Weekly Privacy Insights: December 22, 2025 – December 29, 2025

Weekly Privacy Insights

As 2025 wraps up, the privacy landscape reflects both the persistent challenges and notable progress in digital rights worldwide. This week’s coverage spans ground-level activism bolstered by community-targeted security training, advances and concerns surrounding surveillance technologies like drones and automated license plate readers, as well as a spotlight on resisting encryption-breaking legislation and defending youth internet access rights.

Weekly Analysis / My Opinion

Several intersecting themes emerge this week that paint a vivid picture of evolving privacy struggles and strategies:

• Empowered Communities vs. Surveillance Expansion: The Electronic Frontier Foundation’s extensive OPSEC trainings for vulnerable advocacy groups demonstrate the growing need—and demand—for digital self-defense skills tailored to frontline activists. Yet simultaneously, law enforcement adoption of technologies such as drone-first responder programs and extensive license plate reader networks further expand surveillance capabilities, often outpacing public oversight.

• Encryption Under Pressure: Legislative efforts in Europe and the UK reveal ongoing attempts to weaken encryption protections through client-side scanning and backdoors disguised as lawful access. While pushback has yielded some successes, these battles remain critical for preserving secure communication globally.

• Youth Rights & Digital Expression: Legislative proposals threatening to restrict children’s access to lawful online content raise serious First Amendment concerns and highlight the disproportionate impact on marginalized youth, especially LGBTQ+ communities. These efforts risk invasive age-verification systems that jeopardize privacy for all.

• Shifting Power in Surveillance Procurement: Encouragingly, some U.S. jurisdictions are pushing back against the opaque, vendor-driven procurement of surveillance tech. Treating these purchases as political decisions rather than administrative routine is a promising development toward greater accountability.

Risks: Without adequate safeguards, expanding drone surveillance and reliance on AI in governance risk exacerbating privacy intrusions and algorithmic injustices. Weakening encryption or imposing invasive age-verification technologies can erode digital freedom and trust.

Recommended Actions: Readers should consider strengthening personal digital security skills, advocate for local oversight of surveillance procurement, support encryption-friendly policies, and amplify youth voices in digital rights discussions.

Featured Articles

Operations Security (OPSEC) Trainings: 2025 in Review EFF’s extensive security trainings empowered over 2,000 participants from 66 activist groups working on abortion rights, transgender advocacy, and climate justice. These practical workshops focus on threat modeling, secure communications, and doxxing defense tailored for under-resourced liberation movements. Such community-centered OPSEC is key to resisting growing tech-enabled oppression. Read more

Drone as First Responder Programs: 2025 in Review The police adoption of autonomous and semi-autonomous camera drones responding in real time to 911 calls surged in 2025. With the FAA approving hundreds of new waivers for beyond-visual-line-of-sight drone flights, these programs raise privacy and oversight concerns. Federal policy efforts and major industry moves signal that drone surveillance will become a normalized part of law enforcement infrastructure unless actively challenged. Read more

Defending Encryption in the U.S. and Abroad: 2025 in Review Encryption remains under global attack—from Europe’s “Chat Control” proposals threatening client-side scanning, to the UK’s coercion of Apple to backdoor end-to-end encryption in iCloud. Despite setbacks, public resistance and legislative scrutiny have stalled several dangerous measures. The defense of encryption is vital to privacy and free expression, demanding continued vigilance and advocacy. Read more

Procurement Power—When Cities Realized They Can Just Say No: 2025 in Review A remarkable shift in local governance turned surveillance procurement into a political battleground rather than mere administrative procedure. Numerous U.S. cities rejected or canceled automated license plate reader (ALPR) programs, asserting democratic oversight over surveillance. This pushback disrupts vendor-driven dynamics and suggests a path towards reclaiming municipal data governance. Read more

Lawmakers Must Listen to Young People Before Regulating Their Internet Access: 2025 in Review Legislative proposals aiming to restrict minors’ internet and social media access risk violating the First Amendment and harming vulnerable youth who rely on online communities for support. EFF highlights the importance of respecting young people’s rights to free expression and cautions against invasive age verification systems that jeopardize everyone’s privacy. Read more

Additional Highlights

• EFF in the Press: 2025 in Review — EFF’s digital rights advocacy received widespread media attention, including coverage of lawsuits challenging government surveillance programs and insights into protecting against street-level surveillance. Read more

• EFFector Audio Speaks Up for Our Rights: 2025 Year in Review — The launch of EFFector’s audio edition brought listeners exclusive interviews on major privacy issues, including social media spying schemes and automated license plate reader surveillance. Read more

• From Speakeasies to DEF CON—Celebrating With EFF Members: 2025 Year In Review — EFF connected with members nationwide through meetups and events, fostering community engagement crucial for privacy advocacy. Read more

• Up in Smoke: How X-Rays Burned a €3.75M Cocaine Run — A reminder of the power of basic operations security principles, as authorities quickly uncovered drugs hidden in vehicle exhaust systems. Read more

• GNUnet 0.26.2: Post-Quantum Layer and UTF-8 API Fixes — Technical improvements shipped that enhance cryptographic resilience and software robustness in decentralized networking. Read more

As we close out 2025, these stories remind us that digital privacy remains a contested and vital frontier. Staying informed, supporting community security training, and advocating locally and globally will be essential to protecting our freedoms in the year ahead.