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Consumer protection MEPs recommend bureaucracy and destruction of privacy rights
Following the recent vote, the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) of the European Parliament has just published a final version of its “Opinion” (pdf) on the European Commission’s proposal for a General Data Protection Regulation. The text was adopted with a small majority, underlining how controversial the dossier is. While the Committee proposes […]
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CEO Coalition – the blind leading the bland
After a year of working group meetings, the “CEO Coalition to make the Internet a better place for kids” produces its final documents on 4 February. The outcome of the project is a set of voluntary guidelines divided into five broad headings, ranging from “reporting tools” to “notice and takedown,” It is intended that this […]
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An introduction to Data Protection
This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Einführung in den Datenschutz | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_11.2_Einfuehrung_in_den_Datenschutz?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20130207] EDRi launched the booklet “An introduction to Data Protection” on 28 January 2013, the European Data Protection day. The booklet is intended to provide an overview of some of the key issues and jargon surrounding data protection in the digital environment: from […]
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EU governments keep increasing requests to Google for private data
This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Google Transparenzbericht: Zahl der Datenabfragen erneut gestiegen | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_11.2_Google_Transparenzbericht_Zahl_der_Datenabfragen_erneut_gestiegen?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20130207] According to Google’s latest Transparency Report released on 24 January 2013, EU governments’ requests for users’ IP addresses, Internet browsing history, email communications or documents have dramatically increased during the last three years. Only between July and December 2012, […]
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Finnish copyright law might be changed following crowdsourcing support
This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Finnland: Volksbegehren könnte bald neues Urheberrecht erwirken | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_11.2_Finnland_Volksbegehren_koennte_bald_neues_Urheberrecht_erwirken?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20130207] People may be able to influence the fate of the copyright legislation in Finland due to a recent modification of the national Constitution allowing citizens to make legislative proposals for the Parliament. The Finnish Constitution says that a private […]
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German government intends to use FinFisher Spyware
This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Deutschland will FinFisher Spyware einsetzen | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_11.2_Deutschland_will_FinFisher_Spyware_einsetzen?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20130207] A classified document of the German Ministry of Interior, revealed by netzpolitik.org, shows that the German Federal Police office has purchased the commercial Spyware toolkit FinFisher of Eleman/Gamma Group, for telecommunication surveillance. Commercial software meant to survey telecommunications has been used […]
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Slovenia has a net neutrality law
This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Slowenien schreibt Netzneutralität per Gesetz vor | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_11.2_Slowenien_schreibt_Netzneutralitaet_per_Gesetz_vor?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20130207] On 20 December 2012, the Slovenian Parliament approved a legislative framework (the Economic Communications Bill) that includes net neutrality, confirming the open and neutral character of the Internet and forbidding the discrimination of Internet traffic on the basis of the […]
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Greater transparency and accountability of surveillance systems
This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Überwachung: Mehr Transparenz und Rechenschaftslegung gefragt | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_11.2_Ueberwachung_Mehr_Transparenz_und_Rechenschaftslegung_gefragt?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20130207] A report called “Surveillance, Fighting Crime and Violence” was produced by the IRISS (Increasing Resilience in Surveillance Societies) project funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme. The report analyses the factors underpinning the development and use of […]
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Kroes ignoring the problems on net neutrality?
This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Netzneutralität: Ignoriert Kommissarin Kroes alle Gefahren? | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_11.2_Netzneutralitaet_Ignoriert_Kommissarin_Kroes_die_Gefahren?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20130207] Neelie Kroes, the European Commissioner for Internet-related policies, recently published an article in the French newspaper Liberation stating that while she was in favour of an open Internet and maximum choice that must be protected, and she believed that “consumers […]
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RIP CleanIT
This is hopefully going to be our last report on the EU-funded Clean IT project. Since our last article, which was the trigger for quite some negative feedback in the international press, much has changed in the drafting documents of the project. On Wednesday 30 January, the participants meet for a final conference in Brussels […]
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2013: EU consultations of importance to digital rights
The European Commission frequently organises consultations, which are open not only to industry but also civil society and individual citizens. These are valuable opportunities to shape policy in a positive way from the outset rather than needing to take to the streets when the wrong policy is developed based on bad analysis. The following is […]
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US lobbying against the data protection reform intensifies
The United States authorities have produced another lobbying document to influence the European Union’s decision making on European citizens’ fundamental right to privacy and data protection. Strangely, the document itself is not on headed paper and contains no authorship information. All of the lobbying documents produced so far have been in support of the positions […]
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