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
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An Open Letter to the European Parliament on Biometric Registration of all EU Citizens and Residents
!!To the Members of the European Parliament, We the undersigned are calling on you to reject the ‘Draft Council Regulation on standards for security features and biometrics in passports and travel documents issued by Member States’. This is an unnecessary and rushed policy that will have hazardous effects on Europeans’ right to privacy. This policy […]
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Opinion EU privacy authorities on data retention
The European Working Party of data protection authorities has finally released an opinion on the proposed retention of communication traffic data. The Working Party concludes the proposal is not acceptable within the legal framework set by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. According to the Working Party data retention deserves the same […]
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Poland blocks EU Software Patent directive
The Polish government has announced today it can not support the proposal from the EU Council for a Software Patents directive, since it is too vague, and leaves too much room for patents on pure software and business methods. This means there is no majority in the Council anymore to formally ratify the agreement that […]
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Dutch EU presidency launches new JHA programme
The Dutch presidency of the EU has launched a new 5 year programme for Justice and Home Affairs. The previous five year plan, the Tampere Programme, was launched under the Finnish presidency of the EU. The new ‘Hague Programme’ was discussed at the Brussels European Council on 4 and 5 November and will be presented […]
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Conference report: 683 patents on the ethernet plug
On 9 and 10 November 2004, the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) and MERIT, sponsored by OSI, CEA-PME and the Greens/EFA, organised a conference in Brussels on the topic of ‘Regulating Knowledge: Costs, Risks, and Models of Innovation’. Its main theme was the economic consequences of software patents, focussing on economic dynamics, insurance […]
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UK NO2ID e-petition
A large group of UK-based rights organisations, including EDRI-member FIPR and Privacy International, has launched a formal e-petition against governmental plans to introduce ID-cards. The petition (open to UK residents only) closes at 19 November, timed to precede the speech of the Queen on 23 November 2004. Almost 1.000 individuals have endorsed the petition, that […]
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European geographical data at a very high price?
Advocates of open source tools that use geographical data (GIS) are concerned about a new directive proposed by the European Commission on the use of governmental geospatial data. The INSPIRE Directive, adopted by the Commission in July 2004, aims to establish a spatial information infrastructure in Europe. It covers 30 broad types of data, such […]
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Privacy International warns against phone camera's
Privacy International is calling on all manufacturers of phone camera’s to equip the devices with a default flash, to alert people that their picture is taken. PI believes this measure is necessary to avoid endemic privacy abuse. Camera phones are increasingly used to take intimate and private images without consent, often resulting in embarrassment and […]
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Comments on Unesco convention on cultural diversity
The Unesco is working on a draft convention on cultural diversity, the Convention on the Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Contents and Artistic Expressions. The draft contains many references to copyright, intellectual property rights and access to information. On 15 November 2004 the campaign for Communication Rights in the Information Society (CRIS) has presented […]
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No take-down website Turkish consulate
On 15 November a Paris court (Tribunal de Grand Instance) rejected a demand from the Comité de Défense de la Cause Arménienne (CDCA) to take-down a website from the Turkish consulate in France. The Turkish consul was accused by the CDCA of denying the 1915 genocide on Armenians. Both the complaint against hosting provider Wanadoo […]
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German parliament debates filtering or blocking
On 12 November, the German Lower House (Bundestag) debated in plenary on the merits of individual filtering or state-ordered blocking of illegal and harmful content. Germany is the only country in Western Europe (besides Switzerland) were governmental blocking-orders were issued to providers to prevent internet users from accessing information deemed illegal or indecent. Over 80 […]
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ECJ: no legal protection for spin-off databases
The European Court of Justice has decided to diminish the legal protection of so called ‘spin-off’ databases under the Database Directive 1996/9/EC. In order to claim ‘sui generis’ database protection, a substantial investment must be made “in seeking, collecting, verifying and presenting existing materials”. The resources used to create the materials which make up the […]
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