EDRi

· 3w ago

1/ 🛑 President Ursula von der Leyen’s #SOTEU announcement on age-gating and banning children’s access to online spaces comes with no surprise. 📝 There is a fundamental problem with the approach: you won’t be making harmful platform safer by preventing young people from using them, you can only achieve that by regulating the platforms in the very first place.

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· 2w ago

🤔 How many ‘scores’ did you get today? A bank might have assessed how ‘risky’ you are to give a home loan to. A potential employer might have use an algorithm to sort your CV. AI-powered social-scoring can affect your life every day. The more vulnerable you are, the worse you fare 📈 🚨 Now, EU’s #DigitalOmnibus and #deregulation drive risk turning us into subjects of an authoritarian-scoring society. 🖋️ Read an op-ed about this potentially disastrous proposal ➡️ https://euobserver.com/237625/computer-says-no-how-brussels-is-letting-algorithmic-social-scoring-in-by-the-backdoor/

EUobserver

‘Computer says no’: how Brussels is letting algorithmic social-scoring in by the backdoor

Just as European courts and regulators are beginning to expose the consequences of a system of algorithmic social scoring, Brussels, with its Digital Omnibus, is considering weakening key safeguards against such automated decision-making on citizens.

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· 2w ago

1/3 🚨 EU governments could be just days away from agreeing to a deal on the #DigitalOmnibus on Data that would weaken some of the basic protections people rely on under the #GDPR such as knowing who is using their data and why, being able to ask what data a company holds about them, and objecting to certain uses or expecting it to be kept secure. Two things are especially worrying... 🧵

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@HennaVirkkunen@ec.social-network.europa.eu

· 2mo ago

RE: https://ec.social-network.europa.eu/@HennaVirkkunen/117008348161347403 🤑 @EUCommission@ec.social-network.europa.eu wants to spend billions to build new climate-busting AI data centres while the continent is suffering sweltering heatwaves and drought. The heatwave in June killed thousands in Europe and fuelled unprecedented wildfires, while fresh water in key rivers and waterways is drying up. ❌ Investing an unprecedented amount of public funds into data centres for the so-called “AI race”, even as money for social services and climate resilience dries up is a disastrous policy choice.

Quoting

Henna Virkkunen

The AI Gigafactories call is now open. Today, we launched a call for tenders to establish up to 7 AI Gigafactories across Europe, boosting Europe’s computing capacity and unlocking more than €30 billion in investment. I am pleased to see Member States, industry, and the Commission coming together to build these facilities, which are key to strengthening our technological sovereignty. This is a milestone for Europe in becoming an AI Continent. https://link.europa.eu/qGDhv3

Open quoted post

ec.social-network.europa.eu

Henna Virkkunen: "The AI Gigafactories call is now open. Today, w…" - European Commission on Mastodon

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· 2mo ago

Replying to

4/4 Let's be clear: these excessive demands are nothing less than blackmail from the US. We're calling on EU leaders to fight to protect our fundamental rights against yet another instance of the US bullying the EU into dismantling key safeguards: don't sell our data to the US 🚫 ➡️ https://edri.org/our-work/the-eu-is-about-to-sell-our-most-sensitive-data-to-the-us-for-visa-free-travel/

The EU is about to sell our most sensitive data to the US for visa-free travel - European Digital Rights (EDRi)

The leaked draft text suggests that the Commission significantly caved in to US’s excessive demands for unfettered information access.

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· 1mo ago

1/ 🍂 September is here, for many, this looks like a big #Microsoft or #Google logo with spreadsheets, documents, presentations. For decades, Microsoft has dominated workplace productivity software. This dominance was turned into an unholy duopoly when Google Docs came around. #BigTech firms deploy aggressive business models built on forced subscriptions, product bundling & ecosystem lock-in. This #DigitalIndependenceDay, let’s talk about office software & how to become digitally independent

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· 3mo ago

1/3 🧑‍⚖️ Today, the Court of Justice of the EU has upheld a € 4.1 billion antitrust fine against Google for abusing the dominant position of its Android mobile operating system to thwart rivals. 💰 The judgment confirms the European Commission's finding that Google abused Android to strengthen the market position of Google Search, the Chrome browser and other Google products.

