Privacy and data protection
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Von der Leyen: An ambitious agenda for digital rights
On 16 July 2019, the European Parliament elected Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission with 383 votes, which is only nine votes above the minimum needed. Parts of the Socialists, Liberals, and Greens initially had doubts regarding the candidate. However, her speech in the Plenary before the vote and the agenda […]
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Microsoft Office 365 banned from German schools over privacy concerns
In a bombshell decision, the Data Protection Authority (DPA) of the German Land of Hesse has ruled that schools are banned from using Microsoft’s cloud office product “Office 365”. According to the decision, the platform’s standard settings expose personal information about school pupils and teachers “to possible access by US officials” and are thus incompatible […]
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The first GDPR fines in Romania
The Romanian Data Protection Authority (DPA) has recently announced the first three fines applied in Romania as a result of the enforcement of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
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New privacy alliance to be formed in Russia, Central and Eastern Europe
Civil Society advocates from Russia, and Central and Eastern Europe have joined forces to form a new inter-regional NGO to promote privacy in countries bordering the EU.
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EU worries over the possibility of losing wiretapping powers
5G telecoms networks could render obsolete the “lawful interception” techniques that police is traditionally using, unless the European Union and national governments take action. This was revealed in internal EU documents obtained by EDRi member Statewatch, that has published a new analysis explaining the issues and calling for a public debate. “It is unsurprising that […]
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EU rushes into e-evidence negotiations without common position
On 6 June 2019, the Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA) – which gathers all EU Member States Ministers of Justice – asked the European Commission to start international negotiations on cross-border access to electronic evidence in criminal matters (so-called “e-evidence”) in the upcoming months. The Commission should enter into bilateral negotiations with the United […]
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German Big Brother Awards – one “winner” reacts and appears
The German Big Brother Awards (BBA) gala was held on 8 June 2019 in Bielefeld, Germany. Organised annually since 2000 by EDRi member Digitalcourage, this year’s gala was the third to be streamed live in English in addition to the original German. For the second time, the venue was Bielefeld theatre, where the stage set […]
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Danish DPA approves Automated Facial Recognition
On 13 June 2019, the Danish football club Brøndby IF announced that starting in July 2019, automated facial recognition (AFR) technology will be deployed at Brøndby Stadium. It will be used to identify persons that have been banned from attending Brøndby IF football matches for violations of the club’s own rules of conduct. The AFR […]
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Greece: Complaint filed against breach of EU data protection law
On 30 May 2019, EDRi observer Homo Digitalis filed a complaint to the European Commission against a breach of EU data protection law by Greece. The European Commission registered the complaint under the reference number CHAP(2019)01564 on 6 June 2019, and its services will assess the complaint and provide a reply within 12 months.
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Poland: Banks obliged to explain their credit decisions
Owing to the initiative of the Polish EDRi member Panoptykon, bank clients in Poland will have the right to receive an explanation of the assessment of their creditworthiness. The initiative proposed and fought for amendments in the Polish banking law, and resulted in an even higher standard than the one envisioned in the General Data […]
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Data Retention: EU Commission inconclusive about potential new legislation
On 6 June 2019, representatives from eight civil society organisations (including EDRi members) met with officials from the European Commission (EC) Directorate General of Home Affairs (DG HOME) to discuss data retention. This meeting, according to the EC officials, was just another one in a series of meetings that DG HOME is holding with different […]
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Facebook and Google asked to appoint representatives in Serbia
Three months before the new Serbian Law on Personal Data Protection becomes applicable, EDRi member SHARE Foundation asked 20 data companies from around the world – including Google and Facebook – to appoint representatives in Serbia as required by the new law. This is crucial for providing Serbian citizens and competent authorities with a contact […]
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