May 6, 2015 · Blogs

Slovakia: Mass surveillance of citizens is unconstitutional

Slovakia’s data retention law is now history. On 29 April, the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic ruled that the mass surveillance of citizens is unconstitutional. The decision was made in the context of proceedings initiated by 30 Members of the Parliament on behalf of the European Information Society Institute (EISi), a Slovakia-based think-tank. In […]

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October 6, 2021 · Blogs | Information democracy | Freedom of expression online

Warning: the EU’s Digital Services Act could repeat TERREG’s mistakes

On 30 September, the Committee of Legal Affairs (JURI) in the European Parliament approved its draft report on a Single Market For Digital Services (Digital Services Act). We had expressed our concerns about negative fundamental rights implications of some proposed measures in the report to the Members of the European Parliament. However, it did not stop the JURI Committee from giving them their green light.

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December 15, 2021 · Blogs | Open internet and inclusive technology | Freedom of expression online | Platform regulation | Transparency

Digital Services Act: EU Parliament’s key committee rejects a filternet but concerns remain

The European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA) is a big deal. It's the most significant reform of Europe’s internet platform legislation in twenty years and the EU Commission has proposed multiple new rules to address the challenges brought by the increased use of services online. EU members of Parliament (MEPs) showed that they listened to civil society voices: Even though the key committee on internal market affairs (IMCO) did not follow the footsteps of the ambitious DSA reports from last year, MEPs took a stance for the protection of fundamental rights.

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October 25, 2023 · Blogs | Open internet and inclusive technology | Inclusive technologies

EU Cyber ​​Resilience Act would harm open source software and competitiveness

If the EU Cyber Resilience Act is adopted in its present form, it would seriously harm the open source ecosystem and the competitiveness of the European economy, argues EDRi member Vrijschrift Foundation in a letter to the Dutch Parliament.

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January 17, 2024 · Blogs | Open internet and inclusive technology | Data protection standards | Freedom of expression online

The EU Media Freedom Act’s suspension period for content moderation will harm users

In December 2023, the European Parliament and Member States’ representatives negotiated a controversial special status for media outlets in the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA): their content cannot be removed from big tech platforms for up to 24 hours, even when it violates community standards intended to protect users.

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February 8, 2017 · Blogs

Are the US-EU data agreements still alive?

Late on the first day of Computers, Data Protection and Privacy (CPDP) Conference on 25 January 2017, word came through that US President Donald Trump had issued Executive Order (EO), “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States”, which included the following: Privacy Act. Agencies shall, to the extent consistent with applicable law, […]

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

Council and Parliament find provisional agreement on the Data Governance Act

On 30 November, the European Parliament and Council provisionally agreed on the final version of the Data Governance Act (DGA). The text, which will still require final approval by both institutions, is the first legislative element of the European data strategy to emerge in its final form. While the final text is yet to be published, here is an overview of the main elements of the Act.

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January 24, 2023 · Blogs | Information democracy | Freedom of expression online

Policy Statement on article 17 of the proposed European Media Freedom Act

EDRi and our members Access Now, ApTI, Article 19, Citizen D, EFF, EFN, IT-Politisk Forening, Panoptykon, Vrijschrift, Wikimedia Germany alongside other organisations are calling to reject Article 17 in its current form altogether in the EMFA.

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May 1, 2024 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Data protection standards | Privacy and confidentiality | Surveillance and data retention

The future of our fight against biometric mass surveillance

The final AI Act is disappointingly full of holes when it comes to bans on different forms of biometric mass surveillance (BMS). Despite this, there are some silver linings in the form of opportunities to oppose BMS in public spaces and to push for better protection of people’s sensitive biometric data.

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May 24, 2006

PM supports UK ID Cards Act

Tony Blair stated a strong support for the ID card Act that was initially rejected by the House of Lords in January this year. The Government had considered the card as essential in the fight against crime, illegal immigration, and identity theft. However, the House of Lords required from the Government to give further clarifications […]

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June 4, 2008

Czech Parliament – close in implementing data retention directive

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) Czech Parliament is close to approving the data retention implementation as an Act amending the Electronic Communications Act (127/2005 Coll.). Due to the early introduction of the data retention obligation in the text of the 2005 Act, the current amending draft law implementing the data retention directive […]

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May 6, 2009

UK: Google's Street View does not breach the Data Protection Act

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [GB: Googles Street View verstößt nicht gegen das Datenschutzgesetz | http://www.unwatched.org/node/1391] In response to a complaint filed by Privacy International, the UK Data Protection Authority, Information Commissioner’s Office, found Google’s Street View service clear of any breach of the Data Protection Act, as revealed in a public statement […]

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