The Digital Omnibus reopens the EU data acquis before it has even been tested
The Digital Omnibus not only targets the GDPR, ePrivacy and AI rules, but also rewrites the EU’s data acquis by merging recent laws into the Data Act. These changes risk weakening safeguards, concentrating power, and creating uncertainty before the framework has even been implemented in practice.
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The Digital Omnibus reopens the EU data acquis before it has even been tested
The Digital Omnibus not only targets the GDPR, ePrivacy and AI rules, but also rewrites the EU’s data acquis by merging recent laws into the Data Act. These changes risk weakening safeguards, concentrating power, and creating uncertainty before the framework has even been implemented in practice.
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How can the EU protect children online while dismantling the very rules designed to keep them safe?
Protecting children online has become one of the most powerful political narratives in Brussels, yet proposals like the Digital Omnibus risk weakening the very safeguards that make this protection possible. This is a contradiction: can children truly be protected if the rules designed to keep them safe are being dismantled?
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#PrivacyCamp25: Event summary
On 30 September 2025, policymakers, activists, human rights defenders and academics from Europe and beyond gathered in Brussels and online for Privacy Camp 2025. Together, we explored the theme Resilience and Resistance in Times of Deregulation and Authoritarianism.
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A practical guide to joint investigations: lessons learned from one year of the Civic Journalism Coalition
One year ago, EDRi, European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL) and Lighthouse Reports launched the Civic Journalism Coalition with the aim of connecting investigative journalists with digital rights and civil society organisations. Today, that partnership is yielding tangible results, from journalistic investigations to a new practical guide for collaboration. Here is an overview of the activities - investigations, workshops and community-building efforts - that have shaped the Coalition.
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EDRi-gram, 1 April 2026
What has the EDRi network been up to over the past few weeks? Find out the latest digital rights news in our bi-weekly newsletter. In this edition: Rushing, forcing, squeezing – EU’s deregulation & securitisation agenda makes a joke of our rights
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Predatorgate: Breaking the chain of impunity of the spyware underworld
Greek courts have issued a landmark criminal first-instance conviction in the Predatorgate scandal, finding four individuals linked to the spyware vendor Intellexa guilty of unlawful surveillance, with cumulative sentences of 126 years and 8 months. Courts must now establish responsibility for who ordered this espionage. The case also resonates across the EU, challenging the widespread impunity of vendors and intensifying the calls for a ban on spyware.
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EDRi-gram, 18 March 2026
What has the EDRi network been up to over the past few weeks? Find out the latest digital rights news in our bi-weekly newsletter. In this edition: To scan or not to scan, EU lawmakers ask
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Artificial Insecurity: how AI tools compromise confidentiality
Whatever you think about the promises or perils of AI, it’s becoming increasingly impossible to ignore that these tools are beset by glaring security vulnerabilities. From exposing user data to facilitating hacks, from undermining information integrity to creating supply chain vulnerabilities, AI tools are underpinned, and undermined, by dodgy security practices. As we’ll explore in this series, this has grave consequences for the confidentiality of our data, for information integrity, and for access to and availability of systems — all problems that a human rights-respecting approach can help solve.
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DSA vs. Reality: Are children safer online?
How can social media be safer for people of all ages? During the hearing held in the European Parliament on 24th February, civil society experts led by Panoptykon debated possible solutions with Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and officials from the European Commission. Yet YouTube, TikTok, and Meta dodged having to answer difficult questions.
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The Digital Omnibus: A step back from the brink, but the risks remain
A first Council compromise on the Digital Omnibus removes several of the most dangerous changes that were originally proposed to the GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive. This is a welcome development, however, important risks remain. Some amendments could still weaken safeguards in practice, while new provisions on AI development and access to terminal equipment remain unresolved. Simplification should strengthen rights, not dilute them. The safest way to protect Europe’s digital rulebook is to reject the Digital Omnibus entirely.
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Fewer rules, more innovation? The miscalculation of the new Brussels
Is European regulation really holding back innovation, or is it a strategic asset that we are about to sell off? This piece debunks the official narrative of a European Commission that claims to be “learning to regulate better”. Through incisive analysis, it warns that the fear of falling behind in the artificial intelligence race is pushing Brussels to sacrifice fundamental rights in the name of a misunderstood competitiveness.
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The eID Wallet still doesn’t deserve your full trust
Despite its imminent deployment, the EU’s new eID Wallet is not yet fit for purpose in terms of safeguarding the rights of its users. EDRi and nine CSOs urge the European Commission to amend the draft implementing acts to ensure that users cannot be tracked, forced to share sensitive data nor to provide their legal identity where this is not required by law.
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