data protection
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Dutch government says no to weakening encryption
The Dutch government will, “at this time”, “not adopt restrictive legislative measures against the development, availability and use of encryption within the Netherlands.” This statement was posted by the Dutch government in a letter to the Dutch parliament on 4 January 2016. This is clearly position to be applauded. In the letter, the government recognises […]
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EU Data Protection Package – Lacking ambition but saving the basics
Statement of European Digital Rights (EDRi), Bits of Freedom, Digitale Gesellschaft e.V, Open Rights Group (ORG), Digital Rights Ireland and Privacy International following the vote of the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee on the Data Protection In January 2012, the European Commission, following extensive consultations, published a draft Regulation and a Directive to create a […]
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EU Parliamentarians make statement on the Digital Single Market
On 14 December 2015, the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) and the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) met in Strasbourg to vote on their report ”Towards a Digital Single Market Act”. This non-legislative statement is a response to the European Commission’s Digital Single Market (DSM) strategy, presented on 6 […]
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Data protection package concluded – 1420 days after being launched
On 15 December 2015, three years and ten months after the package was launched, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Directive on Data Protection in Police and Justice matters were finally completed. The reform package was launched in order to enhance data protection rights and improve their enforcement. Up until now, data protection in […]
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EU Consultation on future internet regulation – have your say!
The European Commission has launched a consultation on the role of “Internet platforms” – which it basically defines as pretty much any online services you can think of! The consultation is of crucial importance because it will help define the rules that govern how you use the Internet. It will be crucial for new rules […]
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EDPS Opinion: Effective data protection needed for “big data”
On 19 November 2015, the European Data Protection Supervisor published an Opinion on the challenges of “big data”. The Opinion is entitled “A call for transparency, user control, data protection by design and accountability”. The title alone shows how extensive and complicated the issue of big data really is, and squeezing all of these issues […]
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Data Protection Directive on law enforcement: The loopholes
The way some of your most sensitive data which, if processed carelessly, could lead to the most serious consequences for you, is being dealt with almost no attention of the media and the general public. Outside the spotlight of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Directive for Law enforcement agencies (LEDP) seems not to […]
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ENDitorial: The EU’s data protection reform – a lost opportunity?
“Someone who knows things about us has some measure of control over us, and someone who knows everything about us has a lot of control over us. Surveillance facilitates control.” – Bruce Schneier, cryptographer and security expert When the European Union talks about modernising EU rules on data protection in the digital age, the most […]
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Can the US be a “safe harbor” for travel surveillance?
This article is a shortened version of an analysis originally published on http://papersplease.org/wp/2015/10/29/can-the-us-be-a-safe-harbor-for-travel-surveillance At its plenary session on 29 October in Strasbourg, the European Parliament adopted a “Resolution on the electronic mass surveillance of European Union citizens”. As part of the Resolution, the European Parliament, “[c]alls on the EU Member States to drop any criminal […]
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Fundamental Rights are Fundamental
Statement of Leading Digital Rights and Consumer NGOs 37th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners Amsterdam, The Netherlands We join together this week in Amsterdam, celebrating the success of Max Schrems in the case before the European Court of Justice concerning Safe Harbor. NGO leaders around the world have expressed support for Max’s […]
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FNF15: Privacy advocates’ summit in Brussels
Civil society has a big role in keeping governments on the right track. This is not only true at the national level, but also important with regard to policy-making in the EU. To enable civil society to do so, the annual Freedom not Fear (FNF) conference on 16-19 October in Brussels gathered participants from over […]
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Fifteen years late, Safe Harbor hits the rocks
Today, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) confirmed what the European Commission has been denying for the past fifteen years – the “Safe Harbor” agreement on transferring data to the United States is invalid. “Safe Harbor was flawed in principle and flawed in practice” said Joe McNamee, Executive Director of European Digital […]
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