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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Under surveillance: (mis)use of technologies in emergency responses
In the months following the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than half the world’s countries enacted emergency measures. Within this broader context, we have seen a rapid scaling up of governments’ use of technologies to enable widespread surveillance. How has this impacted civil society groups globally?
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European Parliament approves a timid online political advertising proposal
Tomorrow, 2 February, the European Parliament will vote on the regulation on the transparency and targeting of political advertising proposal in plenary. Although this regulation intended to restrict the use of personal data to target online political advertisements, important proposals to tackle the root causes of data-driven vote manipulation were watered down during the discussion in the Parliament.
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Policy Statement on article 17 of the proposed European Media Freedom Act
EDRi and our members Access Now, ApTI, Article 19, Citizen D, EFF, EFN, IT-Politisk Forening, Panoptykon, Vrijschrift, Wikimedia Germany alongside other organisations are calling to reject Article 17 in its current form altogether in the EMFA.
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Remote biometric identification: a technical & legal guide
Lawmakers are more aware than ever of the risks posed by automated surveillance systems which track our faces, bodies and movements across time and place. In the EU's AI Act, facial and other biometric systems which can identify people at scale are referred to as 'Remote Biometric Identification', or RBI. But what exactly is RBI, and how can you tell the difference between an acceptable and unacceptable use of a biometric system?
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Only more rights will protect women on the internet
EDRi welcomes the proposal’s intention to effectively combat online gender-based violence through a specific Directive. However, EDRi is concerned with the specific focus on the criminalisation of online activities rather than addressing structural issues and root causes of gender-based violence. Furthermore, the Directive lacks a meaningful comprehension of how social media business models amplify violent gender-based violent content.
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Looking back at 2022: Protecting and advancing digital rights in times of crisis
In moments where we should be urgently tackling the climate crisis and working towards peace and justice worldwide, state funds and efforts seem to reinforce militarisation, fuel the climate crises and injustice. In response to increased surveillance and control practices coming from governments and private companies, EDRi members and partners have put forward a vision in which people live with dignity and vitality. What have we collectively achieved in 2022?
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What are the provisions of new policing draft laws
The SHARE Foundation has consistently advocated against the legalisation of mass, indiscriminate biometric surveillance for the past four years, particularly during the consultation process launched upon the withdrawal of the first Draft Law on Internal Affairs. A new draft with old fundamental issues is now before us. The public hearing is open until the end of December.
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EU watchdog finds European Commission failed to protect human rights from its surveillance aid to African countries
The European Ombudsman has found that the European Commission failed to take necessary measures to ensure the protection of human rights in the transfers of technology with potential surveillance capacity supported by its multi-billion Emergency Trust Fund for Africa.
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TERREG implementation in Romania: the Intelligence Service wants to become the police officer, prosecutor, judge and supervisor of the bailiff
An online publication discovered that another law proposal was used as a "vehicle" by the Senate Committee on National Security to propose new changes of the law for the TERREG implementation in Romania.
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Everyone is on Mastodon now, but why?
Millions of people and organisations are flocking to Mastodon in the wake of Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover. EDRi is among those who recently started using the decentralised and free social network. What does Mastodon do better, and why does it get digital rights groups all excited?
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Update: UK’s Online Safety Bill heralds a trio of surveillance
The UK’s Online Safety Bill was back in the Westminster Parliament in December It had been stalled for five months whilst the new British government made a few changes. A Parliamentary debate on Monday (5 December 2022) revealed the shift in policy direction for the first time. It’s a relatively small change with big implications. Read more about the changes.
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Legal challenge: The Serbian government attempts to digitise social security system
Organisations from across the world submit a joint legal opinion to support a Serbian NGO’s legal challenge to the Social Card law due to concerns over the right to privacy, the right to social security, and data protection.
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