms handle and make decisions about billions of users posts. And now let's roll through some updates. First up, celebrating 33 years of EFF. EFF has officially been working towards internet freedom longer than many people have been online. Executive Director Cindy Cohen expresses her gratitude to EFF supporters for ensuring that digital rights remain important and vital, even as the internet itself becomes a crucial yet overlooked fact of life for most. Next up, victory. Ninth Circuit allows human rights case to move forward against Cisco systems. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit cleared a path of legal accountability for American technology companies who build tools that facilitate human rights abuses by foreign governments. In a case called DOE v Cisco Systems, a tremendous victory for victims of digital tools of repression. EFF filed multiple amicus briefs in the case, including in the Ninth Circuit. Next up, generative AI policy must be precise, careful, and practical. How to cut through the hype and spot potential risks in new legislation. Anxiety about generative AI is growing almost as fast as the use of the technology itself, fueled by dramatic rhetoric from prominent features in tech, entertainment, and national security. Everything they suggest must be done to stave off any number of catastrophes, from the death of artists to the birth of new robot overlords. Given the often hyperbolic tone, it might be tempting and correct to dismiss much of this as the usual moral panic new technologies provoke or self-interested hype. But there are some legitimate concerns in the mix too that may require some rules of the road. If so, policymakers should answer some important questions before crafting or passing on those rules. As always, the devil is in the details, and EFF is here to help you sort through them to identify solid strategies and potential collateral damage. And for our last update, even the government thinks it should stop buying corporate surveillance data. US government intelligence agencies are buying data about us. The danger to our civil liberties is so extreme that even the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said things have gone too far in a detailed report released in June. Next, we've got a few announcements. First, our new Watcher's T-shirt. We're excited to launch our new member t-shirt for 2023. Donate at the copper level or above to receive our new Watcher's T-shirt. Next up, EFF at Black Hat USA. EFF is excited to go to Black Hat USA from August 5th through 10th. If you have any legal concerns regarding an upcoming talk or sensitive info set research you are conducting at any time, please email info at EFF.org and we will do our best to get you the help you need. Next up, EFF at B-Sides Las Vegas. EFF is excited to be back at the Tuscany Suites and Casino on August 8th through 9th for B-Sides Las Vegas. Stop by the EFF booth to chat with some of our team and learn about the latest developments in defending digital freedom for all. You can even pick up a special gift as a token of our thanks when you take advantage of our membership specials or donate. And of course, EFF at DEF CON 31. Come find us in the vendor area from August 10th through 13th to talk about the latest in online rights, get on our Action Alert list, or donate and become an EFF member. We'll also have our limited edition DEF CON 31 t-shirts available. These t-shirts have a puzzle incorporated into the design. Try your hand at cracking it. And finally, we have some mini-links. First up, from Malware Bytes Lock and Code Podcast, of Sharks, Surveillance, and SpideOn Emails. This is Section 702 with Matthew Gariglia. Host David Roots talks with EFF's Matthew Gariglia about what the NSA can grab online whether its agents can read that information and who they can share it with and how a database that was ostensibly created to monitor foreign intelligence operations became a tool for investigating Americans at home. Next up from the Sacramento Bee. Sacramento Sheriff is sharing license plate reader data with anti-abortion states. Records show. The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office is defying the demand that EFF and the ACLU's of Northern and Southern California made to 72 California police agencies, urging them to stop breaking state law by sharing automated license plate reader data with police agencies and states that have made abortion illegal. But just a few miles from Sacramento, the Woodland Police Department has agreed to abide by state law and stop this illegal sharing. EFF's Adam Schwartz helps explain. Next up from Wired, The Quiet Rise of Real-Time Crime Centers. Real-time crime centers, hubs where police pool surveillance camera feeds, automated license plate reader information, and other data, are springing up in cities large and small across America. Few people know they exist, let alone the extent of the surveillance they entail, so they can receive little public scrutiny and often operate without much oversight. EFF's Barrel Lipton discusses how these panopticons hypercharge concerns over violations of First and Fourth Amendment rights. Our last mini-link comes from Context and Thomson Reuters Foundation. What does threads mean for digital rights? There's something a bit shocking about threads, the new social media service from Metta, and it could turn out to be shockingly good, EFF's Ross Schulman writes in an op-ed. And that's it, thanks for listening. If you like what you're hearing, be sure to sign up for the email version of Effector, which includes links to in-depth coverage of these stories and more. You can see past issues and subscribe at eff.org slash effector. That's EFF dot org slash EFF ECT OR. Before we end this issue of the newsletter, I want to let you know that EFF is a member-supported nonprofit organization. You can help us protect digital privacy, security, and free expression for everyone. Donate to EFF today and grab a bit of gear by heading over to EFF dot org slash effect. That's EFF dot org slash EFF ECT. Thank you for your support, and I hope you'll join us for the next issue of EFF ECTOR.