July 2, 2014 · Blogs

Romania: No communication without registration

Two bills initiated during the past month by the Romanian Government, with the direct and open support from the Romanian Secret Service (SRI), are attempting to kill any kind of electronic communication without prior identification and to expand dramatically the legal access to computer systems. The first bill aims to make the registration of all […]

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July 19, 2006

ISPs reaction to British Phonographic Industry action

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) accused the ISPs Tiscali and Cable&Wireless of harbouring filesharers and demanded the close up of 17 and 42 respectively.. BPI has already taken action against 139 uploaders, having settled in court 111 cases of them and considers its campaign against filesharers is […]

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August 2, 2006

Telecom Italia wiretapping scandal

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) Telecom Italia, one of the major electronic communications providers in Italy is in the middle of a huge scandal regarding the illegal wiretapping and surveillance of the telephone networks. The journalists from the weekly L’Espresso have proven that an entire system called Radar was capable of recording […]

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December 19, 2012 · Blogs

Innovation at risk in EU – the EU unitary patent adopted by EP

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [ Innovation in Gefahr: EP verabschiedet einheitliches EU-Patent | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_10.24_Innovation_in_Gefahr_EP_verabschiedet_einheitliches_EU-Patent?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20121219] Despite strong and long opposition and criticism from patent lawyers, legal experts, SMEs and civil society groups , on 11 December 2012, the European Parliament (EP), putting at risk any innovatory efforts, adopted a flawed proposal of unitary […]

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August 2, 2006

The Schengen Information System II delayed

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) Scheduled to start operating in June 2006, the Schengen Information System II (SIS II) that would allow the competent authorities in the Member States to obtain information regarding certain categories of persons and property, will be delayed, as it resulted from a meeting of ministers of the […]

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November 15, 2017 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Platform regulation | Surveillance and data retention

Who defends the victims of mass surveillance? Tech companies could

Two clocks are ticking for US tech companies in the power centers of the modern world. In Washington, lawmakers are working to reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Section 702 before it expires on 31 December 2017. Section 702 is the main legal basis for US mass surveillance, including the programs and techniques that […]

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August 1, 2007

Prague will anonymise RFID city cards

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) Prague Deputy Mayor announced that following the presure of EDRI-member Iuridicum Remedium and the interpellation of the member of city parliament Petra Kolinska (Green Party) the city authorities decided that RFID chips in newly issued city cards will no longer contain personal data. This move is a […]

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July 15, 2004

Libre Software Meeting 2004 conference report

The LSM conference has become an institution in France and around the globe. It all began in the year 2000 and has now become a well established meeting place for members and friends of the Free Software movement. Between 6-10 July 2004 about 700 persons gathered to discuss the bright future for users of Libre […]

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July 15, 2004

Nominations Big Brother Awards UK / Austria

On 28 July, Privacy International will celebrate the 6th annual UK Big Brother Awards ceremony. From about 300 nominees a ‘Dirty Dozen’ was selected for the shortlist. Award categories for this year are as they have been in past years: Worst Public Servant; Most Invasive Company; Most Appalling Project; Most Heinous Government Organisation and Lifetime […]

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September 24, 2014 · Blogs

Romania: Mandatory prepaid SIM registration ruled unconstitutional

The Romanian Constitutional Court (CCR) ruled on 16 September 2014 that a law that required the mandatory registration of all prepaid SIM cards and free WiFi users, is unconstitutional, as a whole. The Court reviewed the law as a result of the Romanian Ombudsman’s objection concerning its possible unconstitutionality. Several human rights NGOs asked the […]

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March 10, 2010

Survey on Chip implants in Germany

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Gutachten zu Chipimplantaten in Deutschland | http://www.unwatched.org/node/1761] According to a survey carried out by German IT industry lobby group BITKOM, 23% out of 1000 German respondents would accept to have a microchip implanted in their body if that would bring concrete benefits from it. The survey was meant […]

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June 30, 2004

WSIS Tunisia prepcom report

The first Prepcom of the WSIS second phase took place from 24 to 26 June 2004 in Hammamet, Tunisia. The Prepcom started with major obstruction of civil society participation even before civil society could make their first intervention in the governmental plenary session. On the second morning of the Prepcom, the Tunisian ambassador objected in […]

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