European Court of Justice
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Mandatory fingerprints on IDs will be up for re-negotiation
On 21 March 2024, the European Court of Justice ruled the European Union (EU) regulation that enacts fingerprint IDs to be invalid for formal reasons. The principle of mandatory fingerprint collection was declared to be compliant with fundamental rights. However, the court has required a new regulation to be adopted on a different legal basis, opening up opportunities to ultimately overturn the fingerprint obligation.
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€1.2 billion GDPR fine for Meta over US mass surveillance
Today, a decade-long (2013 - 2023) case on Meta's involvement in US mass surveillance has led to a first direct decision. Meta must stop any further transfers of European personal data to the United States, given that Meta is subject to US surveillance laws (like FISA 702). The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) had largely overturned the Irish Data Protection Commission's (DPC) decision, insisting on a record fine and that previously transferred data must be brought back to the EU.
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Do you trust the police? CJEU Advocate General accepts access to phones for any type of crime
In its opinion on the Bezirkshauptmannschaft Landeck case, the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice is failing to suggest adequate safeguards for police access to our smartphones.
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New Data Retention ruling is a victory for civil society
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has announced a historic judgement today: the current telecommunications data retention in Germany violates the fundamental rights of people in the European Union. The underlying data retention law is therefore null and void.
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ID-Fingerprint obligation to be reviewed by European Court of Justice
The local Administrative Court of Wiesbaden (Hesse, Germany), where EDRi member Digitalcourage started legal action against the obligation for fingerprints in identity (ID) cards, submited the case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
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Digitalcourage fights back against data retention in Germany
On 10 February 2020, EDRi member Digitalcourage published the German government’s plea in the data retention case at the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Dated 9 September 2019, the document from the government explains the use of retained telecommunications data by secret services, the question whether the 2002 ePrivacy Directive might apply to various forms […]
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ePrivacy: Private data retention through the back door
Blanket data retention has been prohibited in several court decisions by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the German Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG). In spite of this, some of the EU Member States want to reintroduce it for the use by law enforcement authorities – through a back door in the ePrivacy Regulation.
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NGOs urge Austrian Council Presidency to finalise e-Privacy reform
EDRi member epicenter.works, together with 20 NGOs, is urging the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union to take action towards ensuring the finalisation of the e-Privacy reform. The group, counting the biggest civil society organisations in Austria such as Amnesty International and two labour unions, demands in an open letter sent on 6 November 2018 an end to the apparently never-ending deliberations between the EU member states.
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European Court Opinion: Canada PNR deal cannot be signed
Today, on 8 September 2016, the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) gave his Opinion confirming that the agreement between EU and Canada to share Passenger Name Records (PNR) data is not fully in compliance with European law. It’s shocking to note that all the EU’s others PNR instruments […]
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European Parliament confirms that “Privacy Shield” is inadequate
The European Parliament has adopted a Resolution on the “Privacy Shield”. This is the new agreement to permit data to be transferred from the EU to the USA. The previous agreement – “Safe Harbour” – was overturned by the European Court of Justice in October 2015. The Parliament’s resolution confirms that the new agreement has […]
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EU-Canada agreement on PNR referred to the CJEU: What’s next?
On 25 November the European Parliament voted, by 383 votes to 271, in favour of a resolution to refer the EU-Canada agreement on Passenger Name Records (PNR) to the European Court of Justice (CJEU). The CJEU will now decide on the compliance of the agreement with EU law, in particular the Charter of Fundamental Rights. […]
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Web-blocking in Austria – law with the law taken out
Following the European Court of Justice ruling on the UPC Telekabel v Constantin in April 2014, Austrian internet access providers have started “blocking” several websites. In the case in question, the Court established that an injunction may be imposed on an internet access provider (ISP) “prohibiting an internet service provider from allowing” its customers access […]
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