Blogs

March 20, 2020 · Blogs | Privacy and surveillance | Disinformation and electoral interference

EDRi calls for fundamental rights-based responses to COVID-19

Some of the actions taken by governments and businesses under exceptional Coronavirus circumstances today, can have significant repercussions on freedom of expression, privacy and other human rights both today and tomorrow.

March 16, 2020 · Blogs | Privacy and surveillance | Data protection standards

Terrorist Content Online Regulation: Time to get things right

Closed-door negotiations (“trilogues”) on the Regulation to prevent the dissemination of terrorist content continue in Brussels. After our open letter from December things have moved on fairly slowly at first, but, recently, new texts are quickly being discussed in order to try to reach an agreement soon. Nonetheless, according to MEP Patrick Breyer, many key issues remain open for discussion.

March 11, 2020 · Blogs | Information democracy and participation | Artificial intelligence (AI)

Who should decide what we see online?

Online platforms rank and moderate content without letting us know how and why they do it. There is a pressing need for transparency of the practices and policies of these online platforms.

March 11, 2020 · Blogs | Just and open internet and technologies

Welcoming our new Senior Policy Advisor Sarah Chander!

European Digital Rights is proud to announce that Sarah Chander has joined the team at the Brussels office as the new Senior Policy Advisor.

March 11, 2020 · Blogs | Privacy and surveillance | Biometrics

Stuck under a cloud of suspicion: Profiling in the EU

As facial recognition technologies are gradually rolled out in police departments across Europe, anti-racism groups blow the whistle on the discriminatory over-policing of racialised communities linked to the increasing use of new technologies by law enforcement agents.

March 11, 2020 · Blogs | Privacy and surveillance | Profiling practices

Germany: Invading refugees’ phones – security or population control?

In its new study, EDRi member Society for Civil Rights (GFF) examines how German authorities sniff out refugees’ phones. The aim of “data carrier evaluation” is supposed to be determining a person’s identity and their country of origin. However, in reality, it violates refugees’ rights and does not produce any meaningful results.

March 11, 2020 · Blogs | Privacy and surveillance | Artificial intelligence (AI)

Accountable Migration Tech: Transparency, governance and oversight

Migration continues to dominate headlines around the world. For example, given the currently deteriorating situation at the border between Greece and Turkey, with reports of increasingly repressive measures to turn people away, new technologies already play a part in border surveillance and decision-making at the border.

March 11, 2020 · Blogs | Information democracy and participation | Disinformation and electoral interference

Facebook starts to increase transparency in political ads in the Balkans

Facebook has announced that it will expand its transparency system and confirmation of authenticity of ads about elections and politics starting from mid-March. Namely, Facebook will cover 32 additional countries, including Serbia and North Macedonia where the elections are to take place very soon.

March 11, 2020 · Blogs | Privacy and surveillance | Data protection standards

Security Information Service wins the Czech Big Brother Awards

The Czech Big Brother Award (BBA) 2019 winners are the Czech Security Information Service (BIS), the antivirus company Avast, and the energy company PRE. Positive prize of Edward Snowden went to the city of Prague.

March 4, 2020 · Blogs | Privacy and surveillance | Cross border access to data

E-evidence and human rights: The Parliament is not quite there yet

The European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties (LIBE) is currently busy working out a compromise between its different political groups in order to establish a common position on the “e-evidence” Regulation.

February 26, 2020 · Blogs | Privacy and surveillance | Biometrics

ECtHR: UK Police data retention scheme violated the right to privacy

February 26, 2020 · Blogs | Just and open internet and technologies | Privacy and surveillance | Artificial intelligence (AI) | Biometrics | Inclusive technologies | Profiling practices | Surveillance and data retention

Immigration, iris-scanning and iBorderCTRL

Technologies like automated decision-making, biometrics, and unpiloted drones are increasingly controlling migration and affecting millions of people on the move. This second blog post in our series on AI and migration highlights some of these uses, to show the very real impacts on people’s lives, exacerbated by a lack of meaningful governance and oversight mechanisms […]