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Flawed Dutch government study on ISDS
On 25 July the Dutch government published a study “The Impact of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) in the TTIP“, requested by the Dutch Parliament. The study is flawed. A first reading reveals the following problems: It does not mention that it is nearly impossible to withdraw from trade agreements. Any mistake in the ISDS procedure […]
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Denmark about to implement a nationwide ANPR system
The Danish police is planning to implement a nationwide automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) system over the next couple of years. The Danish newspaper Berlingske obtained the project description for the IT system through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, and reported about the ANPR plans. The ANPR system will consist of mobile units […]
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Poland: Secret services escape citizens’ control
Poland celebrated its 25 years of democracy recently. In those two and a half decades, among other changes, most public institutions in Poland have got more or less used to citizens’ control. It has taken years of advocacy and watchdog activity, as well as a number of court cases to decide whether a given piece […]
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Irish High Court refers the Facebook/PRISM case to the CJEU
On 18 June 2014 Ireland’s High Court referred the request to investigate Facebook’s international headquarters in Ireland over its involvement in the PRISM scandal to the European Court of Justice (CJEU). CJEU was asked to review the case and to clarify whether the social network’s actions are compatible with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. […]
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We are not accusing the German minister of interior of lying
On 30 June 2014, Germany’s Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maizière announced an initiative to help move forward the proposal for a General Data Protection Regulation. EDRi applauds this “initiative”, which comes after Germany has worked assiduously to stop progress in the Council. According to internal Council documents obtained by the Spiegel in December […]
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Google and the right to be forgotten – the truth is out there
After all of the noise surrounding the Google/Spain case, the “deletion” of search results, the paedophiles whose crimes would be washed away and the end of history, the reality of the case is slowly drifting into the media. We were told by the Wall Street Journal three weeks ago that any search results that were […]
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Answering guide to the European Commission’s consultation on ISDS
In light of the public consulation on Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) launched by the European Commission in March 2014, and EDRi in collaboration with Access, Vrijschrift and Bits of Freedom, has created an answering guide. The answering guide will help you go through the different questions asked by the Commission and provides guidelines on how […]
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Freedom of information: EU Commission creates barriers for access to documents requests
It is crucial to know what the European institutions are up to in order to ensure that citizens’ fundamental rights are respected. Democracy requires vigilance and vigilance requires access to information. It is precisely for this reason that freedom of information legislation exists. Since the entry in force of Regulation 1049/2001 setting up the EU […]
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Belgian Big Brother Awards 2014: This year’s winners are…
On 4 June, EDRi member Liga voor Mensenrechten granted the Belgian Big Brother Awards. The public voted for the former public prosecutor Yves Liégeois for his views on DNA databases for newborn babies. The second prize, the professional jury’s prize, went to the “smartphone”, our ever-present pocket-size spy, and the third prize, the Lifetime Achievement […]
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Turkish government to acquire a tool to censor social media?
Turkish media reports that the government intends to buy NetClean software to remove unwanted material from Twitter. The negotiations are said to be ongoing with an exorbitant price tag of 40 million euros. NetClean is a Swedish software company that specializes in providing “intelligence solutions to block, detect and analyse digital media”. The Turkish government […]
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Report on Snowden – Government apathy but increased public concern
In the wake of the first anniversary of Edward Snowden’s first revelations, a global analysis was published, assessing the international impact of those disclosures. The report, “A crisis of Accountability” revealed not only that had most governments entirely ignored the Snowden revelations, but that some governments including the US and the UK have been actively […]
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Germany opens investigation on Merkel’s phone tap
Germany’s federal prosecutor annouced on 11 June 2014 that it has opened a formal investigation into the alleged monitoring of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mobile phone by the US’s National Security Agency (NSA). The German government has reportedly announced its support to the investigation. Although Chancellor Merkel has asked the US President Barack Obama in person […]
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