EDRis interactive Annual Report: A year in review of the digital rights field

Despite a challenging year, the European Digital Rights network has been relentlessly working to advocate for better digital policies, challenge creepy surveillance, inform and mobilise people across Europe.

Covid 19 brought the often invisible power of tech into sharp focus as it fostered the digitalisation of our lives forcing us to rely more heavily on technology to meet all our needs. In response, EDRi emphasised that measures taken should not lead to discrimination of any form, and governments must remain vigilant to the disproportionate harms that marginalised groups can face.

“Our efforts resulted in defeating legislation that curtailed our rights. The French Avia Law was declared unconstitutional, we broke through the weak Privacy Shield data transfer agreement, brought down mass surveillance attempts in Germany, shot down police drones (metaphorically speaking) and made privacy a reality in Catalan schools.”

44 members closely contributed to EDRi’s impact in 2020 and together we prioritised building a resilient, sustainable and inclusive network. We mobilised our efforts to stand against technosolutionism, privacy-invasive measures and Big Tech’s untamed hijacking of public infrastructures in 2020 and continue to do so today.

The story of Rokhaya Diallo, a Black Muslim female french journalist, author and activist, brings to light the daily struggles of social and racial justice activists in the digital space and shows the purpose of our work. Despite being a survivor of hate speech online, Rokhaya brings attention to the importance of not leaving decisions on content removal to Big Tech such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft nor to zealous governments. Her journey illustrates that online spaces are amplified mirrors of society.

Another huge accomplishment in 2020, was the launch of the Reclaim Your Face campaign. The campaign brings people’s concerns on the use of our biometric data into the democratic debate, especially the voices of those who will be the most harmed under biometric mass surveillance. As part of a strong coalition, EDRi along with over 40 organisations call for a prohibition on the use of our most sensitive data for mass surveillance in public spaces due to its impact on our rights and freedoms.

“We will wake up one day and find that the terror of mass surveillance is far more severe than any terror we have ever seen.” – Reclaim Your Face supporter

Read more about the need of digital rights and our impact in 2020 in our newly launched interactive Annual Report. The new edition is tailored for online viewing with plenty of videos, quotes and visuals to give you a quick overview of how far we’ve come in a year. If you prefer reading the static version without the videos or the interactive elements, you can do so here. Stay tuned and thank you for supporting us!