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
-
Ireland sneaks data retention into law
After pushing a framework decision on data retention at the EU, Ireland’s Government has decided to focus on its national parliament and to pass a law on data retention there. Data retention was snuck into the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act, first introduced in 2002, in the final hours before the Bill became law in […]
Read more
-
Europarl debate on PNR and data retention
On 9 March the European Parliament debated in plenary in Strasbourg about the transfer of passengerdata (PNR) to the US and asked the Commission about the Council plans for mandatory data retention. EU Justice Commissioner Frattini for the first time stated in public that the Commission sees no legal basis for a framework decision from […]
Read more
-
Unesco NL recommendations on human rights and Internet
The Netherlands National Commission for Unesco has published Recommendations on human rights and Internet, following a conference held on 4 and 5 February 2005. The recommendation focusses on privacy, the right of freedom of expression and the right to communicate, including access to the vast cultural, educational and scientific heritage of mankind. On privacy, the […]
Read more
-
XS4ALL sues Dutch State for investments in wiretapping
The Dutch Internet provider XS4ALL has launched a court case against the Dutch State to recuperate the investments it has done to comply with wiretapping legislation. XS4ALL says it has invested half a million euro since 2001 to enable law enforcement authorities to place a wiretap on a specific customer. The Dutch State only reimburses […]
Read more
-
Italian agreement to fight copyright infringements
The Italian government has closed an agreement with 50 organisations from the music, video, publishing and IT industry to fight copyright infringements by organising public ‘sensibilisation’ campaigns. The agreement was launched on 3 March 2005 during the well-known Sanremo pop music festival. Prepared by three ministers (of Technological Innovation, Culture and Communications) the agreement was […]
Read more
-
Search engines voluntarily block harmful content in Germany
According to a report in the German e-zine Heise all the major search engines in Germany have voluntarily agreed to filter out harmful content for their German audience. Google, Lycos Europe, MSN Germany, AOL Germany, Yahoo, T-Online and t-info have founded a self-regulatory organisation that will voluntarily block a list of URLs considered to be […]
Read more
-
Dutch plan large-scale satellite snooping
The Dutch ministry of defence is planning to build a large facility to intercept civilian and military satellite communications. The Echelon-like site at Burum, in the north of the Netherlands, will have 15 dishes and listen to telephone, fax and internet telecommunications. The large streams of intercepted information will be examined by a new intelligence […]
Read more
-
French court decision on traffic data retention
On 4 February 2005 the appeal court of Paris has extended the general obligations for data retention to companies. According to the verdict, like internet providers all companies are obliged to store traffic data originating from their employees, to allow identification of e-mails with illegal contents sent from company machines. The verdict is ominous since […]
Read more
-
Geneva meeting on access to knowledge
On 3-4 February 2005, more than 60 academics, researchers and scientists, software developers, diplomats, librarians, consumers and representatives of disability and other public interest groups from north and south gathered in Geneva to discuss the WIPO Development Agenda and a draft Treaty on Access to Knowledge (A2K). The meeting was organised by the Consumer Project […]
Read more
-
Europe crowned as Internet Villain
Europe was crowned ‘Internet Villain’ of the year at the 7th Annual UK Internet Industry Award Ceremony, for “threatening the Country of Origin principle, which has encouraged e-commerce across the EU, and for the Draft Framework on Data Retention.” The awards are an initiative of the UK Internet Service Providers’ Association Council. Previous winners include […]
Read more
-
Council adopts decision on attacks against information systems
On 24 February 2005 the JHA Council finally adopted the framework decision on attacks against information systems. The decision harmonises legislation in the EU for any offence committed against a computer infrastructure with the intention of destroying, modifying or altering the information stored on computers or networks of computers. The two key definitions in the […]
Read more
-
Recommended reading: CCTV
Publication by the Development and Statistics Directorate of the English Home Office of the results of the first major research into the application of CCTV in the UK. The general conclusion about the effects on criminality is that camera surveillance is a powerful instrument, but it must be acknowledged camera’s are used in widely different […]
Read more