March 5, 2025 · Blogs | Press mentions | Privacy and data protection | Artificial intelligence (AI) | Privacy and confidentiality | Surveillance and data retention

Why the new Europol regulation is a Trojan Horse for surveillance

The EU Commission’s proposal for a new Europol Regulation as part of the recast of the ‘Facilitator’s Package’ is a pretext for unchecked expansion of power and resources for Europol, the EU’s policing agency, at the expense of those they claim to protect.

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December 16, 2024 · Blogs

Privacy Camp in 2025

The 2025 edition of Privacy Camp has been rescheduled to September 30, 2025. This change allows for a more impactful event in light of significant political shifts in Europe in 2024, including new Members of the European Parliament and a refreshed College of Commissioners.

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April 30, 2025 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection

‘ProtectEU’ security strategy: a step further towards a digital dystopian future

The European Commission presented an internal security strategy that would undermine digital rights and even increase security threats. We unpack what ‘ProtectEU’ means for the EU’s future digital policy, including on encryption, data retention, and border surveillance.

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May 7, 2025 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Artificial intelligence (AI) | Biometrics

When technology is the problem, not the solution: Lessons from harmful consequences of techno-solutionism in digital surveillance

AI-powered surveillance systems are being deployed globally - from Israel and Russia to EU member states. These systems target marginalised communities under the guise of improving security and efficiency. To rectify these harms, we must challenge techno-solutionist narratives and rethink why and how technology is used, and center human rights.

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May 3, 2017 · Blogs

Encryption – debunking the myths

How to send a sensitive message protecting it from spying eyes? Encrypt it. You think your message is not sensitive or that no one is spying on you? Encrypt it anyway. When you send your message encrypted, no-one else but the intended recipient can read it. Even if someone manages to catch the message when […]

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August 26, 2009

Belgium: Minister of Justice wants 2 years of data retention

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Belgien: Justizminister will zweijährige Vorratsdatenspeicherung | http://www.unwatched.org/node/1500] Belgium is starting again to discuss the implementation of the data retention directive, suggesting a 2-year retention period for electronic communication traffic data, according with the Flemish newspaper De Tijd. The initial discussion in 2008 did not passed the criticism received […]

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June 5, 2013 · Blogs

Macedonia: Freedom of expression endangered by new law

The new Macedonian law on Law on Media and Audiovisual Media Services creates serious risks for freedom of expression in Macedonia. The new law expands the scope of state control from broadcast media (which is justified because they use a limited public resource, namely wireless spectrum) to all kinds of media, including online and print. […]

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February 14, 2007

European Central Bank found accountable in the SWIFT case

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) On 1 February, Peter Hustinx, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) gave his opinion on the role of the European Central Bank (ECB) in the SWIFT case, considering the bank as accountable along with SWIFT for failing compliance with the European privacy laws in the secret US […]

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August 25, 2010

ENDitorial: Leaked draft of the new Czech Copyright Act

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [ENDitorial: Entwurf zum neuen CR-Urheberrechtsgesetz durchgesickert | http://www.unwatched.org/node/2131] A leaked draft of the new Czech Copyright Act was obtained by Pirate News at the beginning of August 2010, after the Ministry of Culture has initially declined the request of Czech Pirate Party to have access to the document […]

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September 8, 2010

INDECT – privacy ethics in a secret project

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [ INDECT – Datenschutzethik eines Geheimprojekts | http://www.unwatched.org/node/2165] A new document on ethical issues published by the INDECT European research project on public surveillance has once more attracted the scrutiny of the media. Previous allegations of secrecy were followed by an attempt to strengthen the project’s Ethics Board. […]

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March 26, 2014 · Blogs

UK privacy groups file complaint on medical data in Google Cloud

UK privacy groups Big Brother Watch, medConfidential and the EDRi member  Foundation for Information Policy Research have filed a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK’s data protection authority. The complaint follows revelations that PA Consulting Group, a technology and innovation consultancy, uploaded a large quantity of data to Google’s cloud-based Big Data service […]

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August 1, 2012

Stravos Lambrinidis: EU First Special Representative for Human Rights

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Stavros Lambrinidis: Erster EU-Sonderbeauftragter für Menschenrechte | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_10.15_Stavros_Lambrinidis_Erster_EU-Sonderbeauftragter_fuer_Menschenrechte?pk_campaign=twun&pk_kwd=20120801] On 25 July 2012, on a proposal by Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Council of the European Union appointed Mr Stravos Lambridinis, former MEP, as EU Special Representative for Human Rights. This appointment […]

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