September 23, 2019 · Blogs | Campaigns | Information democracy | Privacy and data protection | Online tracking industry / AdTech | Privacy and confidentiality | Profiling practices

Your mail, their ads. Your rights?

In the digital space, “postal services” often snoop into your online conversations in order to market services or products according to what they find out from your chats. A law meant to limit this exploitative practice is stalled by the Council of European Union

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January 30, 2008

Key privacy concerns in Romania 2007

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) Privacy and data protection seems not to be a hot topic for the Romanian society. The media is generally ignoring the topic, unless something related to an important public figure is making the subject out of the ordinary. The Romanian Data Protection Authority has failed in becoming […]

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June 29, 2011 · Blogs

Negotiations end in confused text on Internet blocking

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Verhandlungen münden in verworrenen Text über Netzsperren | http://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_9.13_Verhandlungen_muenden_in_verworrenen_Text_ueber_Netzsperren?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20110708] After months of negotiation, the Council, Parliament and Commission finally agreed a text on Internet blocking where everyone appears to have got what they wanted, except the European Commission. The agreed text now needs to be signed off by […]

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February 14, 2007

Online police searches found illegal in Germany

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) The German Federal Supreme Court (BGH) in Karlsruhe ruled, on 5 February, that, according to the German Code of Criminal Procedure (StPO), online police snooping was illegal. As the court argued, StPO had no provisions to allow the authorities to perform online snooping, the code allowing only […]

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April 5, 2017 · Blogs

UK government attacks encryption … again

In the aftermath of the attack in London in March 2017, the UK government has, again, indicated that it wants to force companies to weaken encryption. The government wants to be able to access messages sent via services that use end-to-end encryption. The Home Secretary Amber Rudd stated on BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show that it […]

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May 4, 2022 · Blogs | Information democracy | Open internet and inclusive technology | Privacy and data protection | Data protection standards | Platform regulation | Privacy and confidentiality

Putting the brakes on Big Tech’s uncontrolled power

Will 2022 go down as the year the EU tamed Big Tech? In the very early morning hours of Saturday, 23 April, after 16 hours of final negotiations, EU lawmakers reached an agreement on the Digital Services Act (DSA), which is certainly a watershed moment for our digital future. As the deal reached is a top-level political agreement, the final text of the law is yet to be released.

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April 6, 2017 · Blogs

The European Parliament adopts another resolution critical of the Privacy Shield

On 6 April 2017, the European Parliament (EP) voted a motion for a resolution on the adequacy of the protection afforded by the EU-US Privacy Shield. The scheme gives the United States a unique arrangement for the transfer of personal data from the European Union to the United States. The Privacy Shield replaced the Safe […]

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February 15, 2006

Worldwide overview of freedom of information laws

Roger Vleugels, an independent Netherlands-based legal consultant, published on 1 February, with the help of the Freedom of Information Advocates network, a very comprehensive overview of the situation of of freedom of information laws all over the world. The document offers a complete image of the adoption of FOI laws in the world and is […]

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August 25, 2010

Some European ISPs ordered by courts to block access to gambling

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Europäische ISPs sollen Zugang zu Glücksspiel-Seiten sperren | http://www.unwatched.org/node/2126] As a result of a case introduced by Arjel (the new French online gambling regulating authority) against Gibraltar-based site stanjames.com which had not responded to the authority’s formal request to stop its services to French users, on 6 August […]

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February 13, 2008

Finnish e-voting system must not stay a trade secret

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) A member of Electronic Frontier Finland (Effi), a Finnish association for promoting digital rights and member of EDRi, has recently sent a request of information to the Finnish Ministry of Justice regarding their planned e-voting system. The system will be piloted in the municipal elections during October […]

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July 2, 2003

Dutch court orders ban on foreign gambling websites

Last Tuesday, a Dutch court ordered 21 foreign gambling websites to ban Dutch visitors. The sites are located in 10 different countries, from a well-known gambling paradise like Antigua to companies based in Canada and Australia. The case was instigated by the national Dutch lottery (Lotto). This 100% state-owned company became very confident after winning […]

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June 20, 2012

Austria: Data retention petition ignored by the Parliament

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Österreich: Parlament ignoriert Bürgerinitiative zur Vorratsdatenspeicherung | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_10.12_Oesterreich_Parlament_ignoriert_Buergerinitiative_zur_Vorratsdatenspeicherung?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20120620] The Austrian Working Group on Data Retention counters the lack of responsiveness to citizens’ political participation with even more participation. Albeit gaining support of over 100 000 citizens, the Austrian citizens’ petition against data retention has been deferred to the […]

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