Today, the Senate Commerce Committee marked up several children's online safety bills, advancing bills including KOSA and the CHATBOT Act.

Senators Debate Online Safety Bill

The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee unanimously approves the Kids Online Safety Act.

c-span.org

On Monday, EPIC and @cdt.org urged the FCC to reconsider a proposed rule that would mandate the government collection of more personal data from and about anyone who makes a phone call. While we support the FCC's mission to combat illegal robocalls and scam traffic, this strategy is misguided.

EPIC and CDT Urge FCC to Reconsider Invasive Know Your Customer Rulemaking Proposal

Updates

epic.org

What happens when users try to say goodbye to an AI companion? 🎧 CDT’s @mluria.bsky.social joins the latest @techpolicypress.bsky.social podcast to discuss how AI companions are designed to exploit our social instincts. Listen here:

When Users Say 'Goodbye' to AI

Laura Karpas on recent research from the Center for Democracy and Technology's Michal Luria and Harvard Business School's Julian De Freitas.

techpolicy.press

“A new report from CDT warns that government data consolidation can create significant privacy, civil liberties, and cybersecurity risks, whether agencies place information in a single database or use a federated model.”

CDT Details Privacy, Security Risks of Government Data Consolidation

A new CDT report warns that government data-sharing initiatives require stronger safeguards regardless of how information is consolidated.

meritalk.com

“Michal Luria, a researcher of computer-human relationships at CDT and co-author of a taxonomy of chatbot dark patterns, notes that hundreds of state bills on AI focus on transparency and disclosure, telling users they're talking to a bot.”

Big week at the @cdt.org free expression factory! On the heels of our new report "Whose Speech is it Anyway," two new pieces on how the First Amendment applies to AI outputs & who pays if we get the law wrong. First up: If AI Outputs Aren't Speech, Who Has to Prove They're Human?🧵

If AI Outputs Aren’t Speech, Who Has to Prove They’re Human?

Denying First Amendment protection to AI outputs sounds like a rule about machines. In practice it could burden human speech online.

lawfaremedia.org

Today, CDT, EFF, EPIC, & Upturn submitted comments to the General Services Administration (GSA) in response to the request for comment regarding their updated draft AI Terms and Conditions for federal solicitations and contracts.

CDT, EFF, EPIC, and Upturn Submit Comments on GSA’s Updated Draft AI Terms and Conditions for Federal Contracts

Today, the Center for Democracy & Technology, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), and Upturn submitted comments to the General Services Administration (GSA) in response to the request for comment regarding their updated draft AI Terms and Conditions for federal solicitations and contracts. In March, GSA released an initial draft […]

cdt.org

As AI becomes more common in K-12 classrooms, schools need to ensure these tools expand opportunity instead of reinforcing existing inequities. In a new CDT report, Kristin Woelfel examines how schools should best work to close student achievement and opportunity gaps.

Bias at Scale: Understanding AI’s Impact on Student Achievement and Opportunity Gaps

As artificial intelligence becomes more embedded in K-12 education, decisions about data and technology should be guided not just by what is permissible, but by what best serves students — especially those who have historically been underserved. That mission does not change with the introduction of new technologies. If anything, the rapid adoption of AI […]

cdt.org

New from CDT's @beccabranum.bsky.social: If AI-generated outputs aren't protected speech under the First Amendment, who has to prove they're human? Her latest for @lawfaremedia.org explores how regulating AI-generated content could have unintentional burdens.

If AI Outputs Aren’t Speech, Who Has to Prove They’re Human?

Denying First Amendment protection to AI outputs sounds like a rule about machines. In practice it could burden human speech online.

lawfaremedia.org

CDT’s Geoff Hale in CNN: “We are well until the election cycle. It is not simply about Election Day. Election Day is not when the Russians started in 2016. It is not when the Iranians started in 2020. People should be realizing we have a gap of info of 14 to 18 months.”

Trump admin tries to rebuild election security infrastructure it gutted as midterms near | CNN Politics

After dismantling the federal system designed to protect US elections, the Trump administration now says it has a plan to rebuild it — less than 100 days before Election Day and just weeks before ballots begin going out In the mail.

cnn.com

CDT’s Quinn Anex-Ries: “What we’re seeing here is a series of relatively unprecedented actions being taken by the current admin in an effort to impose their political ideology, viewpoints &objectives on AI developers through a range of policy-level levers at their disposal.”

Tech Companies Are Rejecting Trump’s Proposed ‘Woke’ AI Ban

The government’s proposed requirement for contractors’ AI systems to be “unbiased” are technically “infeasible,” businesses say.

notus.org

“A report published Tuesday by the CDT recommends that, despite little precedent for how courts have thus far considered AI-generated speech, content produced by generative models should be protected under the First Amendment.” archive.thedeepview....

On Thursday, the Senate HELP Committee advanced a health privacy bill that closes a long-standing gap by extending HIPAA-like privacy protections (which apply to health data held by doctors + insurers) to vast amounts of health data collected by apps, wearables, & elsewhere.

Health Privacy Legislation Advances in the Senate

CDT supports stronger privacy protections for consumer health data that falls outside of HIPAA. We’ve consistently called for privacy protections that move away from outdated notice and consent regimes and instead embrace limitations around corporate data practices that limit data collection, retention, sharing, and use of data that is necessary for the products and services […]

cdt.org

Student data privacy is a matter of basic safety, yet vulnerable students are facing unprecedented risks. cdt.org/insights/han...

“According to Isabel Linzer, an elections and democracy policy analyst at the Center for Democracy and Technology, political influencers tend to ‘fall through the cracks of existing regulation.’” www.sacbee.com/news/...

