On the ground

February 26, 2020 · Highlights | Privacy and data protection | Biometrics

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

February 26, 2020 · On the ground | Privacy and data protection | Data protection standards | Surveillance and data retention

Swedish law enforcement given the permission to hack

On 18 February 2020, the Swedish parliament passed a law that enables Swedish law enforcement to hack into devices such as mobile phones and computers that the police thinks a suspect might use. As with the recent new data retention law only one party (and one member of another party) voted against the resolution (286-26 […]

February 26, 2020 · On the ground | Privacy and data protection | Data protection standards | Privacy and confidentiality

Romania: Mandatory SIM registration declared unconstitutional, again

On 18 February 2020, the Romanian Constitutional Court unanimously declared unconstitutional a new legislative act adopted in September 2019 introducing mandatory SIM card registration. The legislative act in question was an emergency ordinance issued by the Government which wanted to introduce this obligation as a measure “to improve the operation of the 112 emergency service […]

February 12, 2020 · Highlights | Privacy and data protection | Data protection standards

PI and Liberty submit a new legal challenge against MI5

February 12, 2020 · Blogs | On the ground | Privacy and data protection | Data protection standards | Transparency

Cloud extraction: A deep dive on secret mass data collection tech

Mobile phones remain the most frequently used and most important digital source for law enforcement investigations. Yet it is not just what is physically stored on the phone that law enforcement are after, but what can be accessed from it, primarily data stored in the “cloud”. This is why law enforcement is turning to “cloud […]

February 12, 2020 · Blogs | On the ground | Privacy and data protection | Data protection standards | Digital rights in trade agreements

Data protection safeguards needed in EU-Vietnam trade agreements

On 12 February 2020, the European Parliament gave consent for the ratification of the EU-Vietnam trade and investment agreements. The trade agreement contains two cross-border data flow commitments. The related data protection safeguards in this agreement are similar to the ones in the EU-Japan agreement, which entered into force in February 2019. Civil society organisations […]

January 29, 2020 · Highlights | Privacy and data protection | Data protection standards

AG’s Opinion: Mass retention of data incompatible with EU law

January 15, 2020 · Highlights | Privacy and data protection | Data protection standards

Serbia: Complaints filed against Facebook and Google

January 15, 2020 · Highlights | Privacy and data protection | Surveillance and data retention

ECtHR demands explanations on Polish intelligence agency surveillance

January 15, 2020 · Highlights | Privacy and data protection | Data protection standards

Serbia: Complaints filed against Facebook and Google

January 15, 2020 · Blogs | On the ground | Privacy and data protection | Surveillance and data retention

ECtHR demands explanations on Polish intelligence agency surveillance

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has demanded the Polish government to provide an explanation on surveillance by its intelligence agencies. This is a result of complaints filed with the Strasbourg court in late 2017 and early 2018 by activists from EDRi member Panoptykon Foundation and Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights as well as […]

December 18, 2019 · Highlights | Privacy and data protection | Surveillance and data retention

Austrian government hacking law is unconstitutional

On 11 December 2019, the Austrian Constitutional Court decided that the surveillance law that permits the use of spying software to read encrypted messages violates the fundamental right to respect for private life (article 8 ECHR), the fundamental right to data protection (§ 1 Austrian data protection law) and the constitutionally granted right that prohibits unreasonable searches (Art 9 Austrian bill of rights – Staatsgrundgesetz).