 Welcome to Affector 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. Check the show notes for links to all of our stories. This is Affector Volume 34, Issue 6, titled, Victory! This issue was published on Wednesday, December 14th, 2022, and I'm your host, member outreach assistant Christian Romero. Let's start with our top feature. Next up, Victory! San Francisco Bands Killer Robots, for now. In a stunning 8-3 vote on December 6th, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors banned the San Francisco Police Department from using deadly force with remote controlled robots. The board also sent the policy back to its rules committee for revisions and more public comment. This is a big reversal. Just one week earlier, the board voted 8-3 to authorize the SFPD to use these killer robots. Applying against the use of this technology was covered by news outlets across the globe and could not have been achieved without the hard work of activists and residents across the Bay Area who worked together and made their voices heard. Next, we've got another victory. Apple commits to encrypting iCloud and drops phone scanning plans. On December 7th, Apple announced that it would provide fully encrypted iCloud backups, meeting a long-standing demand by EFF and other privacy-focused organizations. EFF applaud Apple for listening to experts, child advocates, and users who want to protect their most sensitive data. Encryption is one of the most important tools that we have for maintaining privacy and security online. That's why we included the demand that Apple let users encrypt iCloud backups in the Fix It Already campaign that we launched in 2019. And we've got another victory. The Safe Connections Act is now law. The Safe Connections Act, S120, overwhelmingly passed both chambers of Congress, and it was signed by the President on December 7th. The Act makes it easier for survivors of domestic violence to separate their phone line from a family plan while keeping their own phone number. It also requires the FCC to create rules to protect the privacy of the people seeking this protection. Next, another victory. Judges' critical investigation of patent-trial companies can move forward. The Federal Circuit denied a petition filed by Nimitz Technologies that sought to halt the investigation into patent-trolling companies responsible for filing dozens of questionable lawsuits in court. EFF filed an amicus brief in this case with Engine Advocacy and Public Interest Patent Law Institute arguing for the public's right to know who is controlling and benefiting from litigation in publicly funded courts. Okay, and for our final victory of this effector. The Link Tax Bill was excluded from the National Defense Authorization Act. EFF and its allies kept the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, the JCPA Link Tax Bill, out of must-pass U.S. military legislation. This bill would create a link tax, impacting the ability of users to see and share information online. The next stop, keeping it out of the year-end omnibus. Next, we've got some updates. First up, the Fed-averse could be awesome, if we don't screw it up. Many people have left Twitter recently, feeling the chaos of Elon Musk's takeover. Many of them are looking for a new home in the Fed-averse. This represents a rare opportunity to make a better corner of the Internet, if we don't screw it up. Next, leaving Twitter's walled garden. More and more people are checking out something called Mastodon as a Twitter alternative. But what is Mastodon anyways? This explainer will help you make heads or tails of this new approach to communications and social media. Next up, from camera towers to spy blimps, border researchers can now use 65-plus open-licensed images of surveillance tech from EFF. EFF has released a series of images taken alongside the U.S.-Mexico border in California, Arizona, and New Mexico under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Which means they are free to use as long as credit is given to EFF. Next up, the Filter Mandate Bill is a privacy and security mess. Among its many other problems, the Strengthening Measures to Advance Rights Technologies Copyright Act would mandate a slew of filtering technologies that online service providers must accommodate. And that mandate is broad, so poorly conceived, and so technically misguided that it will inevitably create serious privacy and security risks. And for our last update, get to know the Electronic Frontier Alliance, Digital 4th. EFF talks to Electronic Frontier Alliance member, Digital 4th, also known as Restore the 4th Boston, a local group that has been instrumental in passing surveillance oversight ordinances in the Greater Boston Area since 2018. Now we've got two events. First the first EFF Award Celebration, watch it here. On November 10th, individuals from every corner of the Digital Rights Community gathered in San Francisco for the EFF Awards, a newly rebranded annual celebration of the Movement for Digital Freedom, Justice, and Innovation. Watch the recorded event here. Next up, CES 2023. EFF is proud to support CES 2023. CES is in full swing with an in-person event in Las Vegas and a virtual event. Next, we have one job opening, Chief Development Officer. EFF is seeking a Chief Development Officer to lead the organization's fundraising programs. The Chief Development Officer will lead and oversee the day-to-day management and operations of the development team, co-develop and manage aspects of our development strategy, and help build our membership, major donor, and fundraising capacity. Next, we've got a few mini-links. This first one is from Reuters. EU set to bar Meta from ads based on your personal data. In a landmark ruling, Meta will only be able to run advertising based on personal data with users' consent. This next one is from the LA Times. ICE accidentally released the identities of 6,252 immigrants who sought protection in the US. ICE reported that they accidentally posted the names, birth dates, nationalities, and attention locations of more than 6,000 immigrants who claim to be fleeing from torture and prosecution. This next one is from the Border Chronicle. The increasing surveillance of the US-Mexico borderlands. The Border Chronicle joins EFF on a tour to visit the fortification of surveillance on the United States-Mexico border. This next one is for the Center for Democracy and Technology, de-weaponizing and standardizing the post-election audit. The Center for Democracy and Technology has a new report that they hope can serve as a guide to the post-election audit landscape in 2022 and a path forward for improving post-election audits in 2024 and beyond. This next one is from Time. Employee surveillance is a working mom's nightmare. The founder of Girls Who Code writes in Time that employer surveillance of remote employees, which usually comes with punitive measures for those employees deemed insufficiently active, hits mothers with children at home especially hard. Next up from the New York Times, whatever happened to those self-service passport kiosks at airports? The New York Times asks what happened to self-service kiosks at airports? And the answer is that an increasing number of travelers are being shepherded into face recognition. And our last mini-link comes from the New Yorker. Corey Doctro wants you to know what computers can and can't do. EFF's Corey Doctro is in the New Yorker this week, dropping gems like, quote, When we design a computer that treats its user or owner as its adversary, we lay the groundwork for unimaginable acts of oppression and terror. 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. See past issues and subscribe at EFF.org slash Effector. Before we end this issue of the newsletter, I just want to let you know that EFF is a member-supported nonprofit organization and you can help us protect digital privacy, security, and free expression for everyone. Donate to EFF today and even grab a bit of gear by heading over to EFF.org slash Effect. That's EFF.org slash EFF ECT. You can become a member for as little as $25 or even sign up as a monthly or annual donor. Thanks for your support and I hope you'll join us for the next issue of Effector.