September 13, 2006

ENDitorial : Fighting Mass Surveillance

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) Digital Rights Ireland was established last year to further civil rights in the Digital Age. We are challenging the European Institutions and the Irish government through the courts to stop their program of mass surveillance of citizens. Our litigation will have an impact on digital rights across […]

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October 25, 2006

EU-US PNR agreement formally adopted by the EU Council

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) On 16 October, the EU Council formally adopted a decision to sign an interim agreement with the United States on continuing the transfer of passenger name record (PNR) data by air carriers to the US Administration. The interim agreement will replace the Agreement signed in May 2004, […]

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November 8, 2006

UK DNA Database under scrutiny

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) United Kingdom has today the largest DNA database in the world, with over 3,5 million DNA samples. These days the Nuffield Council on Bioethics announced starting a public consultation about the new legislation regarding the storage of the DNA samples. The DNA database was initiated in 1996 […]

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November 22, 2006

German draft law on data retention made public

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) On 8 November 2006, the German Minister of Justice Brigitte Zypries presented a draft law aimed at transposing the EU directive on data retention. The law would override the recent jurisprudence on IP logging by mandating the retention of traffic data for a period of six months. […]

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January 31, 2007

ENDitorial : Constitution by criminalisation

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) Instead of scouts cookies, evildoers sell copied Britney Spears CDs and counterfeit medicines manufactured using child labour, and that must be stopped, in particular since legit Britney Spears CDs cause enough harm as it is and everyone is tired of Viagra spam. The Criminalisation Directive, also known […]

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March 14, 2007

Cross-border wiretapping proposed by the Swedish Government

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) Mikael Odenberg, the Swedish defence minister presented on 8 March 2007 a draft law to the parliament that would give the national defence intelligence agency the power to monitor all cross-border phone calls and email traffic without court order. The proposal, which according to the government, is […]

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April 25, 2007

ENDitorial: The Transparent Drug Addict – Choosing Therapy Over Privacy?

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) On 1 March 2007 the Austrian Department of Health enacted its highly controversial revision of the Narcotic Substances Act, thus provoking an immediate outcry from both the medical and pharmaceutical associations and privacy experts. The draft has also been heavily criticised in the run-up to its execution […]

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May 9, 2007

New calls for computer online searches by German authorities

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) The German authorities seem to have a higher desire to push for a legal basis of the online searches of personal computers in Germany, despite the Federal Supreme Court decision in February 2007 that, according to the German Code of Criminal Procedure, decided that online police snooping […]

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May 23, 2007

Google is profiling online gamers

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) Google has filed a patent in Europe and in US on a profiling technology planning to create psychological profiles of web users based on their behaviour at playing on-line games. The company thinks it can gather up information to shape the personality of web users according to […]

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June 6, 2007

IPRED2 on the DROIPEN table

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) The Second Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive (IPRED2) is now going through the Justice and Home Affairs route. On 4 June, it passed it’s first port of call at the Council’s Working Group on Substantive Criminal Law (DROIPEN) – the first step on the road to the […]

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July 4, 2007

German legislation troubles the big Internet companies

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) Yahoo and Google seems to have problems adapting their business to the tough requirements of the German law regarding content harmful to minors and the implementation of the data retention directive, respectively. Yahoo has recently changed the way the content filter setting for its photo-sharing service Flickr […]

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August 29, 2007

US law threatens non-US citizens' privacy rights

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) A Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act proposed by the US Administration was passed by the US Congress on 4 August 2007 allowing US intelligence services to intercept electronic communications between US, but also non-US citizens, if the communication passes across US-based networks, without needing a court order. A […]

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