Enforcing the European Union’s new digital platform laws: How it is going so far
It’s already September and the European Parliament’s summer break is officially over. While the legislature was sleeping, the European Union’s (EU) tech enforcers and their counterparts—Big Tech lobbyists—have been busy plotting their next moves. If you have been away over the summer, here is what you might have missed and what that means for the state of digital rights in the EU
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Enforcing the European Union’s new digital platform laws: How it is going so far
It’s already September and the European Parliament’s summer break is officially over. While the legislature was sleeping, the European Union’s (EU) tech enforcers and their counterparts—Big Tech lobbyists—have been busy plotting their next moves. If you have been away over the summer, here is what you might have missed and what that means for the state of digital rights in the EU
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European Commission cuts funding support for Free Software projects
The Next Generation Internet initiative has supported Free Software projects with funding and technical assistance since 2018. Despite its proven success, the European Commission made the decision to cut this funding in the current draft for the Horizon Europe 2025 Work Programme. This decision highlights the larger problem of the lack of motivated and sustainable public funding for Free Software projects.
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EDRi-gram, 10 July 2024
This is the last edition of EDRi-gram before we take a (well-deserved) break for the summer. Keeping you updated about the various goings-on in the busy world of digital rights is a toilsome task! Don’t worry, this edition is full of interesting news and recommendations for you to follow up on all summer long. You can start by going through a new document pool by the Resist Europol coalition that brings together all relevant resources you’ll need to understand and contest EU’s securitisation agenda, especially through the seemingly never-ending expansion of the bloc’s agency for law enforcement cooperation. With Hungary taking over the presidency of the Council of the European Union as of last week, EDRi and 47 digital rights, human rights & children’s rights organisations have called for the withdrawal of the draft CSA Regulation proposal. It is high time to say good riddance to a proposal that is not only unfit for addressing the complex issue of child sexual abuse, but would also undermine private and safe online communication for all.
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Empowering people to flourish and thrive: A vision for our digital future
Together, we can protect human rights, strengthen democracy, and reshape societal systems. Read about our commitment to empowering people to flourish and thrive, as part of our Vision for 2024 and beyond.
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Apple must comply with the DMA, urges civil society call to European Commission
Civil society organisations and stakeholders have submitted an analysis to the European Commission about Apple’s attempts to circumvent the Digital Markets Act’s goals of allowing people freedom of choice on their own devices.
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EDRi-gram, 26 June 2024
Summer seems to have finally arrived in Brussels, just in time for the heart of the EU to reel from the results of the European elections. Maybe having the sun will make it all bearable? Stay tuned as we test out this theory. We do have some positive news to share from the world of digital rights. Earlier this month, LinkedIn gave in to pressure from civil society and Digital Services Act (DSA) enforcers based on a complaint by EDRi and three partner organisations. The platform will no longer allow advertisers to target ads based on sensitive personal data from users. A big win for privacy! On a similar sunny note, EDRi and the Reclaim Your Face campaign were recently recognised as the Europe AI Policy Leader in Civil Society for our groundbreaking work advocating for a world free from biometric mass surveillance. Do you want to read more about the EDRi network’s impact on defending and advancing digital rights? Our 2023 Annual Report is out now for you to peruse!
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EDRi Annual Report 2023: Our collective impact defending digital rights in Europe
In our Annual Report, you can read more about EDRi’s efforts to build an inclusive and equitable digital environment that allows us all to thrive. In 2023, we resisted attempts to normalise corporate and state surveillance, mobilised thousands of supporters, and had an unmistakable impact on European tech policy.
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Privacy win: LinkedIn limits ad targeting after EDRi complaint
LinkedIn gave in to pressure from civil society and Digital Services Act (DSA) enforcers based on a complaint by EDRi and three partner organisations. The platform will no longer allow advertisers to target ads based on sensitive personal data from users. That’s a big win for privacy and the DSA, but it also exposes one of the DSA’s more hidden weaknesses.
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EDRi-gram, 29 May 2024
What an exciting few weeks we have ahead of us – the European Parliament elections are just around the corner and much is about to change. The next time you read the EDRigram, we will have new decision-makers in place at the Parliament. But before we jump too far ahead into the future, here’s what’s been happening in the digital rights world since we last met. EDRi member La Quadrature du Net is taking legal action against the French prime minister’s decision to block TikTok in New Caledonia. The French government is resorting to the tried-and-tested authoritarian reflexes of obstructing people’s freedom of expression as tensions in the archipelago reach new heights. In this EDRigram, we’re also getting real about EU’s surveillance agenda, and looking at how to enforce the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in a way that realises its full potential.
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How to fight Biometric Mass Surveillance after the AI Act: A legal and practical guide
The EU's Artificial Intelligence Act has been adopted, laying out an in-principle ban on live mass facial recognition and other public biometric surveillance by police. Yet the wide exceptions to this ban may pave the way to legitimise the use of these systems. This living guide, for civil society organisations, communities and activists, charts a human rights-based approach for how to keep resisting biometric mass surveillance practices now and in the future
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EDRi-gram, 2 May 2024
Last week, the European Parliament was doing everything everywhere all at once in the run up to the final plenary before the June EU elections. Let’s run through some of the highlights. In a disappointing move that will endanger medical secrecy, the European Parliament passed the European Health Data Space (EHDS). This law will expose everyone’s medical records to unnecessary security and privacy risks in the name of research and “innovation”. The Parliament also took its final step on the much touted Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act last week. With the final version of the law full of loopholes and missed opportunties, we’re left to contend with how to keep advocating for the protection of peope’s rights and fight against biometric mass surveillance. We also directed our attention towards the European Commission’s concerning decision to allow unrestricted data flows to Israel. Together with Access Now and 11 other civil society groups, we wrote to the Commission to ask for clarity on this decision.
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EDRi-gram, 17 April 2024
But what knocked everyone's socks off was the massive victory in Greece, where EDRi member Homo Digitalis' strategic complaint led to a record-breaking fine to the Ministry of Asylum and Migration for violating people's data protection rights in its border management systems KENTAUROS and HYPERION. This news from Greece, immediately followed by the European Parliament's vote on the European Union's asylum system (EURODAC), makes it irrefutable that the Migration Pact is the EU's attempt to codify in law surveillance practices that not only gravely harm the rights of migrants but which are illegal.
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