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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Leaked documents show net neutrality may be in danger!
On 14 November 2014, the Italian Presidency presented amendments to the Telecommunications package for comment by the Member State delegations. We are hereby making the document and its annexes publicly available (Note and addendum). These documents show that the Italian Presidency is now back-pedalling on meaningful net neutrality protections – having previously made some much […]
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Irish ISP introduces child porn blocking – doesn’t know why
The Irish broadband provider UPC has introduced blocking for web addresses that are alleged to contain child abuse material. It chose an interesting moment to do this – with the total number of domains allegedly hosting abuse material half what it was ten years ago and with sites staying online for historically short periods of […]
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Denmark plans to use PNR data for increased Schengen border control
In Denmark, there is currently a public consultation for a new draft law which aims at improving the border checks at Denmark’s Schengen borders. Formally, the Schengen Border Code has abolished border checks at EU’s internal borders, but, under Article 21, member states are still allowed to carry out identity checks in the border territory, […]
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ENDitorial: Transparency in TTIP? Yes, but in practice, please!
The EU and the US are currently negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which is a wide-ranging agreement likely to affect digital rights and freedoms. Lack of transparency is at the core of the criticism regarding the negotiations surrounding TTIP and the conclusion of a flurry of free trade agreements. The TTIP negotiations […]
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Obama urges the FCC to adopt rules to ensure net neutrality
In a speech on 10 November, US President Barack Obama made a strong statement calling for net neutrality. He urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to adopt rules to prevent Internet access providers from blocking or slowing down content, and from charging service providers to let them use a “fast lane” to reach their clients. […]
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UN calls for balance between privacy and security
In a special discussion at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Flavia Pansieri, the United Nations (UN) Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressed her concern about increasing mass surveillance programs conducted by states and private corporations. Ms. Pansieri highlighted the importance of demonstrating that interferences with an individual’s right to privacy are both necessary […]
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PNR: Losing rights and paying for it
Passenger Name Records (PNR) are files containing information provided by the passengers and collected by air carriers for commercial purposes. PNR can contain information ranging from itineraries, to credit card numbers and meal preferences. The fact that this type of data is obtained by flight companies is not new; similar data may be obtained internally […]
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Hungary’s Internet tax postponed but not yet abolished
On 28 October about 100,000 Hungarians gathered to protest a planned introduction of a tax on Internet data transfers. The new tax would have required Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to pay 150 forints (0,48 euro) per gigabyte of data traffic. According to the Hungarian government’s proposal, the intended tax was meant solely for ISPs. However, […]
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Poland: New project on public institutions’ surveillance practices
Every year more and more public money is invested in surveillance technologies – everything from drones and video surveillance to data mining software for public administration. Recently, the Polish government announced a new programme of co-financing surveillance cameras in the schools. Why do governments spends public funds on surveillance without justifying such investments or evaluating […]
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Finland: Web service to request verifying of secret registry data
EDRi-member Effi ry has launched a web service for citizens to request the data protection authorities to verify that any records in various law enforcement and secret services registries are filed according to the relevant regulations. Previously, this kind of request required detailed knowledge of relevant registers, leaving the process practically unavailable for the majority […]
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CJEU: Embedding not a copyright infringement
On 21 October 2014 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that embedding copyrighted videos is not a violation of copyright, even when the source video is uploaded without the permission from the rightsholder. The case, dealing with a dispute between a water filtering company BestWater International and two independent commercial agents […]
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FTDI: Is the law criminal?
The EDRi-gram has previously reported on the general silliness, if not active harmfulness to an open society, of certain copying controls that are generically referred to as Digital Rights Management (DRM). However, it’s not often that a practical example comes around that underlines the problem and at the same time has potential to demonstrate the […]
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