September 25, 2013 · Blogs

Surveillance scandal in discussion at the United Nations

The surveillance scandal has now reached the United Nation’s Human Rights Council, which opened its 24th session last week to a volley of questions about privacy and spying, many of them targeted at the United States and United Kingdom. (That’s perhaps not surprising, since U.N. representatives were among those listed as being monitored by the […]

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September 26, 2018 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Online tracking industry / AdTech | Privacy and confidentiality | Surveillance and data retention

Five reasons to be concerned about the Council ePrivacy draft

The amendments improve the original proposal by strengthening confidentiality requirements for electronic communication services, and include a ban on tracking walls, legally binding signals for giving or refusing consent to online tracking, and privacy by design requirements for web browsers and apps.

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May 24, 2006

Big Brother Awards Italy 2006

From 19 May to 20 May Florence has hosted the E-Privacy 2006 conference, organized as usual – by the Winston Smith Project with the help of several volunteers. This edition saw a much larger participation than 2005: the participants could hardly fit the hall of Palazzo Vecchio, and several people had to stand for the […]

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May 23, 2007

Google is profiling online gamers

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) Google has filed a patent in Europe and in US on a profiling technology planning to create psychological profiles of web users based on their behaviour at playing on-line games. The company thinks it can gather up information to shape the personality of web users according to […]

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September 6, 2017 · Blogs

Leaked document: EU Presidency calls for massive internet filtering

A Council of the European Union document leaked by Statewatch on 30 August reveals that during the summer months, that Estonia (current EU Presidency) has been pushing the other Member States to strengthen indiscriminate internet surveillance, and to follow in the footsteps of China regarding online censorship. Standing firmly behind its belief that filtering the […]

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November 2, 2011 · Blogs

Four strikes against web blocking in Brussels

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Brüssel: “Four Strikes” gegen Netzsperren | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_9.21_Bruessel_Four_Strikes_gegen_Netzsperren?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20111110] Last week, the European Parliament took its final vote on the proposed Directive on Child Sexual Exploitation. Parliamentarians voted for a compromise text which rejected the European Commission’s proposal to make web blocking mandatory across the EU. The final text creates […]

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May 7, 2014 · Blogs

NETmundial, multistakeholderism and fair process

“I don’t know what you mean by “multistakeholder”, ” Alice said. Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. “Of course you don’t—till I tell you. I meant “there’s a nice knock-down argument for you!” ” “But “multistakeholder” doesn’t mean “a nice knock-down argument”,” Alice objected. “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means […]

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July 7, 2016 · Blogs

Copyfail #7: Not allowing research via “commercial” text and data mining

This article is the seventh in the series presenting Copyfails. The EU is reforming its copyright rules. We want to introduce you to the main failures of the current copyright system, with suggestions on how to fix them. You can find all the Copyfails here. How has it failed? We live in an era where […]

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November 17, 2021 · Blogs | Information democracy | Freedom of expression online

European Parliament’s plans of a Digital Services Act threaten internet freedoms

The EU's Digital Services Act is a chance to preserve what works and to fix what is broken. EFF and other civil society groups have advocated for new rules that protect fundamental rights online, while formulating a bold vision to address today's most pressing challenges. However, while the initial proposal by the EU Commission got several things right, the EU Parliament is toying with the idea of introducing a new filternet, made in Europe. Some politicians believe that any active platform should potentially be held liable for the communications of its users and they trust that algorithmic filters can do the trick to swiftly remove illegal content

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July 12, 2016 · Blogs

Oversight of the new Europol regulation likely to remain superficial

On 1 May 2017, the new regulation on Europol will enter into force. The compromise agreed on during the trilogue procedure establishes more detailed provisions on oversight of the activities of Europol by the European Parliament.

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December 2, 2010 · Blogs

Internet blocking – Speech to ECTA workshop – 30 November

On 30 November, EDRi made a speech to the “Net freedoms, Secure Internet, IPR, Piracy & Blocking” workshop of the European Competitive Telecommunications Association 2010 Conference. Other speakers included Cesar Alonso Iriarte from the European Commission (desk officer responsible for the Child Exploitation Directive), Olivia Regnier (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry), Innocenzo Genna (European […]

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July 12, 2016 · Blogs

Alliance for broadband competition sets out benchmarks for EU’s telecommunications update

On 12 July, EU and US telecommunications experts issued a clear warning: to ensure investment in broadband and to give consumers high-speed access to the internet, efficient competition has to be guaranteed. EU policy-makers, academics, civil society and internet providers gathered at #NetCompetition’s high-level forum to lay down the yardstick for the upcoming telecommunications review. […]

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