January 28, 2009

Some EU data protection policy developments in 2008

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) Will the 2008 be remembered as the Data Retention implementation year or the first Freedom not Fear day? As always with the conclusions, we might answer better this question in 2009 or 2018. But let’s look at some facts from the last year now One of the […]

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January 12, 2011

French law Loppsi 2 adopted by the General Assembly

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Französische Nationalversammlung: Loppsi 2-Gesetz angenommen | http://www.unwatched.org/node/2498] The so-called Loppsi 2 law (loi d’orientation et de programmation pour la performance de la sécurité intérieure – law on guidelines and programming for the performance of internal security) was approved by the French General Assembly in its second reading on […]

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March 11, 2004

Austrian court demands control military snooping powers

The Austrian Constitutional Court (VfGH) has declared parts of the military power law (Militaerbefugnisgesetz, MBG) unconstitutional, in a decision dated 23 January 2004. The case was instigated by Social Democratic members of the Austrian Parliament. The decision does not repair all points that critics have raised. The military law was adopted in the year 2000 […]

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March 11, 2004

Privacy-penalty for French Scientology critic

In France the owner of a website was convicted to pay a penalty of 450 Euro for publishing personal data without first registering with the Data Protection Authority, the CNIL. On 25 February the appeal-court of Lyon confirmed the earlier ruling, even though the judges decided to suspend payment of the penalty. Remarkably the website-owner, […]

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February 5, 2025 · Blogs | EDRi-gram | Highlights | Information democracy | Open internet and inclusive technology | Privacy and data protection

EDRi-gram, 5 February 2025

What has the EDRis network been up to over the past two weeks? Find out the latest digital rights news in our bi-weekly newsletter. In this edition: Don’t let Big Tech bully the EU, Commission’s AI Act guidelines should center human rights, & more!

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July 4, 2007

ENDitorial : The End of Multilateral Broadcast Treaty

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) The summer special session of United Nation’s World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) Standing Committee on Copyright and Related rights (SCCR) ended with an outcome that effectively killed the proposed treaty for protection of broadcast organisations (Broadcast Treaty). The committee called off the Diplomatic Conference that was supposed […]

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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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September 22, 2021 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Privacy and confidentiality

Register research turned privacy disaster. Epicenter.works nominates Sebastian Kurz for a Big Brother Award

Research is important. Using research as a cover to obtain unchecked access to sensitive official data is not. At the beginning of July, the Austrian chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, submitted to pre-parliamentary consultation a bill that would cause a seismic shift in how the government treats its citizens’ data. EDRi's member epicenter.works shares that from a privacy perspective the present bill is fundamentally flawed and places an enormous amount of data covering the entire population at risk for abuse.

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November 24, 2022

The EU’s struggle with general-purpose AI: dialogues and debates

In the EU, these AI systems are now referred to as “general-purpose AI” and policymakers are grappling with this exact question in negotiations of the EU’s so-called AI Act. Join the event to learn more.

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February 11, 2009 · Blogs

UK Government proposes increased data sharing

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) The UK Minsitry of Justice introduced in January 2009, in the House of Commons the Coroners and Justice Bill which, among other things, amends the Data Protection Act 1998 and enables increased personal data sharing among governmental bodies. The Bill empowers ministers to make orders that override […]

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September 7, 2016 · Blogs

The lobby-tomy 9: Lessons of the lobby

The new European privacy law was a feast for lobbyists, but how did the Dutch government deal with all that information? And is lobbying bad? The new European data protection regulation is the most lobbied piece of legislation ever because the subject is very important and touches upon almost every aspect of our daily lives. […]

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July 18, 2007

Sweden wants tougher laws against file sharers

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) The Swedish Justice Department initiated the public debate process on a new legislation that will allow the copyright holders to obtain the identity of people that share illegal content over in the Internet. The draft says that the copyright holders can go to court asking the ISPs […]

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