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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Dutch Spammer Bevelander fined 25.000 US Dollar
The Dutch spammer Martijn Bevelander has to pay 25.000 US Dollar to the US Federal Trade Commission, for unfair and deceptive acts of commerce. Bevelander and his company Maps Holding BV were accused by the FTC for misrepresenting the subject line, ‘spoofing’ (faking) the sender) and creating untrue opt-out possibilities in large amounts of unsolicited […]
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French Senate to vote on controversial Digital Economy Law
On 8 April the French Senate will vote about a controversial new law to translate the E-Commerce Directive (2000/31/EC). The law known as LEN (‘Loi sur la confiance dans l’economie numerique’), has been heavily opposed by EDRI-member IRIS, Reporters without Borders, several trade unions, internet user groups and the association of internet providers for undermining […]
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GMail raises concerns
An international coalition of privacy and civil liberty organisations have signed an open letter to Google urging the company to suspend its Gmail service until the privacy issues are adequately addressed. EDRI-members Privacy International, FIPR and Bits of Freedom have signed the letter. Gmail is a free web-mail service that will scan the contents of […]
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EU project on privacy and identity management
On 1 March 2004 the EU launched a new 4-year project on privacy and identity management. Its objective is the research and development of solutions to empower individuals in managing their privacy in cyberspace. The Commission contributes a budget of 10 million euro. Following a longtime focus on privacy enhancing technologies, the Commission feels that […]
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Recommended reading: Genetic data
The Article 29 Data Protection Working Party has adopted a working document on genetic data. The technical progress which science has made over recent years in the field of genetic research has given rise to new data protection questions and concerns in relation to the significance and impact of genetic tests and the processing of […]
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Microsoft gets record-breaking fine
After a five-year investigation into Microsoft’s business practise the EU Commission has decided that the company has violated the EU competition rules by abusing its near monopoly in the PC operating system. Microsoft will have to pay a 497 million euro fine. The Commission has been investigating Microsoft practices since 1998 following a complaint by […]
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Entry into force of Convention on Cybercrime
The Council of Europe’s Convention on Cybercrime will enter into force on 1 July 2004, following its ratification by Lithuania. The convention requires at least 5 CoE members to ratify. Previously Albania, Croatia, Estonia and Hungary have done so. The convention’s aim is to develop a common criminal policy on cybercrime by promoting international co-operation […]
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New Italian decree forbids file-sharing
The Italian government has issued a decree on Friday 12 March that puts a fine of 1.500 euro on the internet file-sharing of feature movies. On top of the fine, computers and digital storage media can be seized. To complete the humiliation for the file-sharer, the sentence has to be published in 1 national daily […]
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Germans consider prison sentence for spammers
The German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine reports about plans from the governing Social-Democrats (SPD) to make spamming an offence in Germany. According to the SPD, merely introducing fines is not enough, and spamming should become an offence, with penalties or a prison sentence. The working group on Telecommunication and Mail of the SPD did not yet […]
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XS4ALL wins appeal in Dutch spam case
The Dutch Supreme Court has ruled that the Dutch internet provider XS4ALL is permitted to refuse spam on its network. It is the first time that a supreme court in Europe has ruled on the rights of spammers. In the view of the Supreme Court, the fact “that XS4ALL has exclusive rights to its computer […]
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Better exchange new laws information society
On 22 March, the European Union has signed the Council of Europe’s Convention on information and legal co-operation concerning ‘Information Society Services’, without reservation as to ratification. The aim of this Convention, which was prepared in close co-operation between the Council of Europe and the European Commission, is to improve the exchange of information between […]
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Analysis e-mail response Romanian MP's
If you send an e-mail to a Member of the Romanian Parliament (MP), you have less than 10 percent chance to get a reply. That is, if the MP you are trying to reach has a public e-mail address to start with. Only a quarter of the representatives offers an electronic contact address. The conclusion […]
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