December 5, 2012

Netherlands: legislation for forced decryption announced

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Niederlande: Zwang zur Entschlüsselung geplant | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_10.23_Niederlande_Zwang_zur_Entschluesselung_geplant?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20121205] The Dutch Minister of Justice has sent a letter to the House of Representatives announcing a proposal for legislation that will allow the police to force a suspect to decrypt information that is under investigation in a case of terrorism or […]

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June 2, 2004

Polish proposal to demand ID for pre-paid cards

Revising the Polish Telecommunication Act to implement the EU e-communication directives, the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure introduced a new obligation for mandatory identification of buyers of pre-paid GSM-cards. The proposal is brought as an anti-terrorism measure. State officials immediately acknowledged that the ID-demand would not make pre-paid cards totally anonymous, referring to the vivid trade […]

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December 5, 2012

German government proposes extended tracking of Internet users

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Deutsche Regierung plant ausufernde Überwachung der Internetuser | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_10.23_Deutsche_Regierung_plant_ausufernde_Ueberwachung_der_Internetuser?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20121205] The German government is proposing an amendment to the Telecommunication Act that would allow law enforcement and intelligence agencies to extensively identify Internet users, without any court order or reasonable suspicion of a crime. The proposed amendment comes as […]

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June 2, 2004

Recommended reading: report 2003 of the EU network on fundamental rights

The EU Network of Independent Experts on Fundamental Rights published their 2003 report. The network has been set up by the European Commission, upon request of the European Parliament. Since 2002, it monitors the situation of fundamental rights in the Member States and in the Union, on the basis of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. […]

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July 19, 2006

Commission strengthens the data protection policy

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) Following a complaint by a German citizen against the Hamburg State on the way the public authorities may handle the personal data and a series of arguments from the European Ombudsman and European Data Protection Supervisor, the European Commission decided to review its interpretation of the Data […]

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December 5, 2012

ENDitorial: What could possibly go wrong?

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [ENDitorial: Was soll denn schon schiefgehen? | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_10.23_ENDitorial_Was_soll_denn_schon_schiefgehen?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20121205] With the discussions on the proposed General Data Protection Regulation in full swing and the first published opinions of some European Parliament Committees, several themes of proposed changes emerge. One of these can be paraphrased as “we shouldn’t bother controllers […]

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July 18, 2007

Irish insurance industry gets personal data from Police

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) The Irish Data Protection Commissioner has indicated that there is a widespread problem with government officials selling or leaking personal information to the insurance industry. Recent media reports have indicated that members of the Irish police force have been providing access to the police computer system to […]

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July 30, 2008

France: more than 50 000 signatures against EDVIGE

The mobilization against EDVIGE, the newly created database to be used by French intelligence services and the administrative police, has been growing. Within only two weeks, the petition was signed by more than 50 000 individuals and 500 organizations. French Parliamentarians are also standing up against EDVIGE: not only more than 40 of them have […]

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February 11, 2009

House of Lords Constitution Committee report on surveillance and privacy

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) The report Surveillance: Citizens and the State recently issued by the House of Lords Constitution Committee supports privacy and considers executive and legal limits must be imposed to surveillance and data collection. The report is a positive step in the promotion of individual freedom and liberty and […]

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December 14, 2011

UK: Medical records in the open data programme?

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [GB: Medizinische Daten im „Open Data“-Programm? | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_9.24_GB_Medizinische_Daten_im_Open_Data-Programm?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20111218] British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that, under his “open data” programme, all UK medical records will in future be made available to researchers in both academia and the pharmaceutical industry, unless patients opt out. They will be “anonymised”; at […]

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May 19, 2004

EU to sign agreement on PNR transfer to the U.S.

With the approval on 17 May 2004 of the transfer of airline passenger’s personal data to the U.S., the Commission and the Council of the European Union have bluntly bypassed the European Parliament and Court of Justice. Daniel Cohn-Bendit, head of the Green/EFA Group in the European Parliament, said the decision was “ignoring the declared […]

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December 14, 2011

Transatlantic data privacy in debate at Privacy Conference

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Datenschutzkonferenz: Debatte über einen transatlantischen Datenschutz | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_9.24_Datenschutzkonferenz_Debatte_ueber_den_transatlantischen_Datenschutz?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20111218] The 2nd edition of the Annual European Data Protection and Privacy Conference took place on 6 December 2011, mostly featuring speakers pulled from its corporate sponsors, although it also included a few key European institutions’ representatives and data protection officials. […]

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