surveillance
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Irish surveillance legislation: secret interpretations of secret laws
A few weeks after introducing lawless internet blocking in Ireland, Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald took her assault on the rule of law to another level. On 26 November 2014, she introduced into national law – by means of a “Statutory Instrument” (SI, an executive power that does not require any parliamentary discussion) – new […]
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Ground-breaking paper on internet rule of law launched by Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner
Today, 8 December 2014, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Nils Muižnieks, released a so-called “Issue Paper” on The rule of law on the Internet and in the wider digital world, with important conclusions and recommendations. They cover four topics of particular interest to EDRi: privatised law enforcement, suspicionless mass data […]
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UN calls for balance between privacy and security
In a special discussion at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Flavia Pansieri, the United Nations (UN) Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressed her concern about increasing mass surveillance programs conducted by states and private corporations. Ms. Pansieri highlighted the importance of demonstrating that interferences with an individual’s right to privacy are both necessary […]
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Poland: New project on public institutions’ surveillance practices
Every year more and more public money is invested in surveillance technologies – everything from drones and video surveillance to data mining software for public administration. Recently, the Polish government announced a new programme of co-financing surveillance cameras in the schools. Why do governments spends public funds on surveillance without justifying such investments or evaluating […]
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Public Oversight and The Rule of Law
Between 15th-19th of September, in the week leading up the first year anniversary of the 13 Necessary and Proportionate Principles, EDRi, the EFF and the coalition behind the Principles will be conducting a Week of Action explaining some of the key guiding principles for surveillance law reform. Every day, we’ll take on a different part […]
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Germany exports surveillance technologies to human rights violators
From Mexico to Mozambique to Pakistan and beyond, there is now ample evidence that governments across the globe are using mass surveillance technologies to spy on their citizens. Who makes these technologies? And who benefits from their sales? Germany is a major exporter of these technologies and , at the same time as digital communications […]
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The Principles Week of Action: A world without mass surveillance
Between 15 and 19 September, several digital rights organisations, including EDRi and many of its members, will be celebrating the first anniversary of the 13 International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communications Surveillance. The Principles were first launched in the Palais des Nations in Geneva on 20 September 2013. Drawing on international law […]
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Denmark about to implement a nationwide ANPR system
The Danish police is planning to implement a nationwide automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) system over the next couple of years. The Danish newspaper Berlingske obtained the project description for the IT system through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, and reported about the ANPR plans. The ANPR system will consist of mobile units […]
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Poland: Secret services escape citizens’ control
Poland celebrated its 25 years of democracy recently. In those two and a half decades, among other changes, most public institutions in Poland have got more or less used to citizens’ control. It has taken years of advocacy and watchdog activity, as well as a number of court cases to decide whether a given piece […]
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Irish High Court refers the Facebook/PRISM case to the CJEU
On 18 June 2014 Ireland’s High Court referred the request to investigate Facebook’s international headquarters in Ireland over its involvement in the PRISM scandal to the European Court of Justice (CJEU). CJEU was asked to review the case and to clarify whether the social network’s actions are compatible with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. […]
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Romania: No communication without registration
Two bills initiated during the past month by the Romanian Government, with the direct and open support from the Romanian Secret Service (SRI), are attempting to kill any kind of electronic communication without prior identification and to expand dramatically the legal access to computer systems. The first bill aims to make the registration of all […]
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Report on Snowden – Government apathy but increased public concern
In the wake of the first anniversary of Edward Snowden’s first revelations, a global analysis was published, assessing the international impact of those disclosures. The report, “A crisis of Accountability” revealed not only that had most governments entirely ignored the Snowden revelations, but that some governments including the US and the UK have been actively […]
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