EFF: California's amended 3D printer surveillance bill still threatens users

The California State Assembly has signed off on legislation that would require 3D printers sold in the state to include surveillance and censorship software, ignoring warnings from the Electronic Frontier Foundation about both the dangers and the technical impossibility of the mandate. The bill, AB 2047, now heads to the state Senate, and EFF is urging legislators to drop it.

The bill targets 3D printers over the rare, impractical and already illegal practice of manufacturing firearms without a license. Since EFF first wrote about it in April, the text has picked up several amendments — some welcome, but most underlining what the group calls the technocratic absurdity of the scheme.

What changed in the amendments

One clear win for the 3D-printing community: the current text carves out the private resale of devices. The original bill would have made it a criminal offence for an individual to resell a 3D printer purchased before the mandated software.

Open source, however, remains a problem. The bill criminalizes individual users for common practices such as running alternative open source programs on their own printers. New amendments carve out open source tools only if they include compliant censorship software, burdening developers with ambiguous and unrealistic standards for print blocking.

The bill also drops the pretense that the mandate is expected to work. Its performance standard changed from "effectively preventing a technically skilled user from evading" the algorithm to merely "substantially reducing the likelihood of foreseeable circumvention attempts". Every print would still be surveilled.

Hollywood gets a carveout

The latest version adds an exemption for the entertainment industry, which uses 3D printers extensively for props and costumes. That helps big studios but leaves out independent filmmakers, cosplayers and other small creators.

EFF argues the carveout is a defensive edit to limit corporate opposition, and that it hands manufacturers the ability to sell a more expensive tier of printers to commercial customers. Businesses that instead buy retail models face the same surveillance of their print files — and a real risk of leaking prototypes through data breaches.

Why it matters

EFF maintains that a printer surveillance system cannot achieve its stated purpose: it will block lawful use of 3D printers while doing nothing to stop anyone determined to print a firearm. The group is asking Californians to contact their senators and vote no on AB 2047.