UK
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How a company illegally exploited the data of 14 million mothers and babies
If you’re in the UK you may know Bounty by the packs of samples they distribute to pregnant women at midwife apps. You might not know that they were also found to have illegally shared data of +14 million mums and babies with 39 companies. Bounty collected personal data from a variety of channels both online and offline: its website, mobile app.
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Biometric ‘permission to travel’ scheme in Borders Bill will affect tens of millions of people
The attack on the asylum system proposed by the UK government in the Nationality and Borders Bill has provoked outrage. However, the Bill also includes proposals to introduce an electronic 'permission to travel' scheme that would involve gathering biometric and other data from tens of millions of people. The UK Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) is conducting legislative scrutiny on the Bill. EDRi's member Statewatch submitted written observations to the inquiry last week.
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UK Investigatory Powers Tribunal finds the regime for bulk communications data to be incompatible with EU law
The UK Investigatory Powers Tribunal issued a declaration in EDRi member Privacy International's challenge to the bulk communications data regime, finding UK legislation to be incompatible with EU law.
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Fear and loathing in the UK adequacy decision
The Council of the European Union unanimously approved the United Kingdom (UK) draft adequacy decision. In an ideal world, this would indicate that the UK offers an adequate level of protection for personal data, and would signal their willingness to retain those standards. Unfortunately, reality tells a different story, that should be worrying for human rights advocates on both sides of the channel.
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Stop Spying on Asylum Seekers!
How would you feel if the government was literally able to cut off your access to your cash, because your buying habits were deemed suspicious? That's the reality for many UK based asylum seekers, spied on by the Home Office through their 'Aspen Card', the debit payment card they rely on for their basic subsistence and survival. Join our member Privacy International in their efforts to stop the government's harmful practices of spying on some of the most vulnerable members of our society.
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Trust is a two-way street: the UK’s digital identity framework
Trust is a two-way street, and while the British government’s digital identity trust framework definitely makes steps in the right direction, those efforts need to be accompanied by a commitment to transparency and integrity, says EDRi's member Open Rights Group in response to the government's policy paper on UK’s digital identity and attributes trust framework.
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Shedding light on the DWP staff guide on conducting fraud investigations
In 2019, the UK Department for Work and Pensions published their two-part staff guide on conducting fraud investigations. Privacy International went through the 995 pages to understand how those investigations happen and how the DWP is surveilling benefits claimants suspected of fraud.
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Q&A: PI case – UK High Court judgment on general warrants and government hacking explained
EDRi member Privacy International (PI) explain in some detail what their case involving UK intelligence services using general warrants is about.
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Japan Trade Deal punches USA-sized hole in privacy
EDRi member Open Rights Group discusses the challenges that the new UK-Japan trade agreement poses to data protection rights in the UK.
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Member in the Spotlight: Statewatch
Statewatch undertakes and encourages the publication of critical research and investigative journalism in the fields of the state, justice and home affairs, civil liberties, accountability and openness.
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UK: Stop social media monitoring by local authorities
Would you like your local government to judge you by your Facebook activity? In a recent study, we investigated how local authorities (Councils) in Great Britain are looking at social media accounts as part of their investigation tactics on issues such as benefits, debt recovery, fraud, environmental investigations, and children’s social care.
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COVID-Tech: Emergency responses to COVID-19 must not extend beyond the crisis
In EDRi's new series on COVID-19, we will explore the critical principles for protecting fundamental rights while curtailing the spread of the virus, as outlined in the EDRi network's statement on the virus. Each post in this series will tackle a specific issue at the intersection of digital rights and the global pandemic in order to explore broader questions about how to protect fundamental rights in a time of crisis.
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