ELECTRONIC PRIVACY INFORMATION CENTER

Improper tracking and profiling of internet users is widespread because companies have been allowed to set their own rules and ignore data protection standards. EPIC seeks to protect users from data abuses and strengthen privacy standards online.

When consumers make a purchase online, browse the internet, or scroll through social media, they expect that companies will use their information solely for the purposes of the transaction. All too often, companies misuse, sell, or fail to protect consumers’ personal information. EPIC has a particular interest in protecting consumer privacy and has played a leading role in developing the authority of the Federal Trade Commission to address emerging privacy issues and to safeguard the privacy rights of consumers. EPIC has also long advocated for a comprehensive U.S. privacy law and strong state privacy laws.

The unchecked expansion of surveillance systems is one of the greatest threats to privacy and civil liberties that we face. EPIC advocates for greater oversight of surveillance systems and closely tracks domestic surveillance issues to ensure that civil liberties are protected.

Private companies, government agencies, and police alike use unregulated tech for surveillance. The growing use of surveillance technology, and the use of mass surveillance in particular, poses an existential threat to our individual privacy, the privacy of our communities, and our democracy. The lack of regulation and protections against unrestricted use of surveillance tech affects us all but disproportionately impacts vulnerable communities. From local police using facial recognition to identify activists to federally-funded surveillance offices run by the Department of Homeland Security, abuses of surveillance technology are not only unjust, they’re dangerous.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning systems are being deployed in opaque and unaccountable ways that can harm individuals and exacerbate biases. EPIC advocates for transparent, equitable, and commonsense AI policy and regulations.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems are used by many private sector and government entities. The definition of AI is subject to much debate, and the degree of technological sophistication in the systems can vary greatly. But there is no doubt that the use and development of AI systems is expanding rapidly.

The use of AI is poorly regulated in the United States, and the inner workings of the systems are often opaque. In many cases, members of the public are not even aware that AI systems are being used to make decisions that impact their lives. It is essential to establish regulations that recognize the harms posed by AI systems and require transparency, oversight, and accountability for both commercial and government uses of AI.

EPIC advocates for platform governance and accountability policies that protect the speech, privacy, anti-discrimination, and safety rights of internet users.

Platforms offer many beneficial services to users, but the way platforms are designed can also cause harm on individuals and society. EPIC’s Platform Governance and Accountability program focuses on understanding how online platforms operate, where those operations cause harm, and how the incentives platform companies face can be changed to minimize or mitigate harms without creating new ones.

To achieve these goals, EPIC advocates for logical, human-centered platform rules that protect users’ rights and safety. EPIC recognizes that online platforms are complex, so regulating them involves tradeoffs between important values. EPIC works to ensure that platforms are held accountable for violating the law by advocating for reasonable interpretation of the First Amendment, Section 230, and Article III standing.

EPIC’s Telephone Subscriber Privacy Project works to protect the privacy of telephone subscribers. This includes supporting vigorous enforcement of the TCPA prohibition on unwanted automated calls and texts; advocating for limits on the collection and use of telephone numbers and other subscriber data; researching and educating the public about robocalls and subscriber profiling; and advocating for greater restrictions on the collection and sale of subscribers’ personal information for unwanted telemarketing and other purposes.

The Health Privacy Project's principal objectives are to: 1) study how recent legislation and rulemakings on health privacy are being implemented and their potential impacts on health equity; 2) inform, provide technical assistance to, and advise policymakers, regulators, and other key stakeholders about the need for robust health privacy protections and about how the landscape of health privacy is shifting; and 3) educate the public on how their health data is collected, how they can best protect their own health information, and about the need for new and stronger health privacy protections.

EPIC evaluates and reimagines health protections considering the increased collection of health-related data and the risks that poses to privacy, security, and equity.