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· 2mo ago

Replying to

3/4 This is extremely worrying because: ⚠️ The US has a track record of blatant disregard for human rights, inhumane treatment of migrants and visitors, and unlawfully screening travellers' social media profiles - the EU has demanded no protections against this. ⚠️ This could be used to target people who oppose the Trump administration, support trans rights, or are protesting against the genocide in Gaza - they could be detained at borders.

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· 2mo ago

Replying to

2/4 This 'Enhanced Border Security Partnership' Framework Agreement would mean an automated exchange of personal data, including highly sensitive information, and access to EU biometric databases to screen and identify travellers. In short, the US is demanding excessive and unfettered access to information and sensitive personal data of people in the EU, intensifying #surveillance 🙅🏽‍♀️ A leak of the draft agreeement shows that the Commission is giving into US's demands and risking our rights.

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· 2mo ago

Replying to

2/2 🙅🏽‍♀️ This is mass age-verification, not targeted protection. Online safety can be achieved without making the exercise of digital rights contingent on meeting specific conditions. Online services must be made safer for ALL, and real safety means tackling the root causes. That means safer-by-design services, tackling harmful business models, and properly enforcing the rules we already have 🫶🏽 📢 It's not just us saying this, young people across Europe agree ➡️ https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/2089712/youth-organisations-demand-social-media-change-not-bans

brusselstimes.com

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· 3mo ago

1/2 🧑‍⚖️ Today, the Court of Justice of the EU has ruled against Apple's attempt to evade some of its obligations under the #DigitalMarktesAct in the case #Apple v. @EUCommission@ec.social-network.europa.eu. The General Court confirmed that #interoperability isn’t optional, but a legal obligation under the #DMA. All the details about the ruling ➡️ https://curia.europa.eu/site/upload/docs/application/pdf/2026-07/cp260096en.pdf

curia.europa.eu

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· 3mo ago

🚨 #Europol has been using a secret second database with no safeguards and limited oversight for years. Instead of holding them accountable for their rogue tactics, on June 24, the European Commission is expected to reward the police agency with more powers and money in a proposal to overhaul their mandate 🤑 This is far from the first time that Europol is getting away with severe breaches of its own rules and flouting our fundamental rights. Read more in our op-ed: https://euobserver.com/222391/europol-is-going-rogue-so-brussels-is-doubling-its-budget/

euobserver.com

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· 1mo ago

🚨 Join us at #PrivacyCamp26 on 13 October 2026 in Brussels or online. 📑 Across panels, interactive workshops and ground-breaking documentaries, we’ll host discussions that investigate EU’s sovereignty package, AI supply chain impact in Kenya & Congo, resiting Europol, the impact of AI-powered weapons on people in Lebanon, the opportunities for strategic litigation in advancing LGBTQI+ rights through digital rights & much more. Here’s a sneak peek of the programme 👇 https://privacycamp.eu/privacycamp26-draft-programme/

PrivacyCamp.eu

#PrivacyCamp26: Draft programme out now

Register before 17 January 2024 to secure your spot at one of Europe’s top privacy conferences.

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· 2mo ago

Replying to

✊🏽 Together with @noybeu@mastodon.social , @beuc@eupolicy.social , @checkmyads, Civil Liberties Union for Europe, @eff@mastodon.social, Irish Council for Civil Liberties, @HomoDigitalisGR@mastodon.social, Digihumanism - Centre for AI & Digital Humanism, and Sustainable Computing Lab, we’re joining a campaign for a better recipe: fewer repetitive prompts, more meaningful choices, and privacy preferences that people can express once instead of being asked over and over again ➡️ https://killthecookiebanner.eu/

killthecookiebanner.eu

Kill the Cookie Banner!

