November 17, 2021 · Blogs | Information democracy | Platform regulation

Big-tech lobby sets the rules about big-tech in Europe

The dominance of Google and Facebook is disastrous for the public debate online. We've been saying this for a long time. But this dominance can also be felt in the regulation of the same platforms. Huge amounts of money are spent by big tech to influence European laws and regulations.

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December 15, 2021 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Data protection standards | Privacy and confidentiality | Surveillance and data retention

EU: Data retention strikes back? Options for mass telecoms surveillance under discussion again

In June 2021 the European Commission sought the views of member states on ways to reintroduce the bulk retention of telecoms traffic, location and internet connection data on everyone in the EU. Responses from seven member states, published here, show a divergence of views on what data to retain and when, but a majority in favour of new EU legislation.

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December 15, 2021 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Data protection standards | Privacy and confidentiality

A beginner’s guide to EU rules on scanning private communications: Part 1

In July 2021, the European Parliament and EU Council agreed temporary rules to allow webmail and messenger services to scan everyone’s private online communications. In 2022, the European Commission will propose a long-term version of these rules. In the first installment of this EDRi blog series on online ‘CSAM’ detection, we explore the history of the file, and why it is relevant for everyone’s digital rights.

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January 19, 2022 · Blogs | On the ground | Privacy and data protection | Online tracking industry / AdTech | Profiling practices

Hide and Seek: Polish DPA agrees that people should be able to access their advertising profiles, but there’s no way to do so

Following EDRi member Panoptykon’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) complaint against one of the biggest Polish news website, Interia.pl - the Polish Data Protection Authority has confirmed that online publishers should give users access to their advertising profiles generated for the purposes of delivering behavioural ads.

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February 2, 2022 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Data protection standards | Privacy and confidentiality

A beginner’s guide to EU rules on scanning private communications: Part 2

Vital EU rules on human rights and on due process protect all of us from unfair, arbitrary or discriminatory interference with our privacy by states and companies. As we await the European Commission’s proposal for a law which we fear may make it mandatory for online chat and email services to scan every person’s private messages all the time, which may constitute mass surveillance, this blog explores what rights-respecting investigations into child sexual abuse material (CSAM) should look like instead.

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February 16, 2022 · Blogs | On the ground | Open internet and inclusive technology | Digital sustainability | Equal access to the internet | Inclusive technologies

Digital Agenda’s report on digital advancement in the Western Balkans

Digitalisation in all spheres and for all social groups may be an effective mechanism for improving the well-being of citizens. This means improving the digital efficiency of institutions, organisations and other social entities.

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March 9, 2022 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Biometrics | Privacy and confidentiality | Surveillance and data retention

Building the biometric state: Police powers and discrimination

This report examines the development and deployment of biometric identification technologies by police and border forces in Europe, and warns that the increasing use of the technology is likely to exacerbate existing problems with racist policing and ethnic profiling.

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March 9, 2022 · Blogs | Open letters | Open internet and inclusive technology | Data protection standards | Freedom of expression online

French deputies must reject online censorship without a judge in one hour

On 9 February 2022, the Law Commission of the French National Assembly discussed the bill concerning the "dissemination of terrorist content online", transposing the European regulation on terrorist content online into French law. European Digital Rights (EDRi) and EDRi’s members La Quadrature du Net and Wikimedia France sent the following letter to the members of this Commission to call for the rejection of the bill prior to the discussion.

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March 23, 2022 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Data protection standards

Electronic monitoring using GPS tags: a tech primer

Electronic tags have been a key part of criminal justice for many years throughout the world. As traditional radio-frequency tags are replaced by GPS ankle tags, we examine how these different technologies work and the seismic shift that will result from 24/7 location monitoring and data analytics, enabled by GPS tags.

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March 23, 2022 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Privacy and confidentiality

Leaked opinion of the Commission sets off alarm bells for mass surveillance of private communications

A newly-revealed Opinion of a European Commission review board about their own colleagues’ upcoming proposal for a ‘Legislation to effectively tackle child sexual abuse’ shows strong concerns with the legislative proposal. Leaked by French media outlet Contexte yesterday (22 March), and dated 15 February 2022, the Opinion confirms the fears EDRi and 39 other civil society groups recently raised about the proposal which could destroy the integrity of private online communications across the EU, and set a dangerous precedent for the world.

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April 20, 2022 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Cross border access to data | Privacy and confidentiality

Policing: France proposes massive EU-wide DNA sweep, automated exchange of facial images

The French Presidency of the Council is seeking EU-wide comparisons of every DNA profile held by police forces against all those held by other national police forces, as well as EU policing agency Europol, as part of plans to upgrade the ‘Prüm’ network of police databases. It also hopes to automate the police exchange of facial images by eliminating requirements for human review.

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May 4, 2022 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Platform regulation

Elon Musk buying Twitter. What could possibly go wrong?

A new chapter of the surveillance capitalism saga happened just three days after the EU members adopted the final agreement on the Digital Services Act (DSA). The board of directors of Twitter accepted Elon Musk’s offer to buy the company for USD 44 billion. The deal is not closed yet, and now the ball is in Twitter’s shareholders to accept or reject the offer. This news has grabbed the media's attention worldwide and opened public discussions on how this would affect not only the features of Twitter but also freedom of speech in the digital sphere. 

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