Defend free speech. Fight surveillance. Support innovation.

On September 11, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced its intention to significantly expand both the number of people required to submit biometrics during routine immigration applications and the types of biometrics that individuals must surrender. This new rule will apply to immigrants and U.S. citizens alike, and to people of all ages, including, for the first time, children under the age of 14. It would nearly double the number of people from whom DHS would collect biometrics each year, to more than six million. The biometrics DHS plans to collect include palm prints, voice prints, iris scans, facial imaging, and even DNA—which are far more invasive than DHS’s current biometric collection of fingerprints, photographs, and signatures.

We’ve gotten word that the Copyright Alternative Small-Claims Enforcement Act-the CASE Act—is being considered for inclusion in “must pass” spending legislation—in other words, legislation that is vital to the function of the government and so anything attached to it, no matter how unrelated, is likely to become law. Tell Congress not to let big content hijack the budget process to sneak through dangerous new copyright rules.

Under the CASE Act, people could file copyright infringement claims with an obscure body, under the auspices of an office most people have no experience with. And that board could decide that the subjects of those claims owe up to $30,000 for activities as common as sharing memes, images, and videos online. It has no place in must pass legislation. Tell Congress not to include the CASE Act in must pass legislation.

As we all rely more and more on our Internet access during this crisis, the House of Representatives has passed a relief bill that includes a way to keep people affected by COVID-19 online. Tell your Senators to support the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program.