This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Französische Datenschutzbehörde straft Google Street View ab

CNIL (the French DPA - Data Protection Authority) has recently performed a series of inspections related to the conformity with the French legislation of Google's gathering data from Wi-Fi networks for its Google Maps, Street View and Latitude services on France's territory.

The inspections have revealed several infringements of the law, including the collection, through Google's Street View service cars, of WiFi data without the knowledge of the data subjects and of content-related data such as IDs, login details, emails and passwords.

In May 2010, C

This article is also available in:
Macedonian: Последен повик за петиција за владина....

Deutsch: Petition gegen die Nutzung biometrischer Daten durch den Staat

By means of a petition, the international Alliance 'Hands off biometrics' will urge the Council of Europe to start an investigation on the collection and storage of biometric data by Member States.

European governments are increasingly demanding storage of biometric data (fingerprints and facial scans) from individuals.

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Umsetzung des SWIFT-Abkommens missachtet den Datenschutz

The "top secret" status of the implementation of the SWIFT/TFTP Agreement has irked MEPs such as Dutch member Sophie In't Veld, who has warned the Commission and Member States that they may block other transatlantic data deals in the future.

The Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme (TFTP), also known as the SWIFT agreement, is ostensibly an anti-terrorism measure which allows US authorities to request and, upon the approval of Europol (who can thereafter also gain access), large volumes of transaction information from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommuni

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: EWSA missbilligt Körperscanner als Verstoß gegen die Grundrechte

On 16 February 2011, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) issued its opinion on the use of body scanners in EU airports.

The EESC has opposed the eventual adoption of any measures that would introduce body scanners on an EU-wide level, and feel that the Commission Communication on the use of security scanners does not respect three basic criteria: necessity, proportionality and legality.

The document also criticises the Commission for changing the term "body scanners" to "security scanners", and outlines four central critiques with regard to the Commiss

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Spanien: Recht auf Vergessen und Google

The Spanish data protection authority (AEPD) has recently been focusing on a privacy-related campaign against major Internet intermediaries, accusing them to "have crossed the red line" in regard to protection of personal data on the Internet. Facebook, Google or Myspace are under scrutiny for their privacy policies and how they are respected.

On 17 January 2010, AEPD accused Google of invading personal privacy of users, arguing the company was in breach of the "right to be forgotten", the Spanish law allowing people to control information about them.

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: EDRi Stellungnahme zum Konsultationsverfahren zur Datenschutz-Richtlin...

Building on the analysis produced for the European Commission's initial data protection consultation in 2009, European Digital Rights has submitted its second round of comments on the review of the 1995 Data Protection Directive.

One of EDRi's primary concerns with regard to the existing legal framework is the lack of predictability - due to vast differences in the way basic parts of the Directive are understood by Member States' authorities and courts as well as the powers and resources of national data protection authorities.

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Verhandlungen zum Datenschutz: EU-Kommissarin kritisiert USA

Following a meeting she had in December 2010 with US attorney general Eric Holder and Interior Minister Janet Napolitano, the EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding expressed her concern on what she believed to be a lack of interest of the US officials regarding the data protection agreement to be negotiated between EU and US.

"The meeting turned out to be somewhat disappointing on data protection. From the outset, we have noted an apparent lack of interest on the US side to talk seriously about data protection," Ms Reding said in a statement adding that the US have not appointed a negotiator yet.

The US

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Oberster Schwedischer Gerichtshof verweist Streit um Schutz von IP-Adr...

The Swedish ISP TeliaSonera has recently received a decision at the Swedish Supreme Court that questions a 2009 court decision forcing it to hand over the identity of SweTorrents BitTorrent site operator.

In 2009, four movie studios represented by anti-piracy group Antipiratbyran took TeliaSonera to Södertörn District Court which forced the ISP to reveal the identity of the respective file-sharer.

The anti-piracy group as well as the court considered that, based on Sweden's IPRED (Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive) legislation, ISPs had the obligation to revea