reclaim Your privacy

In a climate where we worry about which rights the government may take away next, EFF is focused on keeping your data safe.

That means opposing law enforcement’s all-too-easy access to commercial, consumer, and personal government data.

When data brokers hoover up and then sell our data, the buyers include government agencies that use this information to spy on people without warrants. These agencies grab data collected for one purpose (like paying taxes) and use it for others (like targeting immigrants).

EFF is fighting data brokers, challenging illegal information sharing, and suing DOGE for stealing government employees’ personnel data.

What EFF is doing

Countless advertising networks secretly monitor you and build detailed profiles of your behavior online. EFF advocates for lawmakers to close legal loopholes that enable this unscrupulous tracking, including when law enforcement buys this data in warrantless searches.

Getting Location Tracking Off the Map

You’re probably walking around all day with a beacon in your pocket that constantly transmits your location: your phone. EFF holds law enforcement accountable to ensure police get a search warrant before accessing this sensitive data. This is particularly important when protecting the privacy of people providing or seeking gender affirming care or abortion.

Blocking Behavioral Advertising

The reason companies collect so much of your data is to sell it to advertisers and government agencies. If we get rid of behavioral advertising, that incentive dries up, leaving companies without a reason to track your every data point.

EFF created Privacy Badger to protect you from this nefarious tracking online. Through our Surveillance Self-Defense guides, we teach people how to prevent Meta and other big tech data companies from making money off your data. Through our legislative advocacy, we demand that law makers ban behavioral advertising altogether.

What you can do

Download Privacy Badger

Download EFF’s free browser extension that stops advertisers and other third-party trackers from tracking everything you do online. The less data websites have on you, the less they can sell to governments.

Opt Out

Take back control of your own data with our Opt Out October tips—22 ways to reclaim your privacy year-round. And if you live in California, set a reminder for January 1, 2026: A new law we helped champion will let you click one button to tell every data broker to delete your data.

Don’t Let Them Track Anyone

It’s not enough to protect your own data. Tell your elected officials to shut down data brokers and behavioral advertising—the whole reason companies hoover up as much of your data as they can. Check out our Action Center, and sign up for EFF email updates for the latest on campaigns to protect your privacy.