November 30, 2022 · Blogs | Campaigns | Privacy and data protection | Biometrics | Privacy and confidentiality | Profiling practices | Surveillance and data retention

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.

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May 10, 2006

EU Parliament Members want more privacy in SIS II

The Committee of Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs at the European Parliament debated the draft Regulation on the establishment, operation and use of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II). There was a consensus among members of the committee that better privacy safeguards are needed for the SIS II, especially because it will […]

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April 23, 2008

Eurobarometers on data protection in EU

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) — Version corrected on 24.04.2008— According to a couple of Eurobarometer surveys on data protection, issued by the European Commission on 17 April 2008, EU citizens have little faith in the security of data transmission on the Internet. Two surveys were conducted by Gallup in January 2008, […]

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May 5, 2021 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Online tracking industry / AdTech | Platform regulation | Surveillance and data retention

AdTech is watching you!

The reality is that AdTech target mothers who just had stillbirths with baby ads, and serial gamblers who are trying to quit with gambling ads, or simply send creepy ads. 

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December 14, 2021 · Blogs | Press releases | Privacy and data protection | Data protection standards | Freedom of expression online | Surveillance and data retention

Has the Parliament effectively wielded the Digital Services Act to challenge platform power? The verdict is, somewhat.

Today, the European Parliament Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) has approved its much-anticipated report on the Digital Services Act (DSA). The DSA affects how intermediaries like Google and Amazon regulate and influence user activity on their platforms, including people's ability to exercise their rights and freedoms online. The DSA also aims at limiting the negative impact of the most powerful online platforms on people and puts limits on how EU Member States can interfere with people’s free expression online.

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September 13, 2023 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Artificial intelligence (AI) | Surveillance and data retention

Council of Europe must not water down their human rights standards in convention on AI

In a joint statement, civil society calls for a broad scope and definition of AI systems and no blanket exemptions for AI systems for national defence/national security.

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October 22, 2003

EU health chip

The European Union has taken steps towards the creation of an EU-wide health identity card. By 2008 there will be a new card with a microchip that can store a range of biometric and personal data. Approved by Union ministers in Luxembourg the plastic disk will slide into the credit-card pouch of a wallet or […]

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September 11, 2013 · Blogs

EDRi and FREE want an end to lawless surveillance

Civil society groups European Digital Rights (EDRi) and the Fundamental Rights European Experts Group (FREE) have demanded an end to lawless spying on individuals around the globe. At a meeting with the Chair of the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee today, the two groups handed over a document containing detailed analysis of the current European […]

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November 16, 2022 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Data protection standards

New Europol rules massively expand police powers and reduce rights protections

The new rules governing Europol, which came into force at the end of June, massively expand the tasks and powers of the EU’s policing agency whilst reducing external scrutiny of its data processing operations and rights protections for individuals.

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September 21, 2012 · Blogs

Clean IT – Leak shows plans for large-scale, undemocratic surveillance of all communications

This article is also available in German: [CleanIT – Pläne zur Überwachung des Internets im großen Stil] A leaked document from the CleanIT project shows just how far internal discussions in that initiative have drifted away from its publicly stated aims, as well as the most fundamental legal rules that underpin European democracy and the […]

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September 26, 2012

Facebook gives up its face recognition feature in EU

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Facebook gibt Gesichtserkennungsfunktion in Europa auf | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_10.18_%20Facebook_gibt_Gesichtserkennungsfunktion_in_Europa_auf?pk_campaign=twun&pk_kwd=20121008] Following pressure from Data Protection offices in EU, Facebook has decided to give up the controversial face recognition feature in EU. The feature used by Facebook was taking information given by users when tagging friends’ faces in photo, with the […]

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July 26, 2017 · Blogs

Oversight Board report: Illegal surveillance of Danish citizens

The annual report from the Danish Intelligence Oversight Board (TET) was published on 7 July 2017. Under Danish law, TET is tasked with overseeing the data collection and data processing practices of the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) and the Danish Defence and Intelligence Service (DDIS). Both intelligence services operate mostly outside European Union […]

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