Telecommunication data retention
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Belgian police doubles wiretapping
The Belgian police has doubled the number of judicial telephone wiretaps in 2004. From 1.336 intercepts in 2003, they went to 2.562 intercepts in 2004. In 2002, the number was below 900. In Belgium, an intercept law was adopted in 1994 that allowed for telephony wiretaps, if authorised by an investigating magistrate and for a […]
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Data retention in JHA Council
Tomorrow 3 June at 13.00 PM the ministers of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA Council) will give a press conference about their achievements with regards to the introduction of mandatory data retention, item B5 on the agenda. On 7 June 2005 the European Parliament will vote in plenary on the report from Alexander Alvaro. The […]
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French campaign against biometric ID card
In a press conference held on 26 May 2005 in Paris, 6 organisations have launched a campaign against the French project of mandatory biometric ID card. The French Human Rights League (LDH), the union of magistrates, the union of French barristers, EDRI-member IRIS, DELIS (a coalition of more than 60 French NGOs and trade unions […]
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Big Brother Award for new member Italian DPA
On 27 May 2005 the first Big Brother Award Ceremony in Italy, organised by the NGO Winston Smith Project, lead to an extremely unlikely winner. The Award for Lifetime Menace was given to Giuseppe Fortunato, appointed 2 months ago as new member of the Data Protection Authority. According to the jury, Fortunato is one of […]
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UK ID Card to cost over 435 euro per person
Experts from the London School of Economics have calculated the true cost of the planned ID card in the UK and conclude it will be be three times as high as the government estimates. Introducing the card will cost over 18 billion pounds (26,6 billion euro), or 435 euro per inhabitant of the UK in […]
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Court condemns illegal snooping by Sonera
The district court of Helsinki, Finland, has decided telecommunication company Sonera seriously violated telecommunication privacy between 1998 and 2001. On 27 May 2005 the court handed down suspended sentences to five employees for their unauthorised use of mobile telephone records. Sonera executives ordered a detailed examination of the telephone behaviour of employees, to find out […]
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Extra US claim on European passenger data
In stead of getting information on European passengers headed for the United States fifteen minutes after take-off, the US now want the information one hour before the plane departs. Michael Chertoff, chief of the Department of Homeland Security announced this on 23 May 2005 during a visit to the European Policy Centre in Brussels. Under […]
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Highest court France defends workfloor privacy once more
On 17 May 2005 the highest court in France, the cour de Cassation, has destroyed an appeal verdict from November 2002 that allowed companies to search the computers of their employees for unwanted internet behaviour. At the very least, the employee must be warned before and be present if a search is conducted. The medical […]
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Report about UNESCO conference St. Petersburg
From 17 to 19 May UNESCO organised a large conference in St. Petersburg, Russia, ‘Between two phases of the World Summit on the Information Society’. The 450 participants from all over the world were invited to the luxurious Konstantinovsky Palace. In her opening speech Françoise Rivière, the Assistant Director-General of UNESCO, described the context of […]
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Council of Europe declaration on human rights and Internet
On 13 May 2005 the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers adopted a declaration on human rights and Internet that was prepared by a special committee of academic experts and government representatives. According to the press release, “the declaration is the first international attempt to draw up a framework on the issue and breaks ground […]
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Interview with Sergei Smirnov, Human Rights Online Russia
“Do what you must do and let come what may. Due to circumstances like the Putin presidency you can hope and you can make plans, more or less realistic, and work to get closer to your aim and to help people,” that’s the more or less stoic attitude that characterises Sergei Smirnov from the Russian […]
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New data protection authority in Romania
Romania has adopted a new law to establish a data protection authority. In the last EU access progress report, Romania was severely criticised for failing to enforce privacy rules. “However, progress in implementing personal data protection rules has only been limited. There are grounds for concern regarding the enforcement of these rules: enforcement activities are […]
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