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Belgian coalition demands suspension of the TTIP negotiations
On 26 June 2015, the Belgian EDRi member Liga voor Mensenrechten, together with a wide coalition of other Belgian human rights and consumer organisations, trade union confederations, and environmental and development NGOs, published a declaration asking for an immediate suspension of the negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) that are currently ongoing […]
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AFET Committee adopts its Report on Human rights and technology
The European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) adopted its Report on “Human rights and technology: the impact of intrusion and surveillance systems on human rights in third countries” on 26 May 2015. The Rapporteur, Marietje Schaake (ALDE, Netherlands) welcomed the adoption of the Report and stressed that “the European Union must assess the impact […]
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Blurry, ambiguous “net neutrality” deal is an abdication of responsibility
Fifteen months after the European Parliament voted in favour of clear protection for net neutrality in Europe, a messy, ambiguous “deal” was reached around 2am in the morning on 30 June. In the coming days, negotiators will finalise explanatory notes (known as “recitals”) which may add some clarity. However, the apparently deliberate ambiguity of the […]
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Press release: Father of net neutrality warns EU’s proposals may “guarantee US dominance” online
Following high-level meetings with the European Commission this week, leading US Professor Tim Wu said he was “worried that the Internet in Europe will never recover if these proposals are adopted.” He added that, in relation to online services, the proposals may guarantee the dominance of US online services in Europe for years to come. […]
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Democratic support for net neutrality is clear, as is Council’s stubbornness
All political groups in the European Parliament have made their support for net neutrality clear. Not alone did the European Parliament adopt a strong text in favour of non-discrimination on the Internet in 2014, but political groups representing the vast majority of the Parliament have made clear statements in favour of a neutral, innovative, democratic […]
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Net neutrality in critical danger in Europe. The time to act is NOW!
Last week, the European Parliament finalised its second compromise proposal on net neutrality, and sent it to the Member States (represented in the Council of the European Union) and the European Commission. This will now allow the Council and Commission to put pressure on the Parliament to accept a final compromise this week. The new […]
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UK: Report of the investigatory powers review
A key report reviewing the UK’s legal framework governing surveillance commissioned by the Government and written by David Anderson QC, was released on 11 June 2015. The thrust of the report is a resounding call for wholesale reform of Britain’s surveillance legislation with it concluding that “This state of affairs is undemocratic, unnecessary and – […]
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Belgian Constitutional Court rules against data retention
On 12 June, following two actions for annulment brought independently, the Belgian Constitutional Court ruled against the mass collection of communications metadata. This ruling is line with a recent ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) invalidating the directive that inspired the Belgian law. The Data Retention Directive (2006/24/CE) adopted in […]
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EU continues push for travel surveillance by the back door
The European Commission has released its plans for providing financial support to national security measures. These plans, despite the absence of a legal basis, privacy concerns and a pending EU Court of Justice (CJEU) decision, include the financing of a European mass surveillance measure: namely the long-term storage and exchange of citizens’ air travel data, […]
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Microsoft’s new small print – how your personal data is (ab)used
Microsoft has renewed its Privacy Policy and Service Agreement. The new services agreement goes into effect on 1 August 2015, only a couple of days after the launch of the Windows 10 operating system on 29 July. The new “privacy dashboard” is presented to give the users a possibility to control their data related to […]
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Our overview of the Digital Single Market Communication
This article was originally published on the website of Friends of Europe EDRi has published its analysis of the European Commission’s Digital Single Market Communication (PDF). The European Commission’s launch of its Digital Single Market Strategy is undoubtedly a positive step, but is plagued with ambiguities, contradictions and an overall lack of leadership on key […]
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Press Release: European Parliament shows little ambition on copyright reform
The European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee approved on 16 June, with 23 votes in favour and 2 against, a non-legislative “Report on the implementation of Directive 2001/29/EC on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society(2014/2256(INI)), the so-called InfoSoc Directive. This Report covers how the InfoSoc Directive, one of […]
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