EDRi-gram, 20 March 2024
On March 13, following years of tireless advocacy, the EU Parliament finally passed the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act. But there’s not much to celebrate – the law missed the mark when it comes to protecting our human rights, especially those of migrants and people on the move. On the same day, the Parliament also passed the European Media Freedom Law (EMFA) which aims to protect journalists and media workers. Another legislation with lofty ambitions that did not live up to its goals. Despite the Brussels spyware scandal that shocked up in February 2024, EU’s approach to surveillance technology remains lackadaisical at best. What will finally convince them to take action?
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Open letter: Digital rights advocates unite against Meta’s “Pay or Okay”. Privacy and data protection are NOT for sale
In response to three Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) requesting a European Data Protection Board (EDPB) opinion on Meta's 'Pay or Consent' approach, Access Now, the EDRi office and...
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Delay, depress, destroy: How tech corporations subvert the EU’s new digital laws
When the DSA and DMA were passed in 2022, major tech industry associations praised the new laws as significant achievements. It is time for Big Tech corporations to...
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GPS tagging of migrants found unlawful by UK data protection authority
As a result of Privacy International’s 2022 complaint against the UK Home Office, the UK data protection authority (ICO) has found that the GPS tagging of migrants and...
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Europe’s highest court delivers landmark judgment against IAB Europe in GDPR consent spam pop-ups case
The Court of Justice of the European Union's landmark decision on March 7, 2023, against the auctioning of personal data for advertising purposes under the General Data Protection...
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#ProtectNotSurveil: The EU AI Act fails migrants and people on the move
The #ProtectNotSurveil coalition is calling attention to how the EU AI Act - adopted by the European Parliament on March 13 - is failing to prevent harm...
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Will the Brussels spyware scandal finally convince the EU to act?
In February, Brussels was rocked by reports of phone hacking and spyware attacks on members of the European Parliament’s defence and security committee. Such intrusions are a huge...
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European Court of Human Rights confirms: weakening of encryption can violate the human right to privacy
In a milestone judgment - Podchasov v. Russia - the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled that weakening of encryption can lead to general and indiscriminate...
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Privatised municipal surveillance on the stage of security theatre in Slovenia
The municipality of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, wasted almost two years deflecting freedom of information requests (FOIAs) from EDRi member Državljan Dsfor the municipal CCTV system data...
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