EDRi-gram, 22 January 2025

The EDRi-gram is back after the winter break and yes, we missed you too. Before we dive into the new year, we have a review of 2024 for you. From stopping Chat Control to hosting the first-ever Tech and Society Summit, read up on what kept EDRi so busy last year. In this edition, also catch-up with some important developments from the end of 2024 which are bound to pop up again on the digital rights radar soon. The infamous High Level Group Going Dark presented their "insecurity by design agenda". So don’t be surprised if EU politics sees another iteration of flawed proposals on data retention and circumventing encryption. Ugh. Meanwhile, the European Commission presented their proposal for digitalising travel documents. “Didn’t they promise that for the third quarter of 2023,” you say? Indeed, but after the initiative received a devastating amount of negative feedback, it took more than a year for the adjusted EU travel app proposal. We provide an extensive analysis of the (so far) voluntary system for pre-travel controls. For our more masochistically inclined readers, we take a look over to the US and how corporate social media such as Meta and X align with the new administration. Recent changes to content moderation policies empower far-right extremists and expose marginalised and minoritised communities to hate speech.

By EDRi · January 22, 2025

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Detox your digital data

Tactical Tech

The new year is a good opportunity to cleanse your smartphone from unnecessary junk and to increase your online privacy. Prevent your intimate data from being collected and exposed in the next commercial data leak and take control of your smartphone data. The Data Detox Kit lists helpful steps you can take in 5-10 Minutes. Try it now.

 

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Six years of the GDPR: priced out of privacy?

EDRi member, Access Now

“Pay or consent” models are increasingly applied by companies such as Meta to undermine people’s data protection rights and to defy core principles of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). EDRi member, Access Now details how these models harm people and their human rights and urges the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) to tackle this issue. Read here (PDF).

 

watch

38th Chaos Communication Congress (38c3)

EDRi member, Chaos Computer Club

In December, hackers, activists and other people met in Hamburg for the largest annual European hacker conference. Notable presentations include the disclosure of research into an unprecedented leak of mobility data collected via electronic cars, a security breach of the German electronic patient file (ePA) and what mistakes to avoid when you try to build a submarine. Dive in and watch here.

 

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Fully Automated! TTRPG

Solarpunk Presents

Fed up with the endless gloom? When the dystopian futuristic visions of the cyberpunk genre feel a bit too close to home, it is a good time to explore storytelling to imagine a kinder, greener future. Andy Gross joins the podcast to explain why he and others created “Fully Automated!”, an open source solarpunk tabletop role-playing game set in a hard-science post-scarcity future. Listen here.

EVENTS

  • "RigthsCon25, Taipei"

    February 24, 2025

    RigthsCon25

    Each edition of RightsCon convenes business leaders, policy makers, general counsels, government representatives, technologists, academics, journalists, and human rights advocates from around the world to tackle pressing issues...

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  • April 23, 2025

    Cambridge Disinformation Summit 2025

    The 2025 Cambridge Disinformation Summit is designed to convene global thought leaders to discuss research regarding the efficacy of potential interventions to mitigate the harms from disinformation.

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  • May 22, 2025

    Save the date: The European Investigative Journalism Conference

    Dataharvest – The European Investigative Journalism Conference is a meeting point where networks are established and nurtured, data and documents shared, cross-border projects conceived and teams established. The...

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  • January 30, 2025

    Webinar: The State of Social Media 2025

    The State of Social Media webinar will explore the trends, challenges, and priorities defining the future of social media. Based on insights from over 1,100 survey responses, this...

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  • February 1, 2025

    FOSDEM 2025

    FOSDEM is a free event for software developers to meet, share ideas and collaborate. Every year, thousands of developers of free and open source software from all over...

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  • February 3, 2025

    ‘Total Trust’ Screening & Debate in Brussels

    This event features the documentary Total Trust (2023), an eye-opening and deeply disturbing story of surveillance technology, abuse of power, and (self-)censorship. What can happen when our privacy...

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JOBS