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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EU Commission proposal for biometrics in passports
The European Commission has adopted a proposal for a Council Regulation that will set legally binding minimum standards for harmonised security features, including biometric identifiers, in all EU passports. The Commission chooses facial images as a mandatory biometric identifier for passports. Fingerprints can be added as an option at the discretion of Member States. The […]
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UK government welcomes report about data retention
The UK Government has given a guarded welcome to a review of its data retention powers. The review came from the Newton Committee, which was set up by the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 that created these powers. The Committee, even though empowered to revoke some powers, supports the principle of data retention for […]
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EU ruling on Microsoft by the end of March
Antitrust regulators from the all EU member States will discuss a draft European Commission antitrust ruling against Microsoft in Brussels on 15 March. In a second meeting on 22 March the regulators will discuss the measures, including fines, that will be taken against Microsoft. It is expected that the final ruling will become public in […]
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Major European companies into RFID-development
The European commercial interest in the development of spy-chips (RFIDs) is growing rapidly. Radio Frequency Identifiers are very small wireless chips that can be read without touching them. Intel and Siemens have just announced they will open an ‘RFID Technology Centre’ in Germany in March, near Munich. The companies wish to present ‘experience-able RFID-technology’, to […]
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EU to promote research track & trace technology
According to a new Communication on the research into security, the European Commission plans to fund research on “tagging, tracking and tracing devices … that improve the capability to locate, identify and follow the movement of mobile assets, goods and persons”. The Commission announces the launch of a new funding program entitled ‘Enhancement of the […]
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Dutch government: Cryptophone protects privacy
The Dutch minister of Justice Donner has answered parliamentary questions about the introduction of a commercially available crypto-GSM. The Cryptophone was developed in the Netherlands and is sold through a German company. The device is a combined GSM and organiser running Windows Pocket PC. The Cryptophone uses open-source software that encrypts the call when connecting […]
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Hungary signs cybercrime treaty
On 4 December 2003, Hungary became the fourth country (along with Albania, Croatia and Estonia) to ratify the Cybercrime Convention. Lithuania is the latest country to have signed the Convention (26 June 2003). All 15 EU states have already signed it. Hungary made an explicit reservation, reserving the right not to apply Article 9, paragraph […]
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EU Commission heads for global travel surveillance system
The UK civil liberties group Privacy International, in co-operation with European Digital Rights, the Foundation for Information Policy Research and Statewatch, has published an analysis of the EU-US negotiations on the transfer on passenger information (PNR). The report titled ‘Transferring Privacy’ describes how the European Commission leaves European privacy rights at the mercy of the […]
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Results OECD workshop on spam
During the OECD workshop on spam, held in Brussels on 2 and 3 February, the consumer unions of Europe and the USA (united in the Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue) presented the results of a survey amongst 21.102 consumers on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. 96 percent of the people said that either they hated […]
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IFPI sues Belgian ISP over Usenet
The IFPI, the international representative of the recording industry, has instigated legal proceedings against the Belgian ISP Telenet for the unauthorised distribution of music via Usenet (newsgroups). Telenet refuses to block the access to certain newsgroups in its newsservice ‘Bommanews’. The ISP argues that providing Usenet services is a ‘mere conduit’ activity, and under the […]
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Spy-chips discovered in German loyalty cards
After a tour in the Future Store of the German Metro concern, privacy advocate Katherine Albrecht discovered spy-chips with unique numbers in the customer loyalty cards. She also found RFID tags on products sold in the store that were not completely de-activated after the purchase. Albrecht, founder of CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and […]
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More delay for IPR Enforcement and SoftPat Directives
The final vote on two of the most controversial information society Directives, the Directive on Software Patents and the Directive on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights has been delayed once more. The IPRE directive was withdrawn last minute from the 9 February plenary agenda of the European Parliament. On 6 February the Council presented […]
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