Telecommunication data retention
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Belgian Internet users under surveillance
According to a press article published on 15 April 2004 in the Belgian daily boulevard paper ‘La Dernière Heure’, the Ministry of the Interior in Belgium will test new telecom interception hardware and software on the fiberlink used by ADSL broadband users in Belgium. The test will be done by the CTIF (under the federal […]
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Dutch EU presidency speeds up data retention
The Dutch government is ‘in principle positive’ about the proposal to store the telecommunication traffic data of all 450 million EU citizens for a period of 12 to 36 months. This point of view is expressed in a letter to the Dutch parliament about the proposal. As president of the EU, the Netherlands wish to […]
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UK Big Brother Award for US-VISIT Programme
On 28 July, Privacy International has presented the 6th annual UK Big Brother Awards ceremony. Privacy International took the unusual step of awarding a US initiative for the UK awards because of the almost total silence in the US over this programme. US VISIT will fingerprint all visitors to the US from September of this […]
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New French data protection act not unconstitutional
On 29 July 2004 the French Constitutional Council decided that the proposed new data protection act is not unconstitutional, except for one provision (article 9.3), which has been suppressed from the law. The law is an adoption of the European privacy directive of 1995 (1995/46/EC), and was accepted by the French Senate on 15 July […]
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Danish decree on data retention heavily criticised
On 24 March 2004 the Danish Ministry of Justice released a draft Administrative Order and a set of guidelines for mandatory retention of telecommunication traffic data. It is a follow-up to the ‘anti-terror package’ from 6 June 2002 (Act no. 378), that extended the minimum time for data retention to a year and allowed police […]
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Swiss protest against new personal identification number
The Swiss data protection authorities and several political parties have used a governmental consultation round to protest against a proposal to introduce a new sectoral ID number for persons, the SPIN law. According to the privacy authorities, the proposed law violates both constitutional and data protection principles. The new personal identification number would be sectoral […]
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Italy and the Netherlands top wiretap chart
According to a report by the German Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law, Italy and the Netherlands are the wiretap champions of the Western world. The report entitled ‘Rechtswirklichkeit und Effizienz der Überwachung der Telekommunikation’ researches the legal and practical situation in Germany regarding police wiretapping. The report also investigates the situation […]
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Opinion data protection authorities on PNR transfer
The Article 29 Working Party that oversees the implementation of the EU privacy directive has released its opinion on the current state of affairs regarding the transfer of passenger data from EU airlines to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The Working Party notes that the Commission failed to take into account previous demands by […]
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Nominations Big Brother Awards UK / Austria
On 28 July, Privacy International will celebrate the 6th annual UK Big Brother Awards ceremony. From about 300 nominees a ‘Dirty Dozen’ was selected for the shortlist. Award categories for this year are as they have been in past years: Worst Public Servant; Most Invasive Company; Most Appalling Project; Most Heinous Government Organisation and Lifetime […]
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Court attacks Dutch internet anonymity
By verdict of 24 June 2004 the Appeals Court of Amsterdam in the Netherlands has to a large extent limited the freedom of internet users to express their opinion anonimously. The main issue in this principal case was whether internet provider Lycos was required to hand over the personal data of one of its subscribers […]
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New EU questionnaire on data retention
The working party on co-operation in criminal matters (Justice ministry officials) has issued a new questionnaire about data retention to all member states. Answers have to be given by 29 July 2004, the results will be debated in the next meeting of the working party on 27 and 28 September 2004. Clearly the Dutch presidency […]
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German privacy authorities criticise data retention
The data protection commissioners of 14 of Germany’s 15 states (Laender) as well as the National commissioner, Peter Schaar, have severely criticised the EU plan for mandatory traffic data retention and called upon the German government to vote against the proposal in the EU council of ministers. “There are good reasons why the national legislator […]
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