June 4, 2014 · Blogs

Social media in key role in the Balkans floods – incited censorship

In late May 2014, the Balkans were hit by disastrous floods. Internet users began commenting and sharing information on social networks and blogs about the floods, but also criticised the government’s  response to the disaster and relief efforts in certain areas. Social networks served as a channel quick sharing of information. They were in a […]

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October 4, 2017 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Data protection standards | Platform regulation | Privacy and confidentiality | Transparency

ENDitorial: Tinder and me: My life, my business

Tinder is one of the many online dating companies of the Match Group. Launched in 2012, Tinder started being profitable as of 2015, greatly thanks to people’s personal data. On 3 March 2017, journalist Judith Duportail asked Tinder to send her all her personal data they had collected, including her “desirability score”, which is composed […]

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August 2, 2006

The French copyright law changed by the Constitutional Council

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) The French Constitutional Council ruled on the most controversial copyright and related rights law, known as DADVSI law, concluding that some provisions of the law “violated the constitutional protections of property”. The Council has considered as unconstitutional several provisions adopted by the French Parliament that were meant […]

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August 1, 2007

UK Government rejects the extension of the copyright term for performers

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) To the big disappointment of the music industry, the UK Government refused to promote at the EU level, the extension of the presently 50-year copyright term for performers. According to the EU rules, the copyright period for song writers and their families covers their entire lives plus […]

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January 18, 2012

Belarus strongly censors the Internet

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Weißrussland übt starke Internetzensur aus | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_10.1_Weissrussland_uebt_starke_Internetzensur_aus?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20120127] — Article corrected on 23.01.2012—- 6 January 2012 saw the application of the Belarusian law imposing even more restrictions on online free expression in a country that is already viewed as a dictatorship. Thus, a new law is enacting the sanctions […]

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August 29, 2007

Google has joined the Open Invention Network

The Open Invention Network (OIN), the Open source patent-swap body, has received Google as a new member. This means that Google has implicitly agreed not to file any patent infringement action against the Linux community. An OIN member has full access to a collection of more than 100 patents and patent applications which is attractive […]

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September 10, 2008

UK Watchdog asks the European Commission to adopt security breach law

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) UK consumer watchdog, the National Consumer Council (NCC), together with other consumer groups want the European Commission to force companies to publicly admit when they lose customer data. A data breach notification law would make companies keep data more securely. “What we’re asking for is when the […]

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January 18, 2012

Researchers say smart meter technology is privacy intrusive

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Smart Metering: Forscher sehen Verletzung der Privatsphäre | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_10.1_Smart_Metering_Forscher_sehen_Verletzung_der_Privatsphaere?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20120127] Two German researchers presented a talk entitled “Smart Hacking for Privacy” at the 28th Chaos Computing Congress that took place between 27 and 30 December 2011, on the privacy implications of “smart” electricity meters. These devices, installed in homes, […]

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November 4, 2015 · Blogs

ENDitorial: The EU’s data protection reform – a lost opportunity?

“Someone who knows things about us has some measure of control over us, and someone who knows everything about us has a lot of control over us. Surveillance facilitates control.” – Bruce Schneier, cryptographer and security expert When the European Union talks about modernising EU rules on data protection in the digital age, the most […]

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February 27, 2019 · On the ground | Information democracy | Freedom of expression online

You cannot post “a bag of bones” on Facebook

However shocking our reality may be, sometimes you have to face it. By censoring a news article about the horrific war in Yemen, Facebook completely disqualifies itself as a platform for public debate. This story should be heard “Chest heaving and eyes fluttering, the 3-year-old boy lay silently on a hospital bed in the highland […]

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February 13, 2013 · Blogs

Most Internet users would use DNT settings if easily available

According to a survey by IT service analysts Ovum, 68% of the Internet users would use “do-not-track” (DNT) settings to restrict the use of their personal data, if such a tool was “easily available”. Websites and third-parties, such as advertisers, may record Internet users’ behaviour in order to serve targeted, personalised ads. Such user-specific data […]

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October 11, 2006

The broadcast treaty stalled by WIPO General Assembly

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) The General Assembly of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) has decided that the very controversial proposed treaty on the protection of broadcasting organizations, including cablecasting organizations, must be approved by two more meetings before being put for discussion in a diplomatic conference established to take place […]

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