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e-Privacy Directive: Frequently Asked Questions
(This article is available as well in German and French) What is the e-Privacy Directive? The e-Privacy Directive (ePD) is a Directive covering specific privacy and data protection issues in the electronic communications sector. It was adopted in 2002 and revised in 2009. The official text of the current version can be found here.
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CETA puts the protection of our privacy and personal data at risk
We are constantly sharing parts of our lives on the internet. We feel free to do this because we believe that we can still preserve some privacy and remain in control of what we share. Governments have a moral and legal duty to protect our privacy, prevent abuses and preserve a climate of trust. This […]
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The curious tale of the French prime minister, PNR and peculiar patterns
On 8 September, Paolo Mengozzi, advocate general of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), indicated that the EU cannot ratify the draft EU-Canada Passenger Name Records (PNR) agreement because several of its provisions do not respect the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Representatives of civil society, including our organisations European Digital Rights and […]
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Eight challenges of opening the web
The Open Web Fellows programme is an international programme designed to link developers, engineers, technologists and programmers with civil society organisations around the world. This article is written by Sid Rao, the Open Web Fellow who is spending ten months with the EDRi office in Brussels, working in cooperation with us to safeguard the internet […]
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Social media as censors of public sphere: YouTube vs. Ombudsman
In early September 2016, a popular Norwegian writer got suspended from Facebook, on account of “child nudity”. The matter escalated into an international incident, involving Norway’s largest printed newspaper and the country’s prime minister. Finally the writer’s Facebook status was restored, the suspension was ended, and Facebook promised to do better.
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ENDitorial: It is possible that Netflix is legal in Ireland – or not
Perhaps it should come as a surprise that copyrighted data are protected in law more rigorously than personal data in Europe. In data protection law, there is a “legitimate interest” exception: if you are processing personal data because you have a “legitimate interest” in doing so, and if this does not undermine the rights of […]
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The GS Media case: An attack on the world wide web
The cliché goes that “hard cases make for bad law”. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) judgment in GS Media case (C‑160/15) is one of the real-life examples of this. It is not easy to sympathise with the losing party, GS Media, who exploits a provocative blog with the name “GeenStijl” (which […]
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#1 Freedom to be different: How to defend yourself against tracking
Lee este artículo en español This is the first blogpost of our series dedicated to privacy, security and freedoms. In the next weeks, we will explain how your freedoms are under threat, and what you can do to fight back.
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Joint Referral Platform: no proof of diligent approach to terrorism
On 28 April 2016, EDRi asked the Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs of the European Commission (DG Home) to release more information about a new initiative announced in April 2016, the Joint Referral Platform. What we knew already (or thought we knew) The existence of the Joint Referral Platform was disclosed on 20 April […]
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ENDitorial: “Hate speech”: Who’s the German for hypocrisy
German interior minister Thomas De Maizière has a simple solution for “hate speech”. He believes that other people should stop it. He believes that someone (else) should do something. In particular, he is very keen that American internet companies should become much more involved in policing, suppressing and punishing what they consider to be “hate […]
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EU is now giving Google new monopolies
Originally published on The European Sting There is a lot of noise in the press and among lobbyists about an alleged hostility of the EU towards big American internet companies. Reality is more nuanced and more surprising – the policies appear to be hell-bent on giving Google new monopolies, to the detriment of European citizens […]
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Privacy Training Center empowers you to protect your online freedom
New non-profit organisation offers privacy workshops for everyone Most people know that surfing the internet has serious privacy implications. What many don’t know is how to protect themselves, their family, colleagues and friends. Meet the Privacy Training Center in Brussels the new not-for-profit training organisation. The PTC aims to fill the knowledge gap by providing […]
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