“Companies shouldn’t get a free pass to ignore the law just because they call something ‘AI,’” said Kara Williams, Counsel at EPIC. “This resource emphasizes that enforcers can and should use existing laws to address chatbot harms.”

To combat harms from chatbots, EPIC teamed up with former enforcers to co-author “How Existing Laws Apply to AI Chatbots for Kids and Teens,” a guide outlining how existing legal frameworks can address emerging risks associated with chatbots used by or directed toward minors. buff.ly/uIj5Zwh

“Data mining could easily enable a supercharged surveillance apparatus that, in government hands, risks violating our rights, overstepping the government’s power, and perpetuating dangerous chilling effects,” explains EPIC’s Abigail Kunkler.

Read more here: epic.org/data-mining-...

Read here: epic.org/data-mining-...

In Closing the Data Mines, Law Fellow Abigail Kunkler explains (1) what data mining is, (2) why it’s dangerous in gov’t hands, and (3) how we get the accountability we deserve.

Gov’t agencies have tried for decades to find illegal activity using data mining. The problem? The tech is vulnerable to flawed outputs and could easily violate our rights. Under an administration that treats privacy as an obstacle instead of a right, we need more than a peek under the hood.

“This indiscriminate demand for the data of SNAP recipients is illegal,” Davisson said in an interview Friday. “I think this really underscores the importance of the states that are a part of this suit fighting back.” buff.ly/mHwEUtR

Speaking to @vermontpublic.org, EPIC Director of Litigation John Davisson said the USDA order for SNAP data is part of a broader attempt by the Trump administration to amass a “piggy bank of personal information that it can use to dismantle the social safety net and carry out attacks on immigrants.”

Watch the full webinar to hear expert insights here: epic.org/events/globa...

Dr. David Mussington, CISSP DDN.QTE, Professor of the Practice at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, joined us for this timely discussion.

Dive into a publicly accessible and sortable database of the enforcement actions included in the report, including PDF files of legal documents where available: airtable.com/app4cvxMFPTw...

Beyond the valuable analysis provided in the report, the compilation of data on State AG privacy enforcement actions is a meaningful contribution on its own, in service of those ready to make progress in protecting our privacy + autonomy from powerful corporate interests. epic.org/epics-insigh...

Under this newly announced business practice, effective December 16, 2025, Meta plans to use ever-expanding swaths of chatbot data from Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram—containing highly sensitive information about users’ health, relationships, and mental health—to inform targeted advertising.

“The FTC has a sordid history of letting Meta off the hook, and this is where it’s gotten us: industrial-scale privacy abuses brought to you by a chatbot that pretends to be your friend,” said John Davisson, EPIC Director of Litigation.

Removing the few existing AI protections we have helps AI companies, not people. EPIC urges the OSTP to withdraw this request and focus on AI actions that advance the public interest, not AI companies’ bottom line.
epic.org/epic-urges-t...

The OSTP’s framing suggests a haphazard approach to AI oversight by ignoring existing, severe AI harms, the damage to vulnerable groups, and the instability that deregulation would introduce.