May 18, 2016 · Blogs

Looking back through the French anti-terror arsenal

Following the publication of the Action Plan Against Terrorism and Radicalisation by the French Government, summarising the whole anti-terror strategy of France, built up law by law during the past years, it is important to look back on the main measures presented in this report, especially those affecting civil rights and liberties on the Internet. […]

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May 31, 2017 · Blogs

The EU must take action to protect whistleblowers

The right of citizens to report wrongdoing is a natural extension of the right of freedom of expression, and is linked to the principles of transparency and integrity. – Transparency International Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden are some of the most famous whistleblowers, thanks to their huge impact on the protection of human rights. However, there […]

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September 10, 2003

Fines and prison sentence for Italian spammers

Italy is introducing tough fines and prison sentences against spammers. Senders of unsolicited junk e-mails can expect fines up to a maximum of 90.000 euros and 3 years in prison. The penalties go far beyond those in any other European country. All EU member states will have to outlaw spam by 31 October 2003 as […]

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May 18, 2016 · Blogs

Hungary: New government proposals raise concerns

The Hungarian government is ramping up its “terrorist” measures; a constitutional amendment that establishes a new state of exception is one of the measures it foresees as necessary to keep the population safe. The threat of terrorism in Hungary is considered to be low by the UK Foreign Office, the CIA, and Hungary’s Strategic Defense […]

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May 31, 2017 · Blogs

ENDitorial: Consumer protection MEPs launch attack on consumers

Documents leaked by Julia Reda, a Member the European Parliament (MEP) show that parliamentarians on the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO), whose job it is to protect consumers and improve legal consistency in the EU, are planning an assault on citizens’ fundamental rights, legal coherence and even the ultimate authority of […]

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September 10, 2003

Danish conference on on-line freedom of expression

On 2 September the Danish network on the World Summit on the Information Society hosted a conference on Freedom of Expression in the Information Society. The conference addressed global tendencies of regulation of freedom of expression, the new Council of Europe Declaration on Freedom of Communication on the Internet, intellectual property rights, (traditional) media, access […]

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August 1, 2012

Czech Republic: Data retention – almost back in business

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Tschechien: Vorratsdatenspeicherung beinahe wieder in Kraft | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_10.15_Tschechien_Vorratsdatenspeicherung_beinahe_wieder_in_Kraft?pk_campaign=twun&pk_kwd=20120801] Nationwide preventive monitoring of electronic communication finds its way back into the Czech legal system. The original act was repealed in 2011 by the Constitutional Court – however, a new one is waiting only for the President’s signature. Privacy campaigners […]

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September 25, 2003

Reporters sans frontieres banned from WSIS

Reporters Sans Frontieres, a non-governmental organisation fighting for freedom of the press, was banned from further participation in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). According to a letter from the Executive Director of the Summit, RSF was excluded for ‘administrative reasons’. The exclusion is in fact a direct result of a protest RSF […]

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June 14, 2017 · Blogs

#ALTwitter privacy revelation: European parliamentarian goes bananas

Recently, Mr Dunston (of the “Dunston Checks In” fame) came to the EDRi Brussels office looking for help. He complained that somebody from the European Parliament is messing up with his “holy banana collection” that he has been preserving since decades after he inherited it from his forefathers. Other than that we had no information.

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September 25, 2003

Legal victory for German anonymiser AN.ON

On 15 September the Frankfurt District Court confirmed an earlier partial ruling in favour of the German web anonymiser AN.ON. According to this ruling, there was no legal ground for the request by the German Federal Bureau of Criminal Investigation to record data about visitors to a specific website (see EDRI-gram 16 and 17). The […]

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August 1, 2012

Belarusian journalist detained for showing subway security flaws

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Weißrussland: Journalist wegen Berichts über Sicherheitsmängel in der U-Bahn festgenommen | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_10.15_Weissrussland_Journalist_wegen_eines_Berichts_ueber_Sicherheitsmaengel_in_der_U-Bahn_festgenommen?pk_campaign=twun&pk_kwd=20120801] Several Belarusian journalists have been lately arrested for having shown flows in the security system of Belarus. The latest arrest, on 25 July 2012, was that of Vital Ruhayn on charges of hooliganism and obscene language […]

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September 25, 2003

New directive on privacy in the workplace

The European Commission is planning a new Directive on privacy in the workplace, in 2004 or 2005. After two consultations with the social partners, in August 2001 and October 2002, the Commission is convinced of the necessity of such a new directive. 3 main grounds for the new legislatory framework are: technological advances that increasingly […]

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