May 27, 2013 · Blogs

SIF Unconference: Enforcement through "self-"Regulation – who ever thought this was a good idea?

Last week, European Digital Rights attended the second annual Stockholm Internet Forum which focused on two main themes: Internet Freedom and Security and Internet Freedom and Development. A novelty this year were the Unconference sessions. The Unconference organised by EDRi set itself the task of establishing an initial set of basic criteria for assessing the […]

Read more

June 6, 2012

Modernisation of CoE Convention 108: EDRi's comments

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Europarat: EDRi-Stellungnahme zur Modernisierung der Konvention 108 | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_10.11_Europarat_EDRi-Stellungnahme_zur_Modernisierung_der_Konvention_108?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20120606] EDRi submitted last week its comments on the proposal for the Modernisation of Council of Europe (CoE) Convention 108 for the Protection of Individuals with Regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data. EDRi reiterated its support to the overall […]

Read more

May 28, 2013 · Blogs

If we assume the earth is flat – how much does data protection cost?

First we had the US administration influencing the European Commission’s drafting of privacy legislation, then we had the lobbying onslaught and the “lobbyplag” scandal. Now, we have absurd and misleading “studies” that make wild assumptions in order to come to outlandish conclusions regarding the “cost” of data protection. In the most recent example, the European […]

Read more

February 14, 2007

Online police searches found illegal in Germany

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) The German Federal Supreme Court (BGH) in Karlsruhe ruled, on 5 February, that, according to the German Code of Criminal Procedure (StPO), online police snooping was illegal. As the court argued, StPO had no provisions to allow the authorities to perform online snooping, the code allowing only […]

Read more

June 6, 2012

A new EC proposal on e-identities and e-signatures

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Neuer Vorschlag zur elektronischen Identifizierung und E-Signaturen | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_10.11_Neuer_Vorschlag_zur_elektronischen_Identifizierung_und_E-Signaturen?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20120606] On 4 June 2012, the European Commission published a new draft regulation on e-signatures and e-identities that is meant to extend the existing e-Signatures Directive to include new services such as e-stamping or e-seals that would guarantee the origin […]

Read more

June 5, 2013 · Blogs

Transborder data access: Strong critics on plans to extend CoE Cybercrime Treaty

The Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention Committee (T-CY) held a hearing on 3 June 2013 in Strasbourg to collect views from civil society and the private sector on its plans to further extent Convention 185 provisions on transborder access to data through a draft additional Protocol. The proposal received strong criticism from most of the […]

Read more

June 29, 2011

High level discussions on online tracking

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Hochrangige Diskussion über Online-Tracking | http://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_9.13_Hochrangige_Diskussionen_ueber_Online_Tracking?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20110708] A meeting organised jointly by the University of Berkeley and the Institute for Information Law of the University of Amsterdam drew together an outstanding collection of international experts, NGOs and industry representatives to discuss online tracking protection and browsers. Information Society Commissioner […]

Read more

June 19, 2003

France ready to ratify Cybercrime convention

France has started the process of ratification of the Council of Europe cybercrime convention. On 11 June, Dominique de Villepin, the French minister of foreign affairs presented to the council of ministers a draft law for the ratification of the convention. France would be the first EU country to ratify the convention, which has only […]

Read more

February 13, 2008

Biometric data from non-EU travellers

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) A set of new measures including biometric data from non-EU travellers are being proposed these days by the European Commission (EC). The proposals, drafted by Franco Frattini, the European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security, are being put forward by the EC, arguing that the cross-border policy […]

Read more

July 2, 2003

Analysis: Privacy in the EU draft constitution

The draft European Constitution was presented in May 2003. The proposed treaty contains a section on Fundamental Rights and Citizenship of the Union. The European Charter of Fundamental rights, which was adopted at the Nice summit, in 2000, will be an integral part of the treaty (section II, article 5, paragraph 1). The right of […]

Read more

February 14, 2007

European Central Bank found accountable in the SWIFT case

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) On 1 February, Peter Hustinx, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) gave his opinion on the role of the European Central Bank (ECB) in the SWIFT case, considering the bank as accountable along with SWIFT for failing compliance with the European privacy laws in the secret US […]

Read more

June 5, 2013 · Blogs

Will the new data protection rules be even weaker than the old ones?

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Wird das neue Datenschutzgesetz schlechter als das alte? | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_11.11_Wird_das_neue_Datenschutzgesetz_schlechter_als_das_alte?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20130605] The draft regulation on data protection proposed by the European Commission in January 2012 is being debated by MEPs to decide on de direction of the vote to be taken in the civil liberties committee, possibly at the […]

Read more