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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New EU proposals foresee mandatory biometrics in national ID cards
The European Commission has proposed a host of new measures aimed at “denying terrorists the means to act” which include the mandatory inclusion of two biometrics – fingerprints and a facial image – in all ID cards and residence documents for European Union citizens and their family members issued by Member States.
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Are GDPR certification schemes the next data transfer disaster?
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) encourages the establishment of data protection certification mechanisms, “in particular at [EU] level” (Art. 42(1)). But the GDPR also envisages various types of national schemes, and allows for the approval (“accreditation”) of schemes that are only very indirectly linked to the national data protection authority.
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Big Brother Awards – tips and materials for organisers
In October 2018, we will celebrate 20th anniversary of the first Big Brother Awards (BBA) event in UK.
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ePrivacy: Civil society letter calls to ensure privacy and reject data retention
On 23 April 2017, EDRi, together with other civil society organisations, sent a follow up to our previous open letter to the permanent representations of EU Member States in Brussels. The letter highlighted the importance of the ongoing reform of Europe’s ePrivacy legislation for strengthening individuals’ rights to privacy and freedom of expression and for rebuilding […]
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Hermes Center demands investigation of NAT-related data retention
On 27 March 2018, EDRi member Hermes Center for Transparency and Digital Human Rights filed a request with the Italian Data Protection Authority (DPA) to investigate on the widespread practice of logging Network Address Translations (NAT) by most of the telecommunication operators.
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Fighting for migrants’ data protection rights in the UK
Since 2014, the United Kingdon (UK) government has steadily rolled out policies to make the country a “hostile environment” for migrants, in the words of Prime Minister Theresa May.
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DPAs require urgent action on air passenger surveillance
The Working Party 29 (WP29) is an advisory body composed of representatives from the data protection authority of each EU Member State, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) and the European Commission.
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Cambridge Analytica access to Facebook messages a privacy violation
Less than one month after Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower Christopher Wiley exposed the abuse of (so far) 87 million Facebook users’ data, Facebook Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO Mark Zuckerburg testified before the US Congress.
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Privacy at ICANN: WHOIS winning?
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has struggled over the publication of the name, address, phone number, and email address of domain name registrants since its inception in 1998. That registry is called WHOIS.
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EU “e-evidence” proposals turn service providers into judicial authorities
Today, 17 April, the European Commission unveiled two proposals: a Regulation on cross-border access to and preservation of electronic data held by service providers and a Directive to require service providers to appoint a legal representative within the EU. The core of the Commission’s “e-evidence” initiative is that national judicial or administrative bodies can ask […]
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Fundamental Rights Agency report: The risks from biometrics and EU IT systems
On 27 March 2018, the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) published a report entitled “Under watchful eyes: biometrics, EU IT systems and fundamental rights” . The report analyses the impact of technologies used for immigration and security purposes on the right to privacy and data protection.
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Digitale Gesellschaft: Fighting for digitals rights in Germany
Our German member Digitale Gesellschaft was founded in 2010. The organisation's main goals are digital rights advocacy and effective campaigns. In this blogpost we present their work to defend digital rights in Germany.
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