For nearly thirty years, EPIC has been fighting to secure the fundamental right to privacy for all, and the fight has never been more important. 2022 was a momentous year that brought new threats—in particular, the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs, which undid 50 years of precedent protecting the constitutional right to privacy—but also hope for the future. In 2023, EPIC will work to establish strong, comprehensive privacy and digital civil rights across the United States; we will help to develop new fairness and accountability mechanisms to ensure that AI and automated decision-making systems do not exacerbate inequities and discrimination; and we will work to ensure that intelligence and law enforcement surveillance programs are subject to robust oversight.
EPIC’s important work is made possible by the individuals and charitable foundations that support our research and advocacy. Last month, EPIC was thrilled to be selected as a charity beneficiary for the 2022 Proton Lifetime Account Fundraiser. Since 2018, Proton Mail—a secure and end-to-end encrypted email service—has hosted an annual, community-driven fundraiser to support organizations that align with its vision and values. The record-breaking funds raised by the Proton community this year will help make possible the critical work that is being taken on by EPIC and other civil society groups.
EPIC is grateful for this support from the Proton community and plans to leverage this gift to improve consumer privacy, AI accountability, surveillance oversight, and other critical issues. Below is a brief summary of the progress we made last year and an overview of where we hope to take the work in 2023:
Consumer Privacy Advocacy
In 2022, we saw significant progress on privacy legislation. Congress introduced the American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA), a bipartisan, bicameral bill that EPIC believes is the most promising federal privacy legislation that we have seen in the United States in many years. We testified on the importance of the bill and worked closely with both coalition partners and Congressional staff to strengthen it. Unfortunately, ADPPA did not pass last year, but it is well-positioned to gain further bipartisan support in 2023. We have never been this close to getting comprehensive privacy protections for all Americans.
In addition to advancing federal privacy legislation, EPIC has co-led coalition efforts to support comprehensive privacy rulemakings in California, in Colorado, and at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). We have presented testimony, submitted detailed comments and feedback to regulators, and worked to build consensus among varied civil society organizations. Notably, in November 2022, EPIC published Disrupting Data Abuse: Protecting Consumers from Commercial Surveillance in the Online Ecosystem in response to the FTC’s call for comments in its proposed rulemaking on commercial surveillance and data security. The 230-page report puts forward numerous recommendations for how the Commission can better protect consumers in the digital era and is the most comprehensive proposal EPIC has made on a consumer privacy framework.