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· 1mo ago

✊🏽 Providing safe, secure and independent internet infrastructure is not a crime. EDRi stands in full solidarity with Autistici/Inventati @cavallette@mastodon.bida.im after the US government designated the Italian non-profit organisation as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist." This targeting of A/I is also an attack on fundamental rights, safe and secure communications, anti-authoritarian organising and the democratic integrity of the EU. Our full statement ➡️ https://edri.org/our-work/edri-solidarity-statement-autistici-inventati/

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· 3mo ago

🚨 The #AIOmnibus should never have happened. The file was presented as "technical" simplifications of the arduously negotiated #AIAct, but it delays key protections, weakens transparency and creates a dangerous precedent for the EU's digital rules. It's just another vehicle for the EU's #deregulation agenda serving industry lobbies at the expense of our rights. 🚫 Civil society calls on the EU Parliament and Council to reject the AI Omnibus deal. Read our analysis ➡️ https://edri.org/our-work/ai-omnibus-deal-eu-lawmakers-should-reject-a-rollback-of-ai-safeguards/

AI Omnibus deal: EU lawmakers should reject a rollback of AI safeguards - European Digital Rights (EDRi)

EU institutions have reached a final deal on the AI Omnibus, a file presented as technical simplification of the EU AI Act. The European Parliament and the Council of the EU should reject it.

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· 3mo ago

Replying to

4/4 ⚠️ Roberta Metsola and EPP MEPs should not be allowed to make a joke out of EU's democratic processes. The Parliament's stance on a law is final, and not a suggestion to keep revisiting. We are urging MEPs to hold strong this week, remember the stakes at play, and to make it clear once and for all: mass surveillance of private communications is incompatible with a safe and secure democratic society 🫶🏽 Catch up on the saga of "Chat Control 1.0" with our blogpost ➡️ https://edri.org/our-work/did-the-eu-parliament-really-vote-not-to-protect-children-online/

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· 2mo ago

Replying to

Want to know more? Read our latest explainer on why ePrivacy matters, why cookie banners are only part of the story, and how we can move beyond today’s broken system ➡️ https://edri.org/our-work/cookies-and-consent-why-eprivacy-matters-for-our-browsing-life/

Cookies and consent: why ePrivacy matters for our browsing life - European Digital Rights (EDRi)

The Commission’s Digital Omnibus proposal reopens an important debate on ePrivacy and how choices are made when browsing the internet. With this leaflet, we cut through the jargon and explain what cookies, tracking technologies, consent and ePrivacy mean in everyday life.

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· 4mo ago

Replying to

4/ There is a positive outlier: the EU #opensourcestrategy It reflects the crucial role that free and open source software (FOSS) play for Europe’s ability to break free from Big Tech. Its explicit recognition of independent, volunteer-, and SME-driven #FOSS communities ( 👋 @linux & @Mastodon@mastodon.social) are a welcome signal that EU institutions are keen on leaving proprietary dependencies behind them. Read our recommendations ⤵️ https://edri.org/our-work/europes-digital-sovereignty-starts-with-open-source/

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· 4mo ago

Replying to

2/ European tech shouldn’t be about entering a race to the bottom with the 🇺🇲 & 🇨🇳 . The EU's strength should be achieved through reliable data protection rules, platform, and AI governance, as well as environmental protection, economic justice and democratic governance of technology. 🚫 Any policy for “sovereignty” should focus on providing people in Europe with increased digital self-determination, not on building European versions of #BigTech More ➡️ https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/dae/redirection/document/129100

ec.europa.eu

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· 4mo ago

1/4 🚨 There's only one remaining big negotiation scheduled on the CSA Regulation (aka "#ChatControl"). Last time the negotiators met in May, it was clear there are still some crucial open questions: ❓ What sort of scanning rules will be in the final law? We continue to urge EU lawmakers to ensure that limitations on the right to communications privacy are targeted, and #MassSurveillance ruled out - in line with EU human rights and criminal procedures.

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digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu

· 4mo ago

Replying to

3/ 💰 The Tech Sovereignty Package is a massive spending spree for more AI, more chips, and more resource-sucking data centres in Europe. 🤑 The Commission suggests that by spending billions in public money to prop up the local data centre industry, it can magically create Europe’s own #ChatGPT and #claude ❌ The proposal gