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.
Filter resources
-
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 […]
Read more
-
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 […]
Read more
-
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 […]
Read more
-
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.
Read more
-
#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 […]
Read more
-
Despite large opposition, CETA limps forward in the European Parliament
On 24 January 2017, the European Parliament Committee on International Trade (INTA) voted in favour of the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA), despite the concerns about fundamental rights and the right to regulate. We regret that the international trade committee appears to be motivated by short-term political objectives, rather than what is actually written in […]
Read more
-
2017: Important Consultations for your Digital Rights!
Public consultations are an opportunity to influence policy-making at an early stage, and to help to shape a brighter future for your digital rights.
Read more
-
The hacking law with its own backdoor
In the past few years, Dutch EDRi member Bits of Freedom has put a lot of effort into trying to stop the Dutch hacking proposal. The proposal would grant Dutch law enforcement agencies the authority to remotely access electronic devices. In December 2016, the law was passed in Dutch Parliament. Sadly, without the improvements that […]
Read more
-
The Republic of Moldova: “Big Brother” Law
In the European Union (EU) the limitation of mass surveillance measures is currently discussed in the context of the European Court of Justice (CJEU) and four EU member states’ constitutional court decisions relating to the laws on retaining traffic data. At the same time, in the Republic of Moldova, a new law on broadening the […]
Read more
-
2017 – another extremely challenging year for digital rights
The agenda of the year 2016 for the protection of digital rights was filled with challenges, and it looks like 2017 is not going to be any easier.
Read more
-
ENDitorial: Happiness – owning nothing and having no privacy?
In November 2016, Danish social-liberal parliamentarian Ida Auken wrote a chilling, dystopian article that was published on the website of the World Economic Forum. It looked forward to a hypothetical society in the year 2030, where nobody owned anything, not even their own personal space, not their own secrets, not their own life. In an […]
Read more
-
Snowden: Surveillance is about control
In December 2016, the 33rd edition of the world’s longest-running annual hacker conference Chaos Communication Congress, organised by EDRi member Chaos Computer Club (CCC), took place. It featured many insightful lectures and workshops on issues related to security, cryptography, privacy and freedom of speech. When it comes to surveillance issues, a live appearance from Edward Snowden […]
Read more