EDRi-gram, 4 February 2026

What has the EDRi network been up to over the past few weeks? Find out the latest digital rights news in our bi-weekly newsletter. In this edition: borders, biometrics, billionaires and bots

By EDRi · February 4, 2026

Dear supporters,

January has come to an end, and while it was only 31 days long, much (perhaps too much) has happened.

Brutal ICE immigration raids in the United States have made headlines worldwide, exposing once again the human cost of enforcement-first migration policies. This is not just a US story. Repressive border and policing practices continue to be formalised and scaled up in Europe too. The EU continues to invest in high-risk technologies with little accountability. Frontex’s budget has ballooned in the past years, with new proposals threatening to expand its mandate even further, while oversight and accountability remain dangerously weak. This goes hand in hand with expanding surveillance mandates, growing data retention obligations, and the unchecked deployment of “smart” policing systems.

All too often, while individuals and marginalised communities face ever-expanding monitoring and control, powerful tech companies frequently operate with little oversight, even when their systems cause real harm. Against this backdrop, we are once again asking (yes, meme reference intended) for regulations that truly uphold accountability. Such rules provide a legal framework to hold powerful platforms responsible, protect people from harm, and set enforceable standards for responsible digital practices.

The European Commission’s action against Grok under the Digital Services Act is a clear example. X’s chatbot has produced non-consensual, sexualising images at scale, facilitated a wide share and monetised on harassment and abuse, harming to people on and off the platform. Challenging such practices is an essential exercise of fundamental rights protection and regulatory sovereignty that we very much advocate for.

This is a reminder that our digital lives do not have to look this way. Safer, rights-respecting alternatives already exist, and initiatives like DIDit prove that another digital future is possible. The power lies with us: through collective action, we can reclaim how we connect, organise, and care for one another.

 

RECOMMENDED

  • [📰read ] Automation of biometric control and surveillance in public space: a rights-based analysis of resistance by Lafede – Justícia Global. This report provides a contextual analysis of European trends in surveillance models, digital border control infrastructures, and the institutional narrative used to justify the deployment of technologies, using Spain as a case study. The paper critically challenges the security rhetoric that lends legitimacy to these technologies as inevitable solutions, once again displacing debates about safeguards, proportionality, discrimination and rights-based alternatives. Read the full paper here.
  • [📰read ] From Georgia to Serbia, surveillance is being weaponised against dissent by Balkan Insight. As they veer from the path of European Union integration, governments in Georgia and Serbia have both wielded invasive surveillance technology against pro-democracy protesters. A reminder of why this technology should be banned outright, read it here.
  • [🎧listen] Here’s What Palantir Is Really Building by 404 Media. In this podcast episode, host Joseph deep dives with guests in understanding ELITE, the latest technological infrastructure Palantir is building for ICE and the agency’s activities on the ground. Listen the full episode here.
  • [🏃🏿do] STAND UP, URSULA: Fight for Europe – not for Trump and Big Tech. People vs Big Tech, WeMove Europe, Avaaz, and EDRi are calling on President von der Leyen to enforce EU law and break up Google, despite escalating pressure from Donald Trump and Big Tech CEOs. Sign the petition here.

EVENTS

  • February 16, 2026

    The DSA and Platform Regulation Conference 2026

    The conference will reflect on the DSA and European platform regulation, including in its broader legal and political context, under the overall theme of platform governance and democracy.

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  • March 30, 2026

    The Palestine Digital Activism Forum (PDAF)

    The PDAF aims to provide a platform to discuss the challenges that Palestinians face the Palestinian civil society to protect Palestinian digital rights and digital activists working on...

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  • May 5, 2026

    RightsCon 2026

    Each year, RightsCon convenes business leaders, policymakers, general counsels, government representatives, technologists, academics, journalists, and human rights advocates from around the world to tackle pressing issues at the...

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  • March 30, 2026

    CDT Spring Fling 2026

    Organised by the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT), the Spring Fling is an annual celebration held alongside the IAPP Global Privacy Summit in Washington, D.C. This evening...

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JOBS