Online surveillance thrives when fear takes over
European law-enforcement agencies have been pushing to end encryption and survey everyone’s online communications.
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Online surveillance thrives when fear takes over
European law-enforcement agencies have been pushing to end encryption and survey everyone’s online communications.
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EDPS sanctions the European Parliament for illegal EU-US data transfers – among other violations
In January 2021, noyb filed a complaint against the European Parliament on behalf of six Members of the European Parliament over an internal corona testing website. The issues raised were deceptive cookie banners, vague and unclear data protection notices, and the illegal transfer of data to the US.
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E-evidence regulation: Why it matters for medical confidentiality?
Access to health data by foreign authorities in the context of a criminal investigation – be it intentional or not – needs to be carefully regulated as it also impacts doctors’ legal and ethical duties.
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Nearly 130 public interest organisations and experts urge the United Nations to include human rights safeguards in proposed UN Cybercrime Treaty
Today, EDRi, our member Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and Human Rights Watch, along with nearly 130 organizations and academics working in 56 countries, regions, or globally, urged members of the Ad Hoc Committee responsible for drafting a potential United Nations Cybercrime Treaty to ensure human rights protections are embedded in the final product. The first session of the Ad Hoc Committee will begin on January 17th.
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Opinion on the Passenger Name Record CJEU case
In Case-817/19, Belgium’s Constitutional Court has asked the EU Court of Justice whether the PNR Directive (2016/681) is compatible with the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The hope must be that the Court will stand up for the rights of individuals, enforce the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and declare the PNR Directive (like the Data Retention Directive) to be fundamentally in breach of the Charter.
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A beginner’s guide to EU rules on scanning private communications: Part 1
In July 2021, the European Parliament and EU Council agreed temporary rules to allow webmail and messenger services to scan everyone’s private online communications. In 2022, the European Commission will propose a long-term version of these rules. In the first installment of this EDRi blog series on online ‘CSAM’ detection, we explore the history of the file, and why it is relevant for everyone’s digital rights.
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Council and Parliament find provisional agreement on the Data Governance Act
On 30 November, the European Parliament and Council provisionally agreed on the final version of the Data Governance Act (DGA). The text, which will still require final approval by both institutions, is the first legislative element of the European data strategy to emerge in its final form. While the final text is yet to be published, here is an overview of the main elements of the Act.
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EU: Data retention strikes back? Options for mass telecoms surveillance under discussion again
In June 2021 the European Commission sought the views of member states on ways to reintroduce the bulk retention of telecoms traffic, location and internet connection data on everyone in the EU. Responses from seven member states, published here, show a divergence of views on what data to retain and when, but a majority in favour of new EU legislation.
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Has the Parliament effectively wielded the Digital Services Act to challenge platform power? The verdict is, somewhat.
Today, the European Parliament Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) has approved its much-anticipated report on the Digital Services Act (DSA). The DSA affects how intermediaries like Google and Amazon regulate and influence user activity on their platforms, including people's ability to exercise their rights and freedoms online. The DSA also aims at limiting the negative impact of the most powerful online platforms on people and puts limits on how EU Member States can interfere with people’s free expression online.
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Two steps forward, one step back: DMA must do more to free people from digital walled gardens
The European Parliament Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) report on the Digital Markets Act (DMA) makes improvements to the DMA but also includes serious loopholes that need to be fixed in trilogue
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Tinkering with keys weakens encryption
Politicians sometimes claim to have the solution to "the problem of encryption". They think encryption is important, but they also want the police to be able to read along. Therefore they propose to "just" add an extra key and "leave the encryption untouched". But is it?
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Why chat control is so dangerous
Fighting the dissemination of child sexual abuse material, the EU Commission is considering dangerous measures: the automated search of content on mobile phones and computers. See answers to the key questions regarding „chat control“ in Netzpolitik's overview.
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