January 28, 2015 · Blogs

Spanish Citizens’ Security Bill: Many restrictions, few freedoms

In summer 2014, the EDRi-gram reported on the Spanish bill on the Protection of Citizens’ Security, shedding light on some of its most controversial measures. In December 2014, the Spanish Congress passed the Citizens’ Security bill by 181 votes to 141. Now, the bill will be discussed in the Senate until the end of March […]

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April 24, 2013 · Blogs

A Monster from Rome – huge crackdown action on "file-sharing"

In an action that has become known as “A Monster from Rome”, the Italian Public Prosecutor of Rome ordered on 15 April 2013 the blocking of 27 file-sharing related sites at the request of Sunshine Pictures, the Italian distributor of the French animated film “A Monster in Paris”. The list which has been made public […]

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May 9, 2012

Portugal: Suing users for copyright infringement does not work

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Portugal: Klagen gegen Urheberrechtsverletzer sind zwecklos | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_10.9_Portugal_Klagen_gegen_Urheberrechtsverletzer_sind_zwecklos?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20120509] In a six-year long case brought by the Portuguese Phonographic Association (Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa -AFP), the Lisbon Criminal Court has recently given a ruling condemning a young men to a 2 month suspended jail sentence and a 880 euro fine. […]

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June 24, 2020 · Blogs | Information democracy | Freedom of expression online | Surveillance and data retention

The threat on OTF as a wake up call for European digital sovereignty

Around 2 billion people in 60 countries are able to use the internet securely and without risks of being surveilled or censored. And all of this, thanks to the work done by a non-profit called Open Tech Fund (OTF) for only 15 million dollars a year. However, all of this may be over soon.

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March 8, 2017 · Blogs

Is Telefónica offering real transparency and control?

Our data is extremely precious for technology companies. Internet and telecommunications services host and process huge amounts of personal data of their clients, based on often vague and confusing terms of service. The clients are rarely properly informed on what their data are being used for. On 27 February, at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), […]

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March 9, 2017 · Blogs

Copyright Directive: Lead MEP partly deletes the “censorship machine”

Note: We have updated this article on 20 March 2017 eliminating mentions to the leak when it was no longer necessary and updating the number of amendments below. The rest of the analysis remains relevant and has not been modified. On 8 March, we were able to gain an insight into a leaked Draft Report […]

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May 21, 2003

Trial of Nigerian spammers in the Netherlands

A gang of 6 Nigerian spammers was put to trial on 15 May. The gang was arrested last year in the Netherlands. Operating from Amsterdam the group posed as very rich businessmen from Nigeria. Victims were promised a lot of money in exchange for a temporary loan. The Dutch police estimates the gang earned at […]

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April 13, 2022 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Cross border access to data

New Cybercrime Protocol will undermine our privacy to compensate for the rising powers of law enforcement authorities

This new international agreement raises serious concerns as its shortcomings promise to undermine the safeguards to our fundamental rights, including our privacy and procedural rights.

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September 28, 2022 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection

Travel surveillance: member states seek to circumvent court judgment on PNR

In June this year the the Court of Justice ruled that the rules governing the EU's system for travel surveillance and passenger profiling, set out in the Passenger Name Record (PNR) Directive, must be "interpreted restrictively" to conform with fundamental rights standards. The ruling requires substantial changes to member state practices - but the Council, in time-honoured fashion, is looking at how to circumvent it, and to ensure the greatest possible freedom of manouevre for law enforcement authorities.

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EDRi-gram Archive

See past editions of the EDRi-gram from 2019

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October 6, 2021 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Surveillance and data retention

Serbia withdraws a proposed Biometric Surveillance Bill following national and international pressure

On 23 September, the Serbian Minister of Interior Aleksandar Vulin announced that the Draft Law on Internal Affairs, which contained provisions for legalising a massive biometric video surveillance system, was pulled from the further procedure. This turn of events presents a key victory in SHARE Foundation’s two and a half year-long battle against smart cameras in Belgrade, which were installed by the Ministry of Interior and supplied by Chinese tech giant Huawei.

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September 28, 2022 · Blogs | Campaigns | Privacy and data protection | Artificial intelligence (AI) | Biometrics

Football fans are being targeted by biometric mass surveillance

Apart from its undemocratic nature, there are many reasons why biometric mass surveillance is problematic for human rights and footabll fans’ rights. 

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