Non-profit
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is a San Francisco non-profit founded in 1990 that litigates, lobbies and builds tools for civil liberties online. On face recognition it campaigns for bans on government use, files amicus briefs in Illinois BIPA cases, maintains the Atlas of Surveillance that maps police technology, and publishes guides on reducing your own exposure.
Updated November 6, 2026 · 2 min read · reviewed November 6, 2026
What is the EFF?
The EFF was founded in July 1990 by Mitch Kapor, John Perry Barlow and John Gilmore. It is member-funded, employs lawyers, technologists and activists, and works through court cases, amicus briefs, legislative advocacy and software such as Privacy Badger and Certbot. Face recognition sits in its Street-Level Surveillance programme.
What has it done about face recognition?
- Government bans: the EFF backed the San Francisco ordinance of 2019, the first US ban on police use of face recognition, and similar measures in other cities, and argues for a national moratorium on government use.
- BIPA litigation: amicus briefs supporting plaintiffs in Rosenbach v Six Flags and the Facebook settlement line of cases, defending the private right of action in the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.
- Clearview AI: public records requests and reporting on police use of Clearview, and support for the ACLU's Illinois case that ended in the 2022 settlement.
- Atlas of Surveillance: a public database, built with the University of Nevada, Reno, of surveillance technology used by US law enforcement, including face recognition contracts.
- Surveillance Self-Defense: practical guides for individuals, including reducing the number of face photos tied to your name online.
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1990-07-10
EFF founded
San Francisco.
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2019-05-14
San Francisco bans police face recognition
First US city ordinance; EFF among the supporters.
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2019-11
Atlas of Surveillance launched
Crowdsourced map of police surveillance technology.
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2020-01
Clearview AI investigations
EFF joins calls for a government moratorium after the New York Times report.
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2022-05-09
ACLU v Clearview settlement
Clearview barred from selling its database to most private entities in the US.
How do you use the EFF's work?
- Surveillance Self-Defense guides at ssd.eff.org for practical steps.
- Atlas of Surveillance to check what technology your local police use.
- Its BIPA explainers for what the Illinois law gives you and how claims work.
Questions
Does the EFF oppose all face search?
It campaigns against government face recognition and against companies building face databases from scraped photos without consent. Its guides treat searching for your own face as a privacy check, not a target.
Can the EFF help me with a BIPA claim?
Not directly. It explains the law and files briefs in significant cases. A claim under BIPA is brought with a private lawyer; see the Illinois BIPA entry.
What is the Atlas of Surveillance?
A searchable public database of surveillance technology used by US police departments, including face recognition vendors, built from public records and news reports.
Sources
- 1.EFF: Face Recognition issue page (checked November 6, 2026)
- 2.EFF: Atlas of Surveillance (checked November 6, 2026)
- 3.ACLU: Clearview AI settlement (May 2022) (checked November 6, 2026)
Entry reviewed November 6, 2026. Found an error? Tell us.
Related entries
- Law Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) Illinois BIPA (740 ILCS 14): consent before collecting face geometry, a private right of action, $1,000 to $5,000 per violation, the 2024 amendment, and face search.
- Case ACLU v Clearview AI (Illinois BIPA settlement) ACLU v Clearview AI: the 2020 BIPA suit, the 2022 settlement banning sales to private companies, and the federal class action whose settlement was vacated in 2026.
- Case Rosenbach v. Six Flags Entertainment Corp. Rosenbach v. Six Flags (2019 IL 123186): a procedural BIPA violation is enough to sue, no further harm needed. The ruling behind Illinois biometric class actions.
- Engine Clearview AI Clearview AI: the law-enforcement face search built on scraped web images, its 100-billion-image claim, who may use it, and fines and orders from seven countries.
- Organisation noyb (None of Your Business) The European privacy litigation non-profit: its GDPR complaints against Clearview AI and its 2026 lawsuit over the Hamburg regulator's inaction on PimEyes.
Cite this entry
FaceSearch Wiki editors. "Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)". FaceSearch Wiki, updated November 6, 2026. https://facesearch.wiki/organisations/eff/