January 15, 2004

Romanian journalist fired for internet posting

Ms Brindusa Armanca, a journalist from the Public Romanian Television, was fired recently for an internet posting. She was accused of spreading negative opinions about the public broadcaster via a discussion list on the internet. The discussion list is FreeEx, a public online forum dedicated to journalists hosted by Yahoo. The list is part of […]

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June 6, 2007

The European Parliament voted for stronger data protection

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) On 21 May 2007, the European Parliament (EP) voted for the reinstallation of the data protection principles in the legislation that allows the police forces in Europe to share data. The European Council, which is the one deciding in police and judicial matters, had formally asked the […]

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January 15, 2004

Data Dutch KLM passengers handed over to NASA

The US airline company Nothwest Airlines voluntarily handed over the personal data of possibly as much as 10 million US and European passengers to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Northwest Airlines has an alliance with the Dutch airline company KLM. The two companies have integrated their reservation systems and operate code-sharing flights from […]

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October 24, 2018 · On the ground | Information democracy | Alternatives to dominant digital services | Freedom of expression online | Platform regulation

ENDitorial: YouTube puts uploaders, viewers & itself in a tough position

A pattern is emerging. After blocking a controversial video, YouTube nonpologises for doing so, and reinstates the video... just to block it again a few months later. The procedures around content moderation need to improve, but that's not all: more needs to change.

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January 28, 2004

Polish government allowed to send SMS-spam

According to a recent decision from the Polish Data Protection Authority (Generalny Inspektor Ochrony Danych Osobowych – GIODO) a massive SMS-spamrun from the Polish government was perfectly legal. A governmental agency committed this run in June 2003 as a last-minute reminder to citizens of the upcoming referendum about the European Union. Of the 30 million […]

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December 16, 2009

Italy: The Anopticon project – putting surveillance back in its place

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Italien: Das Anopticon Projekt – wie Überwachung in seine Schranken gewiesen wird| http://www.unwatched.org/node/1633] Nowadays, CCTVs are the practical implementation of the “Panopticon”, theorised in 1791 by Jeremy Bentham as the “ideal prison”, one that keeps people in place by using their natural fear of being surveilled. The Anopticon […]

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June 21, 2006

UK DNA database shared with other countries

The UK Home Office has admitted that DNA stored in the UK National DNA Database has been shared with other countries. UK has today one of the largest law enforcement DNA database with profiles from 3.5 million people, including 500 000 children under 16 years old. The database was established in 1995. Privacy concerns regarding […]

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January 13, 2010 · Blogs

Last nominations call for European Civil Society Data Protection Award

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Letzte Nominierungsmöglichkeit für den European Civil Society Data Protection Award | http://www.unwatched.org/node/1644] AEDH (European Association for the Defence of Human rights) and EDRi (European Digital Rights) have launched the first edition of the European Civil Society Data Protection Award (ECSDPA). The prize aims at rewarding positive initiatives contributing […]

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February 11, 2004

More delay for IPR Enforcement and SoftPat Directives

The final vote on two of the most controversial information society Directives, the Directive on Software Patents and the Directive on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights has been delayed once more. The IPRE directive was withdrawn last minute from the 9 February plenary agenda of the European Parliament. On 6 February the Council presented […]

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November 7, 2012

Personal data revealed by Skype to a private company

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Skype gab personenbezogene Daten an privates Unternehmen weiter | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_10.21_Skype_gab_personenbezogene_Daten_an_privates_Unternehmen_weiter?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20121107] A police file has recently revealed that, during a police investigation into the Anonymous-sanctioned cyberattacks on PayPal, the Dutch police has received personal data on a young Dutchman through an IT firm which, in its turn, received the […]

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November 21, 2018 · Blogs | Information democracy | Freedom of expression online | Platform regulation

ENDitorial: Facebook can never get it right

In 2017, a man posted live footage on Facebook of a murder he was committing. The platform decides whether you get to see this shocking footage or not – an incredibly tricky decision to make. And not really the kind of decision we want Facebook to be in charge of at all.

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January 28, 2009

Data protection in Italy: Loudly more of the same

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) I am sorry to say that I am skeptical about “days” dedicated to this or that cause or problem. They are often ignored, sometimes briefly celebrated, rarely leave any relevant trace over time. There are so many that we shall soon have one a week – and […]

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