June 7, 2006

Journalistic protection for online journalists and bloggers

The Californian appeal court decided on 26 May that online journalists and bloggers have the same right to protect their sources as all other journalists. The case was brought to court by Apple Computer demanding from a number of news website operators to reveal the source of confidential information posted about some of its products. […]

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September 25, 2024 · Blogs | EDRi-gram | Highlights | Information democracy | Open internet and inclusive technology | Privacy and data protection

EDRi-gram, 25 September 2024

With summer on its way out, there might be a chill in the air. But there’s none to be found in Brussels and the digital rights world. Last week, we were glued to our screens as the European Commission President Elect, Ursula Von Der Leyen, announced the Commissoners-Designate and what they’ll be in charge of. Now, these Commissioners will go through live-streamed hearings at the European Parliament next month before starting work. We’ll be watching with interest… and maybe popcorn. This week, we’re also concerned about the impact of age verification proposals on fundamental rights and the well-being of children and young people. Spoiler alert: it’s not good. Evidence & lived experiences show these tools are dangerous, discriminatory and unsafe. EDRi and 63 organisations and experts wrote to the European Commission to urge them to halt proposals for using such tools in the implementation of the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the eIDAS Regulation. Now that we’ve all firmly, albeit sadly, turned off our summer out-of-office messages, it’s also time to catch up on what Google, Meta, X and other tech giants have been up to over the summer, especially with the DSA and Digital Markets Act (DMA) in place.

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September 21, 2021 · Blogs | Publications | Open internet and inclusive technology | Privacy and data protection | Artificial intelligence (AI) | Inclusive technologies

Booklet: If AI is the problem, is debiasing the solution?

The development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) in all areas of public life have raised many concerns about the harmful consequences on society, in particular the impact on marginalised communities. EDRi's latest report "Beyond Debiasing: Regulating AI and its Inequalities", authored by Agathe Balayn and Dr. Seda Gürses,* argues that policymakers must tackle the root causes of the power imbalances caused by the pervasive use of AI systems. In promoting technical ‘debiasing’ as the main solution to AI driven structural inequality, we risk vastly underestimating the scale of the social, economic and political problems AI systems can inflict.

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January 13, 2010

Protests in Bulgaria against eavesdropping and data retention law

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Proteste gegen Abhöraktionen und das Vorratsdatenspeicherungsgesetz in Bulgarien | http://www.unwatched.org/node/1647] A protest will take place in Bulgaria on 14 January 2010 in front of the Parliament against the data retention law that the Bulgarian Interior Ministry keeps on pushing ahead with obstinacy. On 10 December 2009, the Parliamentary […]

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November 17, 2011 · Blogs

European Parliament warns of global dangers of US domain revocation proposals

Responding to an intervention by EDRi (video, speech (PDF) at a hearing recently on attacks against computer systems, the European Parliament today adopted, by a large majority, a resolution on the upcoming EU/US summit stressing “the need to protect the integrity of the global internet and freedom of communication by refraining from unilateral measures to […]

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January 28, 2009

Austria: Some EU data protection policy developments in 2008

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) In Austria the international data protection day on 28 January will pass by widely unrecognised. This year, as already in 2008, the Data Protection Commission (DSK; the Austrian Data Protection Authority) and the Data Protection Council (DSR; a political advisory board) will together organise a meeting for […]

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March 25, 2020 · Document pools | Open internet and inclusive technology | Privacy and data protection | Artificial intelligence (AI) | Biometrics | Profiling practices | Surveillance and data retention

Facial Recognition & Biometric Mass Surveillance: Document Pool

Despite evidence that public facial recognition and other forms of biometric mass surveillance infringe on a wide range EU fundamental rights, European authorities and companies are deploying these systems at a rapid rate. This has happened without proper consideration for how such practices invade people's privacy on an enormous scale; amplify existing inequalities; and undermine democracy, freedom and justice.

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November 21, 2012

DP Regulation to accidentally introduce voluntary “three strikes”?

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Bringt uns die Datenschutz-Verordnung unabsichtlich “Three Strikes”? | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_10.22_Bringt_uns_die_Datenschutz-Verordnung_unabsichtlich_Three_Strikes?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20121107] The European Commission proposed a new framework for protection of personal data in the EU earlier this year. While it has been the subject of probably more lobbying than any other piece of legislation in this history of modern […]

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July 2, 2014 · Blogs

Denmark about to implement a nationwide ANPR system

The Danish police is planning to implement a nationwide automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) system over the next couple of years. The Danish newspaper Berlingske obtained the project description for the IT system through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, and reported about the ANPR plans. The ANPR system will consist of mobile units […]

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November 30, 2011

US crackdown on global domain names and IP addresses continues

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [US-Razzien gegen Domains und IP-Adressen gehen weiter | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_9.23_US-Razzien_gegen_Domains_und_IP-Adressen_gehen_weiter?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20111130] US authorities have resumed their “Operation in Our Sites” in order to attempt to fight counterfeit and piracy-related websites. During this second annual “Cyber Monday” crackdown, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has shut down 150 websites from all […]

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January 12, 2011

Polish Supreme Court: All electronic press must be registered

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Polnischer Oberster Gerichtshof: Elektronische Presse muss registriert werden | http://www.unwatched.org/node/2499] On 15 December 2010, in a cassation proceeding, the Polish Supreme Court decided that all electronic press in Poland must be registered. This decision goes along the line traced by its 2007 decision of the same substance, followed […]

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December 4, 2024 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Artificial intelligence (AI) | Online tracking industry / AdTech | Surveillance and data retention

New European Commission confirmed: our takeaways on what to expect

On 1 December 2024, the new political leaders of one of the EU’s most powerful institutions – the European Commission – officially took office. As part of their nomination process, they shared their digital visions for the next five years. Spoiler alert: the fight for digital rights will be as important as ever, with data protection, encryption and privacy all on the chopping block.

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