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EDRi and members take EU decision-makers through 20 years of digital policy
This September, EDRi, Access Now and ARTICLE 19 took Parliamentarians through a rollercoaster ride of all things digital policy in the European Union. From the early internet and initial experiments in platform regulation, through more recent regulatory innovations, and finally to questions of security and surveillance, we shared a digital rights perspective of the good, the bad and the ugly of digital policy in the EU.
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Surveilling Europe’s edges: when digitalisation means dehumanisation
In May 2024, Access Now’s Caterina Rodelli travelled across Greece to meet with local civil society organisations supporting migrant people and monitoring human rights violations, and to see first-hand how and where surveillance technologies are deployed at Europe’s borders. In the first of a three-part blog series reflecting on what she saw, Caterina explains how, all too often, digitalising borders dehumanises the people trying to cross them.
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Open letter: European Commission’s decision to allow data flows to Israel alarms privacy experts
Today, 22 April, EDRi and Access Now coordinated an open letter supported by 11 civil society organisations that calls on the European Commissioner for Justice to provide further evidence and clarity on the decision to renew Israel’s status in the adequacy review.
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Open letter: EU Data Protection Board must acknowledge the Commission’s additional concerns about ‘Consent or Pay’
On 15 April, EDRi, noyb, Access Now and 20 consumer and digital rights organisations sent an open letter to the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) ahead of the EDPB’s decision on Meta’s “Pay or Okay” model.
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Meta must act: stop the systematic censorship of Palestinian voices
Meta’s continuous censorship of Palestine-related content in times of war is a systematic issue that the tech giant must immediately address. Access Now’s new report, It’s not a glitch: how Meta systematically censors Palestinian voices, delves into how the company silences the voices of Palestinians and those advocating for their rights on Facebook and Instagram.
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How tech corporations like Google, Meta and Amazon should assess impacts on our rights
A new policy paper by EDRi members ECNL and Access Now outlines key recommendations on how to make fundamental rights impact assessments meaningful under the European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA).
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Shaping the next 20 years of digital rights in Europe
Last week we celebrated the 20th anniversary of EDRi, the European Digital Rights network, and its two decades of defending and promoting rights online and off. The digital rights movement has come a long way and we are at a crucial moment to shape our shared digital future for the better. The EU’s fundamental rights framework has been pivotal in our achievements so far, but it has never served everyone equally. How can we better equip Europe for the human rights challenges of the digital age?
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The EU AI Act: How to (truly) protect people on the move
The European Union Artificial Intelligence Act (EU AI Act) aims to promote the uptake of trustworthy AI and, at the same time, protect the rights of all people affected by AI systems. While EU policymakers are busy amending the text, one important question springs to mind: whose rights are we talking about?
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Cyberattacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure and civil society violate human rights
Alongside Russia’s eight years of armed aggression against Ukraine and its ongoing threats of large-scale invasion, cyberattacks on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure and civilian services are putting people’s human rights at risk. We call on the international community to provide the necessary support to Ukraine and its human rights defenders to ensure people are protected from cyber threats.
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Why you shouldn’t buy Facebook Ray-Ban smart glasses
Imagine that you are strolling along a tranquil beach in your swimsuit. Suddenly, a stranger walking toward you takes out their phone and starts recording you. You might work up the courage to ask how they dared to invade your privacy, and demand they delete the footage.
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They can hear you: 6 ways tech is listening to you
Voice recognition technology often violates human rights, and it’s popping up more and more. Recently EDRi's member Access Now called out Spotify for developing voice recognition tech that claims to be able to detect gender and emotional state, among other things. But it’s not just Spotify. Some of the most powerful companies in the world are deploying similar abusive tech because harvesting data about you is profitable. The market for voice recognition is growing, expected to be worth a whopping $26.8 billion by 2025.
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GDPR: Three years in, and its future and success are still up in the air
The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is not living up to the hype. When first implemented in 2018, the GDPR was presented as the new world standard for privacy and data protection. The law has increased data protection awareness and led to significant legal changes all over the world. Yet EDRi member Access Now’s new report, Three years under the GDPR: An implementation progress report, explores just how far this legislation still has to go before its promises — and potential — are truly fulfilled.
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