EU watchdog finds European Commission failed to protect human rights from its surveillance aid to African countries
The European Ombudsman has found that the European Commission failed to take necessary measures to ensure the protection of human rights in the transfers of technology with potential surveillance capacity supported by its multi-billion Emergency Trust Fund for Africa.
Filter resources
-
EU watchdog finds European Commission failed to protect human rights from its surveillance aid to African countries
The European Ombudsman has found that the European Commission failed to take necessary measures to ensure the protection of human rights in the transfers of technology with potential surveillance capacity supported by its multi-billion Emergency Trust Fund for Africa.
Read more
-
Update: UK’s Online Safety Bill heralds a trio of surveillance
The UK’s Online Safety Bill was back in the Westminster Parliament in December It had been stalled for five months whilst the new British government made a few changes. A Parliamentary debate on Monday (5 December 2022) revealed the shift in policy direction for the first time. It’s a relatively small change with big implications. Read more about the changes.
Read more
-
Legal challenge: The Serbian government attempts to digitise social security system
Organisations from across the world submit a joint legal opinion to support a Serbian NGO’s legal challenge to the Social Card law due to concerns over the right to privacy, the right to social security, and data protection.
Read more
-
Back to the Future: Activism, the copyright Directive and lessons for the present
The Copyright Directive marked a key moment in internet history. Civil society, and EDRi in particular, have reflected on the role we played in the political debate and what would that mean for future digital policy fights. In this blogpost, we look back to assess the success of the strategies we adopted and what are the takeaways we should keep in mind when challenging current human rights threats like chat control and facial recognition.
Read more
-
EDRi-gram, 14 December 2022
192 organisations and individuals call on the EU to better address the harms of Artificial Intelligence in the AI Act when used in the context of migration. We also celebrate our members' win as, thanks to their complaints, the EU watchdog has found that the European Commission has failed to protect human rights from its surveillance aid to African countries.
Read more
-
Civil society calls for the EU AI act to better protect people on the move
In this open letter, 195 organisations and individuals call on the EU to protect people on the move. As the European Parliament amends the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), preventing AI harms in the field of AI and migration is vital. AI systems are increasingly developed, tested and deployed to judge and control migrants and people on the move in harmful ways.
Read more
-
Reclaim Your Face movement gathered in Brussels
Between 6 and 9 November 2022, more than 20 activists from across Europe gathered in Brussels to celebrate the successes of the Reclaim You Face movement. We got to meet each other in real life after months of online organising, reflected on our wide range off decentralised actions, and learned from each other how to couple grassroots organising with EU advocacy aimed at specific events and EU institutions. Read on to see what we did.
Read more
-
New poll exposes public fears over the use of AI by governments in national security
EDRi’s affiliate European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL) commissioned a survey in 12 EU countries, where a representative sample of the public was asked about their opinion on the use of AI by governments. The poll has exposed public fears and shown stark differences with some of the positions taken by EU countries. Check out the results.
Read more
-
EdTech needs schooling
It is vital that the introduction of technology to the classroom is accompanied by appropriate and robust human rights safeguards to ensure that every child around the world can safely access an education, without giving up their right to privacy or becoming hostages to a future of data exploitation. Read why EdTech needs schooling to ensure the safety of the children they are responsible for.
Read more
-
Warnings against arbitrariness and mass surveillance in EURODAC
Four Members of the European Parliament in charge of leading the negotiations sent additional questions on data protection related to the EURODAC proposal to the EDPS. This comes as a result of the concerns of fundamental rights violations raised by several organisations protecting the rights of people on the move, children and digital rights, including EDRi, in an open letter. Read a summary of the EDPS' answers.
Read more
-
PEGA hearing: state hacking and spyware in Germany
On 14 November, EDRi observer Andre Meister from German digital rights newspaper netzpolitik.org, spoke at the PEGA committee's hearing in his capacity as an investigative journalist, covering state hacking for over a decade. Check out what he had to say to the PEGA committee responsible for investigating the use of the Pegasus spyware in Europe.
Read more
-
Europol management board in breach of new rules as soon as they came into force
The EU’s police agency, Europol, has landed itself in trouble again. Statewatch has now revealed that the agency’s management board was in breach of the new rules governing the agency as soon as they came into force in June.
Read more