mailwal

EPIC Alert: New lawsuit against Trump-Vance administration, a big win in Alaska, and a $25B fine for Meta

EPIC Alert
EPIC Alert
Issue 33.10
October 30, 2026

Top Updates

  • EPIC, the League of Women Voters, and the League of United Latin American Citizens sued the Trump-Vance administration over DHS's secret collection of millions of Americans' voter records. ➔
  • In a big win for voter privacy, the Alaska Superior Court denied the State’s motion to dismiss in League of Women Voters of Alaska v. Dahlstrom. ➔
  • Meta faces a $25 billion fine from the New Mexico Court after violating user privacy during the 2010s Cambridge Analytica Scandal. ➔

ANALYSIS FROM EPIC

Featured Post:
Calli Schroeder, EPIC Senior Counsel and Director of the AI & Human Rights Program
At the beginning of September, Meta launched Muse, a “personal AI agent” marketed to collect as much data as possible assist users with whatever tasks they request or enable. Suggested uses in the initial release include filling out forms, negotiating on the user’s behalf, and responding to emails. Almost immediately, concerns over Muse have exploded, and many people have questioned whether this new release is really just another of Meta’s ploys to scoop up as much personal data as possible.
More EPIC Analysis:
Britney Firmin, EPIC Clerk
Maya Al-Ahmad, EPIC Clerk
Encrypted Messaging Platforms Still Under Attack
Maria Villegas Bravo, EPIC Counsel
Thierno A. Diallo, EPIC Law Clerk

UPCOMING EVENTS

Join EPIC for two discussions with Advisory Board Member Sherry Turkle:
Wednesday, November 4 | 7 PM | Politics and Prose at The Wharf
Politics and Prose hosts a conversation with Sherry Turkle and Deborah Tannen on Turkle's new book Artificial Intimacy and the implications of our relationships with chatbots.
Thursday, November 5 | 7:30 PM | Gaston Hall, Georgetown University
EPIC and the Georgetown Center for Digital Ethics (CDE) host a panel discussion on Professor Turkle’s new book Artificial Intimacy and the chatbot policy landscape. The panelists are:
  • Alan Butler, EPIC Executive Director and President at the Electronic Privacy Information Center
  • Sherry Turkle, author of Artificial Intimacy and MIT Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology
  • Elissa Redmiles, Georgetown Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of Computer Science
Moderated by Yoshi Kohno, Georgetown Professor and McDevitt Chair in Computer Science, Ethics, and Society, Computer Science & CDE

News

AI & Human Rights

The proposed legislation would put strong privacy safeguards in place for chatbots and create a robust liability framework for New Jerseyans harmed by chatbots. EPIC's People-First Chatbot model bill, created in partnership with Consumer Federation of America and Fairplay, advocates for privacy protections that include using personal data for training purposes, to target advertisements, and to engage in extensive harmful profiling of users.

Consumer Privacy

EPIC, along with four other organizations, sent a letter to New York Governor Kathy Hochul recommending that she strengthen and sign New York’s One Fair Price Act, a bill that would ban surveillance pricing and is currently awaiting the Governor’s signature.

Platform Accountability & Governance

The coalition filed an amicus brief encouraging the Ninth Circuit to reject Meta, Google, and TikTok’s First Amendment challenges to California’s SB 976. The claim is the latest in Big Tech’s attempts to use the First Amendment to shield harmful design practices.

Privacy Laws

The League of Women Voters, the EPIC, and the League of United Latin American Citizens filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump-Vance administration’s secretive and unlawful effort to collect and compile sensitive personal information about millions of American voters into a massive nationwide database.

Surveillance Oversight

EPIC, Demand Progress, and a coalition of civil liberty, civil rights, and privacy organizations submitted a letter to Congress to urge them to not consider the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act while the most recent Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court opinion remains hidden from Congress and the public.

EPIC in the News

Issue Highlight

AI & Human Rights
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.
Support EPIC
Support Our Work
EPIC's work is funded by the support of individuals like you, who help us to continue to protect privacy, open government, and democratic values in the information age. Donate today at epic.org/donate.
Reach out to EPIC
Learn about EPIC's staff here or contact [email protected].
Copyright © 2026 Electronic Privacy Information Center, All rights reserved.

You received this email because you subscribed to our list. The EPIC Alert mailing list is used only to mail the EPIC Alert and to send notices about EPIC activities. The EPIC Alert doesn’t track you when you open it or click on any links. We do not sell, rent or share our mailing list. We also intend to challenge any subpoena or other legal process seeking access to our mailing list. We do not enhance (link to other databases) our mailing list or require your actual name.

Our mailing address is:}
Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
1519 New Hampshire Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20036
USA

Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here.