June 14, 2023 · Blogs | EDRi-gram | Highlights | Information democracy | Open internet and inclusive technology | Privacy and data protection

EDRi-gram,14 June 2023

It’s getting hot in here – and we don’t just mean the weather. By the time this EDRi-gram reaches your inbox, the EU Parliament will have voted on the AI Act and the "e-Evidence" package. This is a crucial moment for the AI Act as we push hard and keep our fingers crossed for all the wins of the committee vote to remain after the plenary. We also have serious concerns about the e-Evidence proposal posing a threat to our fundamental rights. Along with other civil society groups, doctors and journalists organisations and internet service providers, we are calling on Members of European Parliament to reject this package. In this edition you can also read about what changed in the ten years since Snowden’s revelations about mass surveillance by the US government.

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September 8, 2021 · Blogs | On the ground | Privacy and data protection | Data protection standards | Privacy and confidentiality | Surveillance and data retention

UK Investigatory Powers Tribunal finds the regime for bulk communications data to be incompatible with EU law

The UK Investigatory Powers Tribunal issued a declaration in EDRi member Privacy International's challenge to the bulk communications data regime, finding UK legislation to be incompatible with EU law.

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May 7, 2025 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Artificial intelligence (AI) | Biometrics

When technology is the problem, not the solution: Lessons from harmful consequences of techno-solutionism in digital surveillance

AI-powered surveillance systems are being deployed globally - from Israel and Russia to EU member states. These systems target marginalised communities under the guise of improving security and efficiency. To rectify these harms, we must challenge techno-solutionist narratives and rethink why and how technology is used, and center human rights.

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February 7, 2022 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Platform regulation

The EU Parliament takes strong stance against surveillance ads

The Platform Power campaign, alongside many civil society organisations, raised its voice for stronger laws against the business model of Big Tech online platforms and succesfully pressured law-makers to put people at the center of the debate.

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July 11, 2018 · Blogs | Information democracy | Freedom of expression online | Surveillance and data retention

German police raids privacy group’s premises

In the early morning of 20 June 2018, German police forces raided several locations – the headquarters of the privacy group Zwiebelfreunde, and the homes of three of its board members, as well as the association OpenLab, which is part of EDRi member Chaos Computer Club (CCC) in Augsburg.

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April 12, 2022 · Blogs | Highlights | Open letters | Privacy and data protection | Platform regulation

A new crisis response mechanism for the DSA

EDRi is one of 38 civil society organisations jointly raising our voices to the DSA negotiators to stop negotiating outside their respective mandates and respect the democratic process of the EU. We demand concrete improvements necessary for the Crisis Response Mechanism (CRM) to respect international human rights law and prevent the future abuse of those emergency powers. Add your voice now!

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September 9, 2015 · Blogs

Terrorists behind the attacks in France not radicalised “online”

On 26 August, the French Minister of the Interior Bernard Cazeneuve announced in an interview that “90 percent of those drifting into terrorism do it on the Internet”. It is not the first time that Cazeneuve mentioned this figure – he used the same statistics already on numerous occasions, mainly to defend measures contained in […]

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March 9, 2022 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Artificial intelligence (AI) | Biometrics | Profiling practices

The European Commission does not sufficiently understand the need for better AI law

The Dutch Senate shares the concerns Bits of Freedom has about the Artificial Intelligence Act and wrote a letter to the European Commission about the need to better protect people from harmful uses of AI such as through biometric surveillance. The Commission has given a response to this which is not exactly reassuring.

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February 22, 2017 · Blogs

Dutch House of Representatives passes dragnet surveillance bill

On 14 February 2017 the bill for the new Intelligence and Security Services Act was passed by the Dutch lower house. Despite being met with serious opposition from experts, regulators, civil society, political parties, and citizens, the revised bill passed virtually unchanged from the proposal submitted to the lower house. It’s beyond disappointing that a […]

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June 24, 2020 · On the ground | Information democracy | Freedom of expression online

French Avia law declared unconstitutional: what does this teach us at EU level?

On 18 June, the French Constitutional Council, the constitutional authority in France, declared the main provisions of the “Avia law” unconstitutional. France’s legislation on hate speech was adopted in May despite being severely criticised from nearly all sides: the European Commission, the Czech Republic, digital rights organisations and LBGTQI+, feminist and antiracist organisations.

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May 23, 2012

Finland: Open WiFi owners are not liable for copyright infringement|

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Finnland: Betreiber offener W-Lans haften nicht für Urheberrechtsverstöße | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_10.10_Finnland_Betreiber_offener_W-Lans_haften_nicht_fuer_Urheberrechtsverstoesse?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20120523] On 14 May 2012, a District Finish Court decided on the condition of open WiFi owners in respect to their liability for online copyright infringements. In a two-year long case brought to court by the anti-piracy group CIAPC […]

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March 23, 2016 · Blogs

Data protection bill in Turkish Parliament

Turkey does not have a data protection law, but since 2003 there have been numerous attempts to enact legislation in this area. The drafts of such bills have been criticised for not being in accordance with the contemporary approach to data protection. For example, the 2013 draft envisaged the establishment of a seven-member Data Protection […]

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