ePrivacy Regulation

November 22, 2019 · Highlights | Privacy and data protection | Privacy and confidentiality

EU Council moves the ePrivacy reform forward – with major flaws in its position

November 22, 2019 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Privacy and confidentiality

ePrivacy: EU Member States push crucial reform on privacy norms close to a dead end

Today, on 22 November 2019, the Permanent Representatives Committee of the Council of the European Union (COREPER) has rejected the Council’s position on a draft ePrivacy Regulation. “In this era of disinformation and privacy scandals, refusing to ensure strong privacy protections in the ePrivacy Regulation is a step backwards for the EU,” said Diego Naranjo, […]

November 6, 2019 · Blogs | Open internet and inclusive technology | Privacy and data protection | Disinformation and electoral interference | Equal access to the internet | Profiling practices

Twitter banning political ads – the tip of the iceberg

Twitter seems to have learnt the lessons of the 2016 US elections. After the revelation of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the link between the use of social media targeted political advertisement and the voting behaviour of specific groups of people has been explored and explained again and again. We now understand how social media platforms […]

October 23, 2019 · On the ground | Privacy and data protection | Privacy and confidentiality | Surveillance and data retention

The sixth attempt to introduce mandatory SIM registration in Romania

A tragic failure by the police to save a teenage girl who was abducted but managed to call the 112 emergency number three times before she was murdered, led to the adoption of a new Emergency Ordinance in Romania. The law introduces several measures to improve the 112 system, one of which is mandatory SIM card registration for all prepaid users. Currently approximately ten million prepaid SIM cards are used in Romania.

October 23, 2019 · Blogs | Information democracy | Privacy and data protection | Digital sustainability | Equal access to the internet | Freedom of expression online | Privacy and confidentiality

#PrivacyCamp20: Technology and Activism

The 8th annual Privacy Camp will take place in Brussels on 21 January 2020. With the focus on “Technology and Activism”, Privacy Camp 2020 will explore the significant role digital technology plays in activism, enabling people to bypass traditional power structures and fostering new forms of civil disobedience, but also enhancing the surveillance power of […]

October 10, 2019 · Open letters | Privacy and data protection | Data protection standards | Privacy and confidentiality

Open letter to EU Member States: Deliver ePrivacy now!

On 11 October 2019, EDRi, together with four other civil society organisations, sent an open letter to EU Member States, to urge to conclude the negotiations on the ePrivacy Regulation. The letter highlights the urgent need for a strong ePrivacy Regulation in order to tackle the problems created by the commercial surveillance business models, and […]

October 9, 2019 · Blogs | Information democracy | Privacy and data protection | Data protection standards | Privacy and confidentiality

Why weak encryption is everybody’s problem

Representatives of the UK Home Department, US Attorney General, US Homeland Security and Australian Home Affairs have joined forces to issue an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg. In their letter of 4 October, they urge Facebook to halt plans for end-to-end (aka strong) encryption across Facebook’s messaging platforms, unless such plans include “a means for […]

October 9, 2019 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Privacy and confidentiality

Right a wrong: ePrivacy now!

When the European Commission proposed to replace the outdated and improperly enforced 2002 ePrivacy Directive with a new ePrivacy Regulation in January 2017, it marked a cautiously hopeful moment for digital rights advocates across Europe. With the backdrop of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), adopted in May 2018, Europe took a giant leap ahead […]

October 1, 2019 · Highlights | Information democracy | Online tracking industry / AdTech

CJEU on cookies: ‘Consent or be tracked’ is not an option

European Digital Rights (EDRi) welcomes the CJEU's confirmation that under the current data protection framework, cookies can only be set if users have given consent that is valid under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

September 23, 2019 · Blogs | Campaigns | Information democracy | Privacy and data protection | Online tracking industry / AdTech | Privacy and confidentiality | Profiling practices

Your mail, their ads. Your rights?

In the digital space, “postal services” often snoop into your online conversations in order to market services or products according to what they find out from your chats. A law meant to limit this exploitative practice is stalled by the Council of European Union

July 23, 2019 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Data protection standards | Privacy and confidentiality | Surveillance and data retention

Your family is none of their business

Today’s children have the most complex digital footprint in human history, with their data being collected by private companies and governments alike.

July 22, 2019 · Blogs | Open internet and inclusive technology | Privacy and data protection | Equal access to the internet | Platform regulation

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 […]