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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December 22, 2011

US lobbying against draft Data Protection Regulation

Right at the end of the inter-service consultation process in the European Commission (the almost final step before a legislative proposal is launched), the United States Department of Commerce launched a significant lobbying campaign against the leaked draft proposal for a Data Protection Regulation. The campaign included high-level phone calls from senior figures in the […]

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December 11, 2012 · Blogs

"Voluntary enforcement" vs legal restrictions – what rules apply?

Sometimes, watching the Commission make up its mind on a controversial topic is like watching a sports match. One of these topics is the question of whether it is legal for governments to encourage internet service providers (ISPs) to restrict fundamental rights “voluntarily” or whether they would need a legal basis. The European Home Affairs […]

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July 30, 2008

FRA has a long history of spying on Swedes

The Swedish National Defence Radio Establishment FRA that has made the headlines last month with its law on spying on all communication, has recently announced that it has reported a blogger to the Chancellor of Justice for distributing what they consider classified material proving the Agency was spying on Swedes starting with 1996. Henrik Alexandersson […]

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May 10, 2004

Recommended reading: privacy and biometrics

The OECD working party on information security and privacy have published a very informative but dry report about biometrics. The report analyses theory and practice of the following major biometric-based technologies: finger-scanning, hand geometry, facial recognition, iris scanning, retinal scanning, finger geometry, voice recognition and dynamic signature verification. A brief description of other, more obscure […]

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