Justin Sherman, a widely recognized expert in privacy, cybersecurity, and data brokers, is joining the EPIC as Scholar in Residence in 2025. EPIC has a long history of advocating for privacy regulation, cybersecurity safeguards, and oversight of data brokers, and Justin’s expertise will contribute enormously to that work.

The Federal Communications Commission proposed an enforcement action against Telnyx, a voice service provider, for transmitting scam calls on its network from new customer accounts, de facto evidence that Telnyx did not adequately conduct due diligence before transmitting calls from its new customers.

EPIC joined dozens of groups in a coalition letter to President Trump expressing alarm at his attempts to curtail the legal authority of independent agencies, such as firing Democratic appointed Commissioners and issuing an Executive Order that would place independent agencies under direct presidential control.

EPIC Law Fellow Kara Williams testified in support of Connecticut S.B. 2, which seeks to regulate the development and use of high-risk AI systems. EPIC’s testimony focused on why bills like S.B. 2 are urgently needed because they address harms from companies using high-risk AI systems in making important decisions about people’s lives. 

EPIC Deputy Director Caitriona Fitzgerald testified before the Connecticut Joint Committee on General Laws in support of updates to the Connecticut Data Privacy Act, SB 1356. In her testimony, Fitzgerald stressed the importance of updating the data minimization standard in the CTDPA to mach the standard set in the Maryland Online Data Privacy Act last year.

EPIC, Consumer Reports, Consumer Federation of America, U.S. PIRG, and Common Sense sent a letter to the New Mexico House Commerce and Economic Development Committee in opposition of H.B. 410, a weak privacy bill. EPIC recently testified before the same Committee on a much stronger privacy bill in New Mexico, and the letter from consumer groups urged the Committee to give a favorable report to that bill instead.

Encryption is at risk in the United Kingdom. On February 7, it was reported that the United Kingdom sent notices to Apple requesting blanket capability to view fully encrypted material across Apple’s customer base, going further than its previous requests for assistance in cracking particular accounts. EPIC, along with 238 other civil society organizations, cybersecurity experts, and others, urged the U.K. Home Secretary to rescind its demand for this unprecedented back door to the world’s second largest provider of mobile devices.