“‘The general trend of video surveillance [is] becoming pretty ubiquitous in common public spaces and across cities,’ said Jake Laperruque, deputy director of the Security and Surveillance Project at the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology.”

A new live stream camera at the Liberty Bell increases access, but raises questions for privacy experts

The new Liberty Bell stream has racked up more than a quarter million streams since it was installed about a month ago, according to EarthCam's CEO.

inquirer.com

Grab your ticket to CDT's Tech Prom on November 12 and come mix and mingle with leaders across the tech policy community at The Line D.C. Tickets are going fast—secure yours today! 🎟️cdt.org/event/2026-t...

Hyper-personalization, natural conversational language, & massive machine learning capabilities are exactly what make chatbots highly effective vehicles for dark patterns. cdt.org/insights/dar...

“Although data-sharing between govt agencies has long been viewed as a way to improve services, recent federal efforts to consolidate data traditionally held by state and local governments has raised privacy, civil rights & cybersecurity concerns, according to a [CDT report]”

Governments must consider risks to privacy, civil rights before consolidating data, report urges | StateScoop

Repurposing data for other means is risky, and governments should evaluate when consolidation is more harmful than good, a recent report said.

statescoop.com

📢 New from CDT's @beccabranum.bsky.social: Whose Speech Is It Anyway? The Constitutional Contours of Chatbot Regulation examines one of AI's biggest legal questions: When, & why, are chatbot outputs protected by the First Amendment? Read the new report: cdt.org/insights/who...

Still thinking about some of the arguments advanced here, but this new @cdt.org analysis of the First Amendment's application to chatbot regulation is really excellent, in part because it gives so much attention to the counterarguments. cdt.org/insights/who...

Whose Speech Is It Anyway? The Constitutional Contours of Chatbot Regulation

Executive Summary Systems that generate text, images, and audio on demand (or “chatbots”) have become both an important medium of communication and a primary target of regulation. Whether, and on what...

cdt.org

What does responsible state-level collection of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data look like? CDT Intern Kiran Yeh recaps a recent panel discussion with civil society & govt leaders on the benefits, risks, and ethical considerations of SOGI data practices.

Civil Society and Government Officials Discuss Inclusive State SOGI Data Practices

Authored by CDT Intern Kiran Yeh. On June 25th, civil society organizations and government officials convened for a webinar titled “State-Level Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Data Practices: Inclusive Data, Responsible Governance.” Hosted by the Center for Democracy & Technology, the Movement Advancement Project (MAP), and the Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy (AISP), the event […]

cdt.org

Accessibility and AI are deeply connected. Join Teach Access on August 5 for a conversation on the ethics of building accessible technology, featuring CDT’s Ariana Aboulafia alongside accessibility and inclusive design leaders.

Teach Access Alumni Network Meetup - Accessibility, Ethics & AI

Time: 1:00 – 2:00 pm ET Date: Wednesday, August 5, 2026 The Teach Access Alumni Network is excited to host a moderated panel discussion about Accessibility, Ethics, & AI, on Wednesday, August 5, from 1-2 pm ET. Join us along with Ariana Aboulafia, Disability Rights in Technology Policy Project at the Center for Democracy & Technology; […]

cdt.org

You don't need to love AI to see the danger in letting the government decide what you're allowed to read and which ideas you can share. We can both address real harms from AI and protect users' rights in the process. cdt.org/insights/who...

Whose Speech Is It Anyway? The Constitutional Contours of Chatbot Regulation

Executive Summary Systems that generate text, images, and audio on demand (or “chatbots”) have become both an important medium of communication and a primary target of regulation. Whether, and on what...

cdt.org

This isn't to say that AI gets a regulatory pass. Governing what these systems do is urgent and necessary—for our civil rights, our privacy, and more. But when lawmakers target chatbot outputs based on the viewpoints they express, the First Amendment has something to say.

Whether/how the First Amendment protects AI output isn't a theoretical question. FTC just floated treating 'ideological' tuning as consumer fraud. A federal order is pushing AI 'neutrality.' State AGs are probing chatbot 'bias' on political issues. This isn't going away. www.ftc.gov/policy/publi...

Policy Statement Concerning the Suppression of Accuracy in Artificial Intelligence Systems

ftc.gov

When developers shape chatbot outputs, they're making editorial judgments of the sort courts have consistently protected. But even setting that argument aside, there's an independent basis: your right to share and receive information. Coming or going, the First Amendment protects info via chatbot.

New from @cdt.org: "Whose Speech Is It Anyway? The Constitutional Contours of Chatbot Regulation" on the question suddenly at the center of AI policy: can the gov’t control what a chatbot is allowed to say? Long story short: machines don't have 1A rights, but you and I do.🧵 cdt.org/insights/who...

Whose Speech Is It Anyway? The Constitutional Contours of Chatbot Regulation

Executive Summary Systems that generate text, images, and audio on demand (or “chatbots”) have become both an important medium of communication and a primary target of regulation. Whether, and on what...

cdt.org

According to our research, 85% of teachers & 86% of students used AI this past school year. However, parents, teachers, and students are disconnected on what AI safety training should actually cover. Read more: cdt.org/insights/han...

“Andrew Crawford, senior counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology, raised a concern that OpenAI has not publicly resolved: what happens when law enforcement requests health data?”

ChatGPT Health Goes Nationwide: Your Medical Records Lose HIPAA Protection

ChatGPT Health is now available to all U.S. users, letting anyone connect Apple Health and electronic medical records to the AI assistant — but privacy experts warn that doing so permanently removes those records from HIPAA protection, leaving them governed only by OpenAI’s terms of service, which

techtimes.com