This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Einstellung europäischer Verbraucher zum Datenschutz

Some interesting results from a quantitative and qualitative analysis made by the EU-funded CONSENT project to find out about the consumers' attitudes awareness of privacy issues online and service providers' practices were presented at the final conference of the project, that took place in Malta on 20-21 March 2013.

The results indicate that there is indeed a high variability between different EU countries in the perception of personal risks, privacy loss or unexpected problems related to giving personal information to websit

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Selbstregulierung: Irische Polizeidatenbank – quasi ein "sozial...

Alan Shatter, the Irish Minister of Justice, has demanded an end to the abuse of the PULSE police database. In a sharply worded speech to the Association of Garda Irish police Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) conference, he said that it was necessary “to ensure that individuals who have done no wrong do not have their privacy violated” and that in no circumstances should the database “be used as some sort of social network to be accessed out of curiosity by members of the Force”.

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Materialien zur Datenschutz-Kampagne

There are countless half-truths and misconceptions spreading about the proposed data protection reform. EDRi has therefore decided to produce a broad range of materials about the most worrying problems.

The mythbusting series seeks to correct the many myths surrounding this legislative reform. The #eudatap series looks at the lobbying efforts by the industry and at the reasons why we need stronger data protection rules in the digital age.

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: ENDitorial: Eine Woche des Schreckens für die deutsche Netzpolitik

In Germany, political developments in the last week have been perceived as a frustrating defeat by the "Internet community", as three legislative measures that had been heavily criticised (and ridiculed) have progressed in the Parliament.

On 20 March 2013, "De-Mail", Germany's standard for "court-proof" electronic communications and document exchange between citizens, authorities and businesses, was discussed in a hearing in the Committee on Internal Affairs of the Bundestag (the "lower house" in Germa

The protection of personal data is a trending topic – not only on the political scene in Brussels but also as a result of CryptoParties, which have become a decentralised global movement in past months.

Protecting our data, information and privacy is of vital importance, particularly on the internet. We always try to ensure adequate security for physical objects such as cars, houses and credit cards. But how do we secure our electronic data? How can we ensure that nobody is eavesdropping on our emails or text messages? How can we improve our security while surfing the web?

The European Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) has adopted its Opinion on the Data Protection Regulation. Even though the adopted text has fatal flaws, it represents a significant improvement compared with the Opinions adopted in other committees. Despite the avalanche of lobbying by a section of industry, business associations, “SME associations” funded by big business, “independent” associations funded by big business and lobbying by the US government, this change is a remarkable tribute to the impact of citizens having their say in Brussels. It also shows that the momentum is slowly moving towards more coherent support for privacy in Europe.

One example of this change of direction is “data portability”.

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Artikel 29 Gruppe setzt nächsten Ermittlungsschritt in Sachen Google

In October 2012, Article 29 Working Party (representing the data protection authorities (DPAs) of the EU member states) made recommendations to Google to solve certain deficiencies regarding its privacy policy.

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Mitmachen: Setz Dich für Deine Rechte ein!

EDRi together with other civil rights and data protection organisations launched on 5 February 2013 the European campaign portal Privacycampaign.eu in support of better protection for European citizens' rights to privacy and data protection.

“This is our one opportunity to develop a strong legal framework, building trust and removing unnecessary red tape for business. We need a framework that is guided by clear, predictable legal principles and strong enforcement. Instead, we have an unprecedented wave of ill-informed, ill-advised and destructive corporate lobbying.