surveillance
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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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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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Germany opens investigation on Merkel’s phone tap
Germany’s federal prosecutor annouced on 11 June 2014 that it has opened a formal investigation into the alleged monitoring of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mobile phone by the US’s National Security Agency (NSA). The German government has reportedly announced its support to the investigation. Although Chancellor Merkel has asked the US President Barack Obama in person […]
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Citizens demonstrate against data retention in Switzerland
On 31 May 2014, several hundred demonstrators gathered in front of the Swiss parliament in Berne to protest against mass surveillance by means of the so-called “data retention” of communications metadata. A legislative proposal that would significantly expand state powers of surveillance has already been approved by the Council of States (the smaller chamber of […]
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Anniversary of Snowden revelations: The year we fight back
On 5 June 2013, the Guardian published Edward Snowden’s first documents. These showed that the NSA was using a secret court order to collect millions of customers’ phone calls of the US company Verizon. Snowden’s subsequent disclosures confirmed what many privacy activists were suspecting for a long time: that the US government and its allies […]
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We promised to recruit digital rights-friendly MEPs – we delivered
WePromise.eu was an innovative campaign that sought to bring digital rights to the agenda of the European elections. It gathered wide support from throughout the political spectrum as well as from civil society and citizens, exceeding all expectations. With 434 candidates having signed up to the Charter of digital rights – including two top EU […]
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Belgian Big Brother Awards 2014: The nominees
On 4 June 2014, the Belgian EDRi member Liga voor Mensenrechten will organize the 4th edition of the Big Brother Awards (BBA) in Belgium. The general public can decide on the person or organisation that will be “awarded” prizes for attacking citizens’ right to privacy. In the name of a greater “perception of security for […]
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Swiss data retention visualisation
The Swiss civil society group Digital Society Switzerland is working on building opposition to the practice of the “data retention” – the requirement for telecommunications companies to store for six months meta-data (such as information on who emailed or called whom, and where the telephones were located) and to make it available for law enforcement […]
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