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 The IPRE directive was withdrawn last minute from the 9 February plenary agenda of the European Parliament.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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July 4, 2007

EDRI signs "Keep The Core Neutral" petition

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) European Digital Rights Initiative (EDRI) has joined more than 100 individuals and organizations from around the world in signing the petition “Keep The Core Neutral” urging ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ) to resist efforts to evaluate applications for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) […]

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July 4, 2007

The Austrian government has postponed the law for data retention

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) A spokesman of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology has confirmed that due to the flood of responses to the law proposal there is no way to have data retention ready before the deadline set by the directive. The ministry received a total of 90 […]

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October 18, 2017 · Blogs | Information democracy | Equal access to the internet | Freedom of expression online | Inclusive technologies

Dutch NRA: T-Mobile may continue to violate net neutrality

EDRi member Bits of Freedom asked the Dutch national regulatory authority, Authority for Consumers and Market (ACM), to test the mobile operator T-Mobile’s subscription against the new European rules that protect net neutrality, to verify whether its “Data-free Music” service infringes upon the principle of net neutrality. On 11 October 2017, the ACM ruled T-Mobile […]

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August 24, 2016 · Blogs

Freedom not Fear 2016: 14–17 October in Brussels

Freedom not Fear (FNF) is an annual meeting for civil rights activists from all across Europe. You are invited to join us on 14-17 October, organise discussions on your own topics, and use this opportunity to meet EU politicians! At FNF, civil society members meet in Brussels for four days to work for freedom in the […]

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