December 13, 2017 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Data protection standards | Surveillance and data retention

The UK discusses data retention again

Rather bizarrely, the UK appears to be taking a more diligent approach to the application of EU law on data retention than the European Commission. While the Commission sits on its hands as individual Member States adopt increasingly outlandish and illegal data retention proposals – such as a new Italian law that imposes data retention […]

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March 25, 2022 · Blogs | Press releases | Privacy and data protection | Online tracking industry / AdTech | Platform regulation | Surveillance and data retention

The Digital Markets Act promises to free people from digital walled gardens

Last night, 24 March, the European Union made a great step forward to better protecting our rights online as it approved the political trilogue compromise for the Digital Markets Act (DMA). This decision promises to challenge the strongly centralised environment of Big Tech platforms exerting too much power over our rights and over the flow of information in society. Tech companies like Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple will have to start following strict rules that ensure free and fair competition in the digital markets.

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June 24, 2025 · Open letters | Privacy and data protection | Artificial intelligence (AI) | Biometrics

OPEN LETTER: The European Commission must act now to defend fundamental rights in Hungary

With Budapest Pride set to take place on June 28, 2025, EDRi and 46 organisation are urging the European Commission to defend fundamental rights in Hungary so that Pride organisers and participants can safely exercise their right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.

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September 10, 2020 · Blogs | Open internet and inclusive technology | Freedom of expression online | Inclusive technologies | Online tracking industry / AdTech | Surveillance and data retention

Digital Services Act: what we learned about tackling the power of digital platforms

A year into EDRi’s policy and advocacy efforts to improve the DSA, we take stock of our efforts in mapping challenges and successes in enabling positive change.

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March 10, 2021 · Blogs | EDRi-gram | Open internet and inclusive technology | Data protection standards | Freedom of expression online | Inclusive technologies | Platform regulation | Privacy and confidentiality | Transparency

At a glance: Does the EU Digital Services Act protect freedom of expression?

The Digital Services Act is in many ways an ambitious piece of legislation that seeks to make ‘Big Tech’ accountable to public authorities through new significant transparency and due diligence obligations. It also contains many provisions that could help protect users’ fundamental rights. Whether it will be successful at protecting freedom of expression from undue restrictions or reining in the power of Big Tech rather than cementing it, is, however, questionable. EDRi's member ARTICLE 19 share its first thoughts on why.

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July 14, 2021 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Online tracking industry / AdTech | Platform regulation

The Data Governance Act – between undermining the GDPR and building a Data Commons

Compared to the DSA and the DMA, the DGA has received relatively little attention, both from the digital rights community and, seemingly, from industry stakeholders. So far, the discussion in the EP – where the Internal Market ( IMCO), legal affafirs (JURI) and civil liberties (LIBE) committees have issued opinions – has revealed relatively few clear faultlines. 

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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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June 7, 2006

New Czech Police draft act allows taking DNA samples by force

The Czech Senate, upper chamber of the Parliament, approved on 25 May 2006 the amendment of the Criminal Proceedings Code and Police Act, which empowers police officers to take DNA samples and other identification samples as fingerprints. According to the draft police can take the DNA samples even by using force in case of resistance. […]

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July 5, 2006

Consultation launched by UK government on the controversial RIPA act

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) UK government has launched a consultation on codes of practice covering the implementation of its communications surveillance laws that, lately, have been largely debated on by privacy campaigners, internet service providers as well as security specialists. The UK Government has launched a public consultation on Part I […]

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November 5, 2008

ENDitorial: The FRA Law – Sleepwalking into a Surveillance Society

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) New disclosures from researchers and electronic surveillance experts in an effort to explain the real impacts and implications of the FRA law. The Swedish Parliament passed controversial legislation last June, the so called FRA law. It seems that the MPs didn’t realise what they were voting for […]

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