EPIC Urges Federal Court to Rule Swiftly on Trump Administration's "State Citizenship Lists"

EPIC has urged a federal court to swiftly rule on the Trump administration's plan to create and distribute "State Citizenship Lists," arguing that the government cannot use its own delays in producing the lists as a reason for the court to wait.

EPIC is represented in its lawsuit by Protect Democracy and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). The organization filed the suit on September 1, 2026, challenging what it described as an unprecedented and illegal effort to interfere in the 2026 midterms by using unreliable databases to create lists of citizens residing in each state for determining who can and cannot vote.

According to EPIC, the administration's actions impede states' constitutional power to administer elections and put the most sensitive records of hundreds of millions of Americans at risk.

In a separate development, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 1709 into law, prohibiting social media platforms from offering addictive design features to users under 16. EPIC said it helped amend the bill to a design-based approach instead of a full ban on youth access by working with lawmakers and youth advocates. The law was signed alongside amendments to California's Age-Appropriate Design Code that address the Ninth Circuit's concerns.

EPIC and Restore the Fourth also filed an amicus brief in the Fourth Circuit case Chatrie v. United States, explaining why the court should rule that the geofence search in the case was an unconstitutional general warrant because it lacked particularized probable cause.

On September 25, EPIC and four other consumer groups filed comments urging the FTC to go beyond the disclosure requirements in its proposed personalized pricing policy statement. The groups argued that surveillance pricing is an unfair practice that disclosure alone cannot fix, and that the agency should consider using its Section 18 rulemaking authority to ban it.

Looking ahead, the Supreme Court will resolve a circuit split on who qualifies as a consumer under the Video Privacy Protection Act in Salazar v. Paramount Global during its October 2026 term. EPIC noted that the Court's analysis could have an immense impact on how much data companies collect online and disclose about video viewing habits.