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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Turmoil about voting date for EU Patent directive
A proposal to hasten the plenary vote about the EU Software Patent directive was stopped just in time. The voting date now remains set at the 1st of September. The extra time seems extra important now that the public debate about the implications of this directive has only just taken of. Last Monday, the French […]
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Analysis: Privacy in the EU draft constitution
The draft European Constitution was presented in May 2003. The proposed treaty contains a section on Fundamental Rights and Citizenship of the Union. The European Charter of Fundamental rights, which was adopted at the Nice summit, in 2000, will be an integral part of the treaty (section II, article 5, paragraph 1). The right of […]
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German chancellor demands take-down of satirical website
A German comedian was ordered to take down his parody website about the German Federal Chancellor (Bundeskanzler). The comedian, Joseph Pohl, operated the website for almost 5 years. Two weeks ago, he received an email from the Chancellors press office, accusing him of infringing on their trademark. Even though the site is as clear a […]
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Finnish plans to lower privacy protection employees
On 26 June, the Finnish Ministry of Labour released a draft new version of the law protecting privacy at the workplace. The proposal would make it legal to read employees’ email under certain circumstances. It also contains new regulations on camera surveillance (allowed as long as a single employee is not singled out) and drug […]
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2 million DNA-profiles in UK police database
On the 100th anniversary of George Orwell, a UK police database with DNA-profiles of suspects reached the number of 2 million. According to an article in the English daily The Guardian, Home Secretary (minister of internal affairs) David Blunkett said the five-year-old database was well on the way to its target of holding 3 million […]
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Dutch court orders ban on foreign gambling websites
Last Tuesday, a Dutch court ordered 21 foreign gambling websites to ban Dutch visitors. The sites are located in 10 different countries, from a well-known gambling paradise like Antigua to companies based in Canada and Australia. The case was instigated by the national Dutch lottery (Lotto). This 100% state-owned company became very confident after winning […]
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Foundation of Turkish digital civil rights group
At the end of this year, Turkey will have its first digital civil rights group. Foundational work started in April 2003. Initiator is Dr. Yaman Akdeniz, the founder and director of Cyber-Rights and Cyber-Liberties (UK). According to Akdeniz, the organisation aims to protect the interests of all honest, law-abiding Turkish Internet users with the aim […]
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Finnish Big Brother Awards for YTV and Sonera
On 4 June EDRI-member EFFI organised a second annual Big Brother Ceremony. The award in the public sector was given to YTV, a firm that controls public transport in the Helsinki region. The company received the award for its new electronical ticket system that stores individual passenger information, including social security numbers. Anonymous cards were […]
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EP Legal Committee approves of software patents
The European Parliament’s Committee for Legal Affairs and the Internal Market (JURI) voted Tuesday 17 June about a list of proposed amendments to the planned software patent directive. It was the third and last in a series of committee votes. The results will be presented to the parliament in plenary early in September. The other […]
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NGOs want Human Rights Commissioner at WSIS
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), the first part of which will be held in Geneva from 10 to 12 December this year, tries to involve governments, the private sector and the civil society in its process. Intergovernmental organizations and various UN Agencies are also part of the WSIS, with the International Telecommunications […]
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UK acknowledges public criticism of identity-card
The UK Government has finally admitted that the public are overwhelmingly opposed to the idea of a national ID card. In response to a parliamentary question from member of parliament Anne McIntosh, Home Office minister Beverley Hughes has confirmed that over 5,000 of the 7,000 responses to a public consultation on the issue were opposed […]
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Plans to extend Schengen Information System
The European Parliament currently discusses 3 different reports about the Schengen Information System (SIS). Rapporteur for all three reports is Carlos Coelho. The reports aim at extending the amount of data handled and the degree of cross-linking within the computer network. Coelho, a Portuguese Conservative, has already been the Rapporteur on four previous reports on […]
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