Privacy and data protection
Privacy and data protection are essential for us to live, connect, work, create, organise and more. Governments and companies have long used mass surveillance for control trying to legitimise snooping for health, security or other reasons. The near-total digitisation of our lives has made it easier to control, profile and profit from our attention, data, bodies and behaviours in ways that are very difficult for us to understand and challenge. European data protection standards such as the GDPR are a good step forward but we need more to effectively ensure enforcement and protection against unlawful surveillance practices.
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Czech BBA: Facebook and iROBOT the worst privacy intruders of 2018
The 14th Czech Big Brother Awards – anti-awards for those who have done the most to threaten personal privacy in 2018 – were announced on 14 February 2019. A jury of nine technology experts, lawyers and journalists chose the worst privacy intruders based on suggestions made by the general public. The Awards in four different […]
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Light at the end of the cyber tunnel: New IoT consumer standard
In February 2019, positive advancements were made regarding security standards in consumer Internet of Things (IoT) devices: The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) published a standard numbered TS 103 645, more appealingly named “Cyber Security for Consumer Internet of Things”. Under this new standard, compliant products will be expected to have unique passwords, a vulnerability […]
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Call for whistleblowing is not a crime: The case of a peace activist
The peace activist Hermann Theisen has been convicted by several lower courts for calling on employees of weapons manufacturers to expose illegal activities of their employers. EDRi observer Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte (GFF, Society for Civil Rights) supports him in his appeal procedures to get German courts to recognise that neither whistleblowing in the public interest […]
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ApTI submits complaint on Romanian GDPR implementation
In November 2018, the RISE Project case showed that the Romanian Data Protection Authority (ANSPDCP or Romanian DPA) was unprepared to respond to cases that involve both the right to freedom of expression and the right to privacy. RISE Project’s investigative journalism story #TeleormanLeaks was an important signal that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) […]
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ICANN and GDPR – nowhere near compliance
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Initial Report of the Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) on the Temporary Specification for generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) Registration Data Team makes for difficult reading. This is because, though it contains a serious attempt at complying with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance, it […]
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New UK counter-terrorism law limits online freedoms
The Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019 became law in the United Kingdom (UK) in February, after passing through UK parliament with less debate than many had hoped, while Brexit dominated the political agenda. The new law is problematic in many ways, including the way in which it limits freedom of expression and access to […]
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Safeguarding fundamental rights in the new Cybercrime Protocol
On 20 February, European Digital Rights (EDRi), along with ten civil society organisations from across the globe, responded to a public consultation on the Council of Europe’s Second Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime (also known as the Budapest Convention). The draft Protocol aims to establish international rules for cross-border access to personal data by […]
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Google and IAB: Knowingly enabling intrusive profiling
On 28 January, EDRi member Panoptykon joined a complaint against Google and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) in Poland, after it had become clear that the advertising categories provided by these entities are enabling the processing of extremely sensitive data of European citizens. On 20 February, new evidence was published proving that the IAB was […]
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FRA and EDPS: Terrorist Content Regulation requires improvement for fundamental rights
On 12 February 2019, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) published an Opinion regarding the Regulation on preventing the dissemination of terrorist content online. In the same day, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) submitted its comments on the topic to the responsible committee in the European Parliament. These two texts complement EDRi’s […]
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Corporate Europe Observatory: e-Privacy Regulation victim of a “lobby onslaught”
On 6 February 2019, Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) released its report “Captured states: when EU governments are a channel for corporate interests”. The report describes the various ways corporations influence the Member States of the European Union. It shows how they are far better equipped than non-governmental organisations and trade unions to access documents and […]
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EDRi’s Press Review 2018
During the past year, our work to defend citizens’ rights and freedoms online has gained an impressive visibility – we counted more than three hundred mentions! – in European and international media. Below, you can find our press review 2018. JANUARY 01/01 EU i linedans mellem desinformation og censur (Mandag Morgen)10/01 Does Software Piracy Hurt Sales? […]
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EDPB confirms: Privacy Shield is still a shame
On 22 January 2019, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) adopted a Report on the Second Annual Review of the EU-US Privacy Shield. The Privacy Shield is a framework arrangement between the United States and the European Union to enable the transmission of personal data from the territory of the EU to the US. It […]
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