European Digital Rights was founded in June 2002. Currently 35 privacy and civil rights organisations have EDRi membership. They are based or have offices in 21 different countries in Europe.
Members of European Digital Rights have joined forces to defend civil rights in the information society. The need for cooperation among organisations active in Europe is increasing as more regulation regarding the internet, copyright and privacy is originating from European institutions, or from international institutions with strong impact in Europe.
News & announcements
UN Agencies: A growing threat for the Internet?
23 October, 2012
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The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), led by Russian diplomat, Yury Fedotov, has just released a report (pdf) arguing for more surveillance and retention of data on all communications, even in the total absence of suspicion. Coincidentally, the Coordinator of the elegantly named 1267 Committee that was in charge of the report is British – and the British government recently proposed (even if it is likely to be rejected at national level) the most extensive suspicionless monitoring ever considered in a democratic society – the Communications Data Bill.
The report was coincidentally launched just weeks before the World Conference on International Telecommunications in Dubai organised by the United Nations telecommunications agency, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), led by Russian-educated Secretary General Hamadan Touré. Much of the discussion will be about whether and how much new responsibility should be given to the ITU's bureaucracy, which has been losing influence and competences in recent years due to the growth of the Internet. Somewhat surprisingly, the ITU is listed as an “additional partner” on the website of the Working Group on Countering the Use of the Internet for Terrorist Purposes which was responsible for the UNODC report (lead by the 1267 Committee).
EDRi has a new office!
11 October, 2012
20 Rue Belliard
1040 Bruxelles
Belgium
Phone: +32 2 274 25 70
Twitter: @edri_org
Clean IT – Leak shows plans for large-scale, undemocratic surveillance of all communications
21 September, 2012
» Compulsory Identification | Internet Blocking | Notice & take-down | Privacy | Access to information | Freedom to publish | Freedom of speech | Wiretapping
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Deutsch: CleanIT – Pläne zur Überwachung des Internets im großen Stil
A leaked document from the CleanIT project shows just how far internal discussions in that initiative have drifted away from its publicly stated aims, as well as the most fundamental legal rules that underpin European democracy and the rule of law.
The European Commission-funded CleanIT project claims that it wants to fight terrorism through voluntary self-regulatory measures that defends the rule of law.
