February 1, 2016 · Blogs

Why is Safe Harbour II such a challenge?

It seems baffling to many outside the Brussels bubble – and certainly our friends across the Atlantic – that reaching a revised Safe Harbour deal has proved so difficult. Part of the problem is Europe. The United States was able to negotiate a questionable deal with the EU to gain access to financial transaction data […]

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February 8, 2017 · Blogs

Proposed surveillance package in Austria sparks resistance

The Austrian coalition parties have renegotiated their government programme in January 2017. This new programme contains a so-called “security package” that encompasses the introduction of several new surveillance measures and additional powers for the Austrian security agencies. These changes in the law are to be implemented by June 2017. However, so far no evaluation of already […]

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January 16, 2008

ELOI – a French database to manage the expulsion of illegal migrants

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) On 26 December 2007, the French government published a decree creating the ELOI file, a database aimed at facilitating the expulsion of illegal migrants. In March 2007, the French highest administrative court cancelled a first attempt by the government to create this file, after 4 French NGOs, […]

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October 6, 2021 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Data protection standards | Surveillance and data retention

The terrifying expansion of Sweden’s state surveillance

For the last couple of years the Swedish parliament has been expanding the surveillance capabilities of law enforcement. After the European Court of Justice struck down Sweden's data retention law, the national parliament passed a replacement that did nothing to address any of the issues criticized in the first law. If telecom providers were to challenge it, which no one has shown any willingness to do, it would most likely be struck down again.

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July 14, 2010

Increased Internet censorship in Belarus

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Zunehmende Internetzensur in Weißrussland | http://www.unwatched.org/node/2061] The Belarus government has adopted new measures increasing the control of the Internet and restrictions on online freedom of expression. Following Decree no.60 (On measures for improving use of the national Internet network) issued on 1 February 2010 by President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, […]

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August 26, 2009

The Pirate Bay – public enemy number one

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [The Pirate Bay – Staatsfeind Nummer 1 | http://www.unwatched.org/node/1495] The Pirate Bay (TBP) seems to be the website in the limelight these days, after the music industry decided to attack it with every legal possibility and in any country they can, with actions in Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Ireland […]

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July 14, 2010

The Digital Economy Act brought to court by two UK ISPs

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Zwei britische ISPs bringen Digital Economy Act vor Gericht | http://www.unwatched.org/node/2062] The two big UK ISPs, BT and TalkTalk, have asked the High Court to carry out a judicial review of the most controversial aspects of the Digital Economy Act, in order to establish whether it is in […]

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August 26, 2009

Italian DNA database: The devil is in the details

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Italienische DNA-Datenbank: der Teufel steckt im Detail | http://www.unwatched.org/node/1496] On 30 June 2009, the Italian Parliament finally passed Law No. 85 that ratifies the Prum Convention and forms the legal ground for the creation of an Italian National DNA Database (NDNAD). Although this law might have benefited from […]

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July 14, 2010

Belgium ISPs are not obliged to block The Pirate Bay

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Belgische ISPs müssen The Pirate Bay nicht sperren | http://www.unwatched.org/node/2063] Two Belgian ISPs have won their court battle against an anti-piracy group which had demanded that they block the access to The Pirate Bay. On 9 July 2010, the Antwerp Commercial Court rejected the blocking demands made by […]

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August 26, 2009

People convicted in UK for refusing to surrender cryptographic keys

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Verurteilungen in Großbritannien für die Weigerung, Entschlüsselungen herauszugeben | http://www.unwatched.org/node/1497] According to the Annual Report of the Chief Surveillance Commissioner Sir Christopher Rose to the UK Prime Minister and Scottish Ministers, people were sentenced between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009 for not having given their passwords […]

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July 14, 2010

Blocking of innocent websites by O2 Ireland

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [O2 Ireland sperrt harmlose Webseiten | http://www.unwatched.org/node/2064] The Irish mobile operator O2 has acknowledged accidentally blocking the image hosting website IMGUR through its system for blocking alleged child abuse material. There appears to have been no indication that there was, in fact, any illegal material hosted on that […]

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August 26, 2009

UK: p2p three strikes clamp down despite civil liberties concerns

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [GB: das p2p drei Treffer-Schema greift trotz Bedenken über Bürgerrechte durch | http://www.unwatched.org/node/1499] A new proposal shows that the UK Government has given in to the pressure of right holders who have complained that the measures proposed by the ‘Digital Britain’ report were not powerful enough “to have […]

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