Telecommunication data retention
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Biometrics in EU passports
In a remarkably high-speed procedure, the EU Council plans to oblige all Member States of the Union to introduce chips containing biometric data on their passports within little less than a year. Allegedly, this step is taken to meet a U.S. deadline set on 26 October 2004. After that date, according to a law passed […]
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Analysis: Privacy in the EU draft constitution
The draft European Constitution was presented in May 2003. The proposed treaty contains a section on Fundamental Rights and Citizenship of the Union. The European Charter of Fundamental rights, which was adopted at the Nice summit, in 2000, will be an integral part of the treaty (section II, article 5, paragraph 1). The right of […]
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Finnish plans to lower privacy protection employees
On 26 June, the Finnish Ministry of Labour released a draft new version of the law protecting privacy at the workplace. The proposal would make it legal to read employees’ email under certain circumstances. It also contains new regulations on camera surveillance (allowed as long as a single employee is not singled out) and drug […]
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France ready to ratify Cybercrime convention
France has started the process of ratification of the Council of Europe cybercrime convention. On 11 June, Dominique de Villepin, the French minister of foreign affairs presented to the council of ministers a draft law for the ratification of the convention. France would be the first EU country to ratify the convention, which has only […]
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Belgian DPA investigates transfer of passenger data
Following a complaint from European parliament member Marco Cappato the Belgian data protection office is investigating a possible violation of European privacy law by the airline carriers Continental Airlines and United Airlines. Mr Cappato sent a letter to the Belgian data protection commissioner urging his office to investigate the transfer of his personal data to […]
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EU data protection supervisor: contest not over yet
The list of candidates for the new post of EU Data Protection Supervisor and Deputy Supervisor is shrinking. Joaquín Bayo Delgado, the contested candidate of a Conservative-Social Democrat alliance in the European Parliament (EP) risks to get pushed out of it. Bayo Delgado, the Dean of the Judges of Barcelona, will, as it seems, not […]
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Irish DPA threatens government with court case
According to an article in the Irish Times of 26 May, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner Mr Joe Meade has twice threatened to begin High Court proceedings against the Government for using an “invalid” Ministerial Direction to unconstitutionally store citizens’ phone, fax and mobile call data for 3 years. As reported in EDRI-gram nr. 3, […]
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Council of Europe declaration on freedom on the internet
The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers has adopted a Declaration on freedom of communication on the internet. The text contains 7 principles that underline the principle of freedom of expression and condemn practices aimed at restricting or controlling internet access, especially for political reasons. Remarkably, the 7th principle is the right of anonymity. “In […]
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Radio chips in euro banknotes
Japanese electronics maker Hitachi has told the Japanese press that it has started talks with the European Central Bank (ECB) about the use of RFIDs in euro banknotes. RFIDs (radio frequency identification) are very small radio chips that transmit a unique serial code when a reader is placed in their proximity. RFID were originally designed […]
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Outsider recommended as new EU Data Protection Supervisor
In their vote yesterday on the future EU Data Protection Supervisor, the Committee of the European Parliament on Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) produced a very surprising result. Out of 8 possible candidates, a majority of the MEPs voted for the only candidate who has no record of dealing with privacy, data protection or even […]
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New cybercrime legislation in Romania
Romania has implemented the Cybercrime Convention in Title III of the Anticorruption law no 161/2003, published in the Official Monitor no 279 from 21 April 2003. Romania signed the convention in the end of 2001. There are no provisions regarding data retention, even though in some previous versions of the law there was an obligation […]
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German supermarket announces introduction of RFIDs
Last month, during a congress on supermarket logistics, German supermarket Metro AG announced the introduction of RFIDs to boost store efficiency and eliminate long checkout queues. The announcement comes at a time of heightened public awareness of the negative privacy-implications of this new track & trace technology. In March, clothing designer Benetton announced plans to […]
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