Privacy and confidentiality
Privacy is a crucial element of our personal security, enabling free speech and democratic participation. The absolute and fundamental human right to privacy guarantees people respect for their private life and freedom from snooping and unlawful interference. It gives everyone the freedom to be themselves, to express and develop their opinions and ideas with dignity, and to practice their religion, as well as giving journalists and civil society the ability to report on violations of rights by states or businesses. Without sufficient privacy, people’s private interactions are exposed, which can be used to target or discriminate against them.
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Civil society calls for a proper assessment of data retention
In preparation of a possible proposal for new legislation, the European Commission is conducting informal dialogues with different stakeholders to research about the possibilities of data retention legislation that complies with the rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). As part of these […]
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Your family is none of their business
Today’s children have the most complex digital footprint in human history, with their data being collected by private companies and governments alike.
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Greece: Complaint filed against breach of EU data protection law
On 30 May 2019, EDRi observer Homo Digitalis filed a complaint to the European Commission against a breach of EU data protection law by Greece. The European Commission registered the complaint under the reference number CHAP(2019)01564 on 6 June 2019, and its services will assess the complaint and provide a reply within 12 months.
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Captured states – e-Privacy Regulation victim of a “lobby onslaught”
Compared to non-governmental organisations and trade unions, private corporations are far better equipped to influence European level decision-making. A report “Captured states: when EU governments are a channel for corporate interests” by Corporate Europe Observatory’s (CEO) describes the various ways corporations approach the Member States of the European Union to maximise their impact.
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Why should we vote in the EU elections?
What are your plans for the coming days? We have a suggestion: The European elections will take place – and it’s absolutely crucial to go and vote!
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ePrivacy: Private data retention through the back door
Blanket data retention has been prohibited in several court decisions by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the German Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG). In spite of this, some of the EU Member States want to reintroduce it for the use by law enforcement authorities – through a back door in the ePrivacy Regulation.
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Austria: New “responsibility” law will lead to self-censorship
Shortly after the EU gave green light to upload filters, two laws were proposed in Austria, with the alleged goal of tackling online hate speech, that rang the alarm bells.
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EU Council Presidency outlines future counter-terrorism priorities
A note produced by the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union sets out the EU’s response to terrorism since 2015. It highlights the main measures adopted and calls for a “reflection process on the way forward” in a number of areas including “interoperability and extended use of biometrics”; implementing the EU Passenger […]
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The art of dodging questions – Facebook’s privacy policies
Remember in April 2018, after the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke, we sent a series of 13 questions to Facebook about their users’ data exploitation policy. Months later, Facebook got back to us with answers. Here is a critical analysis of their response. Recognising people’s face without biometric data? The first questions (1a and 1b) related […]
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Czech BBA: Facebook and iROBOT the worst privacy intruders of 2018
The 14th Czech Big Brother Awards – anti-awards for those who have done the most to threaten personal privacy in 2018 – were announced on 14 February 2019. A jury of nine technology experts, lawyers and journalists chose the worst privacy intruders based on suggestions made by the general public. The Awards in four different […]
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ApTI submits complaint on Romanian GDPR implementation
In November 2018, the RISE Project case showed that the Romanian Data Protection Authority (ANSPDCP or Romanian DPA) was unprepared to respond to cases that involve both the right to freedom of expression and the right to privacy. RISE Project’s investigative journalism story #TeleormanLeaks was an important signal that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) […]
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ICANN and GDPR – nowhere near compliance
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Initial Report of the Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) on the Temporary Specification for generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) Registration Data Team makes for difficult reading. This is because, though it contains a serious attempt at complying with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance, it […]
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