Our work
EDRi is the biggest European network defending rights and freedoms online. We work to to challenge private and state actors who abuse their power to control or manipulate the public. We do so by advocating for robust and enforced laws, informing and mobilising people, promoting a healthy and accountable technology market, and building a movement of organisations and individuals committed to digital rights and freedoms in a connected world.
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Nine controversies about obligatory prepaid registration
“Register your prepaid and get free calls/internet transfer/win a car” – you can hear from Polish telecom operators, as a reminder that all pre-paid SIM cards have to be registered by 1 February 2017. One could almost think that this is just a nicely coordinated campaign of leading telecoms, aimed at collecting a bit more data […]
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Proposed surveillance package in Austria sparks resistance
The Austrian coalition parties have renegotiated their government programme in January 2017. This new programme contains a so-called “security package” that encompasses the introduction of several new surveillance measures and additional powers for the Austrian security agencies. These changes in the law are to be implemented by June 2017. However, so far no evaluation of already […]
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Belgium agrees on passenger controls of international rail traffic
Belgium, the Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom have agreed on new checks of passengers’ identities on international trains. The agreement was reached on 26 January 2017 in an informal meeting between the Ministers of the Interior and Ministers of Justice in Malta. The Belgian Minister of the Interior and Security Jan Jambon announced the […]
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European fund for digital rights launched
The European movement to defend civil rights in the digital sphere is fighting for fundamental freedoms in the online environment. Most European digital rights NGOs are either entirely made up of volunteers or only have small teams of professional staff. They are usually the first to track and fight emerging issues in the field of […]
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Funding is caring: Small grants to support digital rights groups!
We are more than happy to announce the launch of the “European Digital Rights Fund” that will bring urgently needed support to the EDRi community. This small grants programme, designed by the Renewable Freedom Foundation (RFF), is based on peer-led decisions from our digital rights community based on an easy application process that allows for […]
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e-Privacy Regulation: Good intentions but a lot of work to do
On 10 January 2017, the European Commission published its long-awaited proposal for an e-Privacy Regulation (Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications, ePR) to replace the 2002 e-Privacy Directive (Directive 2002/58/EC, ePD). EU legislation on data protection is divided between general legislation (the 1995 Directive, soon to be replaced by the General Data Protection Regulation) and […]
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New Danish law can lead to substantial internet censorship
On 12 January 2017, the Danish Ministry of Justice presented a draft law on website blocking for public consultation. This step had been expected for a couple of months as part of the government’s action plan on countering online extremism and radicalisation. Denmark has a complete opt-out from the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) area […]
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Commission’s 2017 Work Programme: The good, the bad & the ambiguous
At the end of October 2016, the European Commission presented its programme for 2017 “delivering a Europe that protects, empowers and defends”. The new programme highlights 21 key political initiatives and 18 Regulatory Fitness and Performance reviews (REFIT). The programme also contains an overview of the pending proposals from previous years that need to be […]
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#PrivacyCamp17: Controlling data, controlling machines
Accountability, transparency and profiling were the buzzwords of the fifth annual Privacy Camp, which took place on 24 January in Brussels. The camp, this year entitled “Controlling data, controlling machines: dangers and solutions”, brought together civil society, policy-makers and academia to discuss the problems for human rights in the digital environment. The event is organised […]
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Germany: Fighting the anti-whistleblower provision
EDRi observer Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte’s (GFF) most recent Constitutional Court case in Germany concerns an anti-whistleblowing provision threatening the freedom of the press. Part-time journalists and bloggers, as well as the legal or IT experts on which journalists rely, now risk a prison sentence of up to three years for handling “leaked” data.
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Protecting whistleblowers – protecting democracy
Whistleblowing is defined as the “disclosure by a person, usually an employee in a government agency or private enterprise, to the public or to those in authority, of mismanagement, corruption, illegality, or other forms of wrongdoing”. Whistleblowers have become a trending topic since 2010, when Chelsea Manning disclosed around 700 000 military classified documents to […]
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From EDRi to the World in 2016
Now more than ever civil society needs to stand together to fight against challenges to the protection of personal data, to our privacy, freedom of expression and access to knowledge. In the discussions about defending our online rights and freedoms, all voices must be heard. In 2016, EDRi increased its international activity to help spread […]
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