About EFF
Adam Schwartz

Adam Schwartz
Adam Schwartz is a Senior Staff Attorney with the EFF's civil liberties team.
Previously, he served as a Senior Staff Attorney at the ACLU of Illinois, where he worked for 19 years. His cases at the ACLU challenged the criminalization of civilian audio recording of on-duty police, abusive border detentions of Muslim and Arab citizens caused by the federal Terrorism Screening Database, AT&T’s collaboration with the NSA’s dragnet surveillance program, and public access to information about Illinois’ Statewide Terrorism and Intelligence Center. He also advocated for policy reform regarding drones and location tracking, and wrote reports about surveillance cameras and fusion centers. His other ACLU cases addressed youth prisons, police detentions of pedestrians and motorists, free speech, religious liberty, and drug testing of public housing residents.
Adam clerked for Judge Betty B. Fletcher of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He has a J.D. from Howard University and a B.A. in Economics from Cornell University.
Deeplinks Posts by Adam
California Assembly Considers Bill to Protect Data from ICE
Local and state governments regularly collect personal information about us and store it in databases–often without our knowledge and consent. Even when government has a seemingly benevolent purpose for doing so, government all too often reuses that data in a manner that hurts us. Given Pres. Donald Trump’s promise...Community Control of Police Spy Tech in Oakland
Oakland could become the next community in California to adopt an open and rigorous vetting process for police surveillance technology. All too often, government executives unilaterally decide to adopt powerful new surveillance technologies that invade our privacy, chill our free speech, and unfairly burden communities of color. These intrusive and...No Gathering Social Media Handles from Chinese Visitors
EFF has joined a coalition effort , led by Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAAJ), to oppose the federal government’s proposal to scrutinize the social media activities of Chinese visitors. Specifically, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seeks to ask certain visa applicants from China to disclose the...Protect Biometric Privacy in Montana
Update February 28, 2017: Unfortunately, the Montana House Judiciary Committee tabled H.B. 518 on February 27. We look forward to working to pass it next year. Legislatures around the country are beginning to acknowledge the threat to our privacy presented by companies collecting and using our biometric...
“Smart Cities,” Surveillance, and New Streetlights in San Jose
The San Jose City Council is considering a proposal to install over 39,000 “smart streetlights.” A pilot program is already underway. These smart streetlights are not themselves a surveillance technology. But they have ports on top that, in the future, could accommodate surveillance technology, such as...
Texas’ Overbroad Cyberbullying Bill Could Silence Unpopular Speech
Online harassment is a serious problem . But censorship is not the solution. Thus, EFF has long opposed anti-harassment rules that would chill and punish lawful online speech. And courts have long struck down such laws for violating the First Amendment. EFF now opposes...
California Databases Must Not Be Used to Target Immigrants and Muslims
Update March 3, 2017: S.B. 54 has undergone amendments that EFF is currently analyzing to determine the next steps. The California State Legislature is now considering two bills that would build a database firewall to block the flow of personal information from state and local government to federal efforts...
EFF to Santa Clara County: Improve Police Body Camera Rules
EFF sent a letter to the Santa Clara County Board suggesting ways to improve the proposed policy of that county’s Sheriff for use of body-worn cameras (BWCs). We did so with our allies the ACLU of California and the Bay Area chapter of the Council on...
EFF to BART: Adopt Spy Tech Control Law
EFF urged the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Board to adopt a new law that would ensure community control of whether to adopt new surveillance technologies. All too often, police executives unilaterally decide to adopt powerful new spying tools that invade our privacy, chill our free speech, and...
EFF to Supreme Court: Strike Social Media Ban for Sex Offenders


