What the new Convention on Decent Work in the Platform Economy means for workers – and what’s next for implementation
In June 2026, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) adopted a new Convention on Decent Work in the Platform Economy. Following in the footsteps of the EU’s Platform Work Directive, this Convention extends data protection rights for platform workers and contains innovative provisions to protect against the adverse effects of automated decision-making globally. But this is only the beginning. In this article, EDRi member Privacy International explores what’s next for ratification, implementation and the future of regulating worker surveillance in the EU and around the world.
Filter resources
-
What the new Convention on Decent Work in the Platform Economy means for workers – and what’s next for implementation
In June 2026, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) adopted a new Convention on Decent Work in the Platform Economy. Following in the footsteps of the EU’s Platform Work Directive, this Convention extends data protection rights for platform workers and contains innovative provisions to protect against the adverse effects of automated decision-making globally. But this is only the beginning. In this article, EDRi member Privacy International explores what’s next for ratification, implementation and the future of regulating worker surveillance in the EU and around the world.
Read more
-
Your data, their decision: the hidden surveillance infrastructure behind Europe’s digital borders
A new report by ARTICLE 19 examines how the European Union is presiding over the most significant expansion of border surveillance in its history. Much of this development is being outsourced to private companies – with profound consequences for privacy and freedom of expression.
Read more
-
What you need to know about the EU’s new digital deportation regime
On 17 June, the European Parliament approved the new deportation law (called the “Return” Regulation) which aims to track undocumented people down and deport them from the EU in large numbers. The Regulation boosts the surveillance powers and digital control of national authorities and will rely heavily on technologies and data collection in their enforcement. This blog outlines the various digital tools and processes included in the EU’s new digital deportation regime.
Read more
-
Europe’s cookie law is really a law about surveillance
The ePrivacy framework limits commercial tracking and state access to communications. It is now being weakened from several directions at once.
Read more
-
14 students and opposition politicians targeted by spyware in Serbia
EDRi member SHARE Foundation has confirmed that at least 14 people in Serbia were targeted with advanced spyware since the beginning of 2026 – the largest documented wave of such surveillance in the country to date. Those targeted include members of the student movement, activists, a member of parliament, and a local councilor, all from opposition parties. The timing the of spyware attacks coincides with the local elections held on March 29, 2026.
Read more
-
The “Chat Control 1.0” saga: Big Tech can scan our private messages again – but Parliament sent a strong signal against mass surveillance
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted on a derogation of the EU’s ePrivacy Directive for the third time in 4 months. While the proposal passed, the vote nonetheless remains a triumph because it reinforces the Parliament’s position against mass surveillance on the more dangerous CSA Regulation, and because it enshrines the protection of encryption.
Read more
-
Hadopi law (2009–2026)
The French Administrative Supreme Court ruled in favour of La Quadrature du Net, French Data Network (FDN), Franciliens.net and Fédération FDN by recognising that the Hadopi law’s surveillance system that aims to combat illegal files sharing breaches fundamental rights protected by the European Union. The government has been ordered to repeal the key provisions of this decree. It is now up to the government to acknowledge the end of this law and finally accept that the non-commercial sharing of culture online must not be criminalised.
Read more
-
Proposed Europol reform dangerously erodes privacy, automates surveillance, and sidelines oversight
Third reform in six years allocates €3 billion to controversial EU policing agency with the capacities to place everyone under surveillance.
Read more
-
Joint Statement: Pegasus in the European Parliament, the EU Must Act Now
A joint statement with civil society organisations and individual signatories is calling on the EU institutions to regulate spyware technologies after the 2026 Citizen Lab revelations.
Read more
-
Statement: End complicity with ISS World Europe
ISS World Europe is an annual surveillance industry trade fair where the most invasive technologies for mass surveillance, data harvesting and tracking of individuals are traded and promoted. Such a marketplace for digital repression tools, connected to companies directly involved in war crimes, human rights violations, and the genocide in Gaza, should have no place in the EU. Civil society is calling on the EU to immediately cut ties with ISS World Europe.
Read more
-
Inside Italy’s low-cost spyware economy
Commercial spyware in Europe has recently made headlines with the now notorious names of Pegasus and Graphite, the expensive, exploitation-driven products at the top end of the market. Much less known is the wide underworld ecosystem of low-cost spyware vendors, often targeting citizens via their smartphones. EDRi member Osservatorio Nessuno has investigated and analysed two separate products, Spyrtacus and Morpheus.
Read more
-
Did the EU Parliament really vote not to protect children online?
In April 2026, negotiations on the ‘interim ePrivacy derogation’ fell apart, with several stakeholders claiming that the European Parliament stopped the EU from protecting children. In reality, however, the Parliament’s position aimed to ensure the protection of all fundamental rights without leading to mass surveillance – whereas EU Member States and the Commission proved unwilling to move even an inch on safeguards.
Read more