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Deutsch: Soziale Netzwerke: Mangelnder Datenschutz für Kinder

Most social networks fail to provide an appropriate level of protection for minors' privacy says a report recently published by the European Commission on the implementation of "Safer Social Networking Principles for the EU", a self-regulatory agreement brokered by the Commission in 2009 to keep children safe online.

After several social networks have been tested on behalf of the European Commission during December 2010 and January 2011, the conclusion is that only two social networking sites (Bebo and MySpace) have default s

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Deutsch: Hochrangige Diskussion über Online-Tracking

A meeting organised jointly by the University of Berkeley and the Institute for Information Law of the University of Amsterdam drew together an outstanding collection of international experts, NGOs and industry representatives to discuss online tracking protection and browsers.

Information Society Commissioner Neelie Kroes opened the event where she brandished the "stick" of strict enforcement of the e-Privacy Directive if industry did not accept the "carrot" of self-regulation to achieve compliance.

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Deutsch: Besorgnis über Facebooks Gesichtserkennung

Facebook has again been criticised by privacy advocates for its facial recognition feature that has recently been added to the social networking service, world-wide, without any previous announcement to its users.

Facebook users have the possibility to 'tag' themselves and their friends in the photos they upload to the site with pop-up captions that identify the people in the respective pictures.

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Deutsch: Datenschutzbehörde prüft irisches "Three-Strikes"-System

The Irish Data Protection Commissioner is investigating the Eircom / music industry three strikes system, a report in the Sunday Times has revealed. According to the story by Mark Tighe, predictions that Eircom would end up falsely accusing innocent users have now proved correct, with over 300 users wrongfully being sent a "first strike" letter accusing them of sharing music.

Eircom have admitted to the mistakes, stating that "this was due to a software failure caused when the clocks went back last October".

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Deutsch: EU-Abgeordnete befürworten Nacktscanner-Einsatz auf freiwilliger Basi...

As the European Commission plans new rules to add body scanners to the list of EU-authorised methods for passenger screening, the European Parliament, which has the right to veto, made its position known on 24 May 2011, by approving a report that backs the use of body scanners provided they don't interfere with passenger privacy or pose health risks.

MEPs on the Transport Committee agreed that the use of body scanners in EU airports would enhance security but considered the method should be used voluntarily.

The report, that is to be voted in the plenary on 23 June, asks for several conditions to be met o

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Deutsch: Britische Polizei schafft Software zur Überwachung des Onlineverkehrs...

Civil liberties groups have shown great concern about the UK Metropolitan police force's possible use of Geotime surveillance software that can map nearly every move in the digital world of "suspect" individuals.

The Geotime security programme, that has recently been purchased by Britain Metropolitan Police, is used by the US military and is able to show an individual's movements and communications with other people on a three-dimensional graphic.

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Deutsch: Umsetzung des SWIFT-Abkommens auf dem Prüfstand

A review prepared by the EU delegation of the joint review team on the implementation of the SWIFT (TFTP) agreement concluded that "all of the relevant elements of the Agreement have been implemented in accordance with its provisions, including the data protection provisions".

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Deutsch: Privacy Platform Meeting: Kommissarin Reding skizziert den Weg

On 16 March 2011, Sophie In't Veld's Privacy Platform met in the European Parliament to discuss the state of play for the review of the data protection directive.

The cross-party meeting was co-chaired by EU Parliament members from the EPP, S&D, ALDE, the Greens and GUE.