“The European Commission has sent a Statement of Objections to Google outlining the Commission’s preliminary view that the company is abusing a dominant position, in breach of EU antitrust rules, by systematically favouring its own comparison shopping product in its general search results pages in the European Economic Area (EEA). The Commission is concerned that… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: EU Data Protection
A critical analysis of Facebook’s Revised Policies and Terms
From social media service to advertising network – A critical analysis of Facebook’s Revised Policies and Terms DRAFT 31 March 2015. The authors are part of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Law and ICT/Centre for Intellectual Property Rights(ICRI/CIR) of KU Leuven (www.icri.be), the department of Studies on Media, Information and Telecommunication (SMIT) of the Vrije Universiteit… Continue Reading
Facebook tracks all users in breach of EU law
theguardian, Samuel Gibbs: “Facebook tracks the web browsing of everyone who visits a page on its site even if the user does not have an account or has explicitly opted out of tracking in the EU, extensive research commissioned by the Belgian data protection agency has revealed. The report, from researchers at the Centre of… Continue Reading
European Court of Justice Hears Case Challenging “Safe Harbor” Agreement and NSA Spying
EPIC – “The Court of Justice for the European Union heard arguments this week in Maximilian Schrems v. Data Protection Commissioner, a case filed in Ireland following the revelations of the NSA PRISM program. At issue is whether the disclosure of EU citizens’ data by Facebook and other Internet companies to the NSA violates the… Continue Reading
CRI/CIR advises Belgian Privacy Commission in Facebook investigation
“In December 2014, Facebook announced that it would revise its Data Use Policy and Terms of Service. At the request of the Belgian Privacy Commission, ICRI/CIR (KU Leuven), in cooperation with iMinds-SMIT (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) conducted an extensive analysis of Facebook’s revised policies and terms. Facebook rolled out its new policies and terms on January… Continue Reading
UK Interception of Communications Code of Practice
Via The Register: “The UK government slipped out consultation documents on “equipment interference” and “interception of communications” (read: computer hacking by police and g-men) on Friday. They were made public on the same day that the Investigatory Powers Tribunal ruled that the spying revelations exposed by master blabbermouth Edward Snowden had accidentally made British spooks’… Continue Reading
UK Tribunal Rules Secret Surveillance Unlawful
The Intercept: “The United Kingdom’s top surveillance agency has acted unlawfully by keeping details about the scope of its Internet spying operations secret, a British court ruled in an unprecedented judgment issued on Friday. Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ, was found to have breached human rights laws by concealing information about how it accesses surveillance… Continue Reading
Council of Europe Report on Mass Surveillance
Provisional version – Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights – Mass surveillance. Rapporteur: Mr Pieter Omtzigt, Netherlands, Group of the European People’s Party. “Our freedom is built on what others do not know of our existences” Alexandr Solzhenitsyn. A Draft resolution 1. The Parliamentary Assembly is deeply concerned about mass surveillance practices disclosed since… Continue Reading
Foreign Intelligence Gathering Laws
Library of Congress – “This report contains information on laws regulating the collection of intelligence in the European Union, United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, and Sweden. The report details how EU Members States control activities of their intelligence agencies and what restrictions are imposed on information collection. All EU Member States follow EU legislation… Continue Reading
Law Enforcement Without Borders
CDT – “A critical case is now working its way through the US courts—one that raises important questions for users and providers of cloud services in both the US and Europe. As part of a US criminal investigation, a US federal court has ordered Microsoft to hand over a customer’s files that the company holds… Continue Reading
Oxfam’s new report on global inequalty
“From Ghana to Germany, South Africa to Spain, the gap between rich and poor is rapidly increasing, and economic inequality has reached extreme levels. In South Africa, inequality is greater today than at the end of Apartheid.The consequences are corrosive for everyone. Extreme inequality corrupts politics, hinders economic growth and stifles social mobility. It fuels crime… Continue Reading
Berlin Weighs Possible Hit to U.S. Tech Firms
WSJ – “German politicians are debating a new Internet-security law that could exclude U.S. technology companies from Germany’s digital economy, a sign Berlin is beginning to press its commercial advantage after revelations of spying by the NSA. The draft law, which is still being hammered out, envisions new requirements like revealing source code or other proprietary… Continue Reading
