Data protection standards
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Italy extends data retention to six years
On 8 November 2017, the Italian Parliament approved a Regulation on data retention that allows telecommunication operators to save telephone and internet data for up to six years.
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EU Member States plan to ignore EU Court data retention rulings
Documents made publicly available through EDRi member Statewatch reveal that EU Member States are exploring all possible options to keep, and in fact expand, their current data retention regimes. The general plan is based on a new concept of ”restricted data retention”, which is really blanket data retention with a new name, along with amendments […]
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Eurojust: No progress to comply with CJEU data retention judgements
A recently published Eurojust report on data retention in Europe confirms that EU Member States failed to make meaningful progress towards complying with fundamental rights standards, as clarified by the two Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) rulings banning blanket data retention.
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The Dutch continue to fight new mass surveillance law
On 4 November 2017, 20 000 households in the Netherlands received a letter from the Interior Security Service, Rijksveiligheidsdienst. The letter asked people to make an appointment to have a relay installed in their home. The letter stated that this installation was necessary because of the new Intelligence and Security Services Act, which gives the […]
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Estonian eID cryptography mess – 750000 cards compromised
In 2017, a flaw causing vulnerabilities in millions of encryption keys, including national Estonian electronic ID (eID) cards, was discovered. A month and a half after the discovery, the Estonian Police publicly announced the vulnerability, but stated that the eID cards “are completely secure”.
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High time: Policy makers increasingly embrace encryption
Encryption is of critical importance to our democracy and rule of law. Nevertheless, politicians frequently advocate for weakening this technology. Slowly but surely, however, policy makers seem to start embracing it.
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School of Rock(ing) Copyright 2017: (Re-)united to #fixcopyright!
In September and October 2017, EDRi, Communia and Wikimedia co-organised a series of copyright-related workshops: School of Rock(ing) Copyright. The goal of the workshops was to engage local activists, researchers and associations interested in copyright to create new spaces of action at the national and European Union (EU) level.
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New Estonian Presidency “compromise” creates copyright chaos
Following the launch of the controversial proposed Copyright Directive in September 2016, the European Parliament and the Member States (gathered in the Council of the European Union) are now developing their positions. The Council is working under its Estonian Presidency, which has produced a new “compromise” proposal. After the Estonian Presidency of the Council proposed […]
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The European Commission struggles to find a position on encryption
On 18 October, the European Commission adopted some form of position on encryption, inexplicably embedded in its “anti-terrorism package”. Home affairs activity in relation to encryption is horizontal (covering all illegal activity) and not specifically related to terrorism. However, the Commission chose to include this topic in its anti-terrorism package. The decision to publish the […]
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The privacy movement and dissent: Protest
This is the fourth blogpost of a series, originally published by EDRi member Bits of Freedom, that explains how the activists of a Berlin-based privacy movement operate, organise, and express dissent. The series is inspired by a thesis by Loes Derks van de Ven, which describes the privacy movement as she encountered it from 2013 […]
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Surveillance laws fall far short of fundamental rights standards
On 23 October, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) published the second volume of its study on surveillance and its impact on fundamental rights. This study comes following the request of the European Parliament (EP) for information on the consequences of surveillance for fundamental rights. The Agency notes that “the mere existence of […]
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The European Parliament calls for protection of whistleblowers
On 24 October, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on the European Commission to propose legislation protecting whistleblowers in the European Union (EU). The institution made a clear statement recognising the essential role that whistleblowers play in our society, as well as the need to protect them. Whistleblowers fight for transparency, democracy and the […]
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