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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Romania: After PNR, a proposal for retention of tourist data
On 15 July 2015, the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) of the European Parliament narrowly voted in favour of the EU Passenger Name Record (PNR) Directive proposal (32 in favour, 26 against, no abstentions), a mass surveillance measure to collect and process air traveller data for profiling purposes. This came after […]
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Journalists detained in Turkey for using encryption
On 27 August, a British journalist and a cameraman working for Vice News, a news channel that broadcasts in-depth documentaries about current subjects, and their fixer were detained in Turkey while reporting in Diyarbakir, the main city of the country’s predominantly Kurdish southeastern region. At the beginning of September, the three men were charged by […]
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Terrorists behind the attacks in France not radicalised “online”
On 26 August, the French Minister of the Interior Bernard Cazeneuve announced in an interview that “90 percent of those drifting into terrorism do it on the Internet”. It is not the first time that Cazeneuve mentioned this figure – he used the same statistics already on numerous occasions, mainly to defend measures contained in […]
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Portugal: Privatised copyright law enforcement agreement now public
On 12 August 2015, EDRi-gram reported about a Portuguese “self-regulatory” agreement against alleged online infringements of copyright and related rights. The agreement has already entered into force and is now public, thanks to a Portuguese citizen who made a freedom of information request and successfully appealed its initial rejection before the Portuguese Commission on Access […]
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ENDitorial: Racism in Germany – Facebook should do “more”
Xenophobic attacks against refugees in Germany have dramatically increased over the past two years. In the first six months of 2015, German authorities counted 150 attacks on asylum-seeker shelters throughout the country. On 27 August, in an attempt to address the situation, Germany’s minister of justice and consumer protection urged Facebook to take down racist […]
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Austria creates new agency with unprecedented surveillance powers
In the midst of the biggest surveillance scandal of mankind and after years of criticism about rogue secret agencies spying on politicians and the government bodies supposed to control them, Austria is planning to establish a new secret agency. Austria’s draft state security law, “Staatsschutzgesetz”, grants new, far reaching surveillance powers while reducing oversight and […]
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Privacy Café 2.0: Improving the security of online communications
In order to repeat the success of our previous Privacy Café in the European Parliament, we are organising another training session on how to protect communications and privacy online. The event will provide basic hands-on guidance for increased online privacy for Members of the European Parliament, their assistants and Parliament staff. Since it is a hands-on session for […]
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Key points for a successful consultation on internet platforms
EDRi, together with Access, provided input to the European Commission ahead of the publication of its consultation on online platforms. Download the letter (pdf). It is very important for the future of EU digital policy that the upcoming platforms consultation be as credible, thorough and balanced as possible. The European Commission’s 2010-2012 consultation on the […]
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The School of Rock(ing) EU Copyright
For the first time in nearly a generation, the EU will update its copyright framework. This is a unique opportunity to reform and modernise Europe’s creaking, outdated, ill-adapted rules. Activists interested in taking up on this opportunity will get a crash course in effective copyright activism at a workshop in Warsaw on 5-6 November. To […]
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EDRi launches a campaign for online privacy for kids
Today, we launched a crowdfunding campaign to create a textbook to raise awareness among kids for the protection of their privacy online. “We want to teach children what they need to consider to protect themselves online,” said Kirsten Fiedler, Managing Director of European Digital Rights. “The goal is to create material, translated into as many languages […]
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Portugal: “Voluntary” agreement against copyright infringements
On 30 July 2015, copyright and related rights-holders associations, the General Inspection of Cultural Activities (IGAC), the Portuguese Consumer Directorate-General, the Portuguese Association of Telecom Operators, the organisation responsible for .pt domain registrations DNS.PT, the anti-“piracy” group MAPINET, advertising associations, and (unidentified) consumer associations agreed on a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at protecting copyright and […]
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Internet censorship redux – under the guise of regulating gambling
On 12 June 2015 a law came into effect requiring the providers of networks and electronic communication services in Romania to block access to gambling sites as well as sites advertising gambling activities that are unauthorised in the country. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will now be obliged to implement a website blocking system and use […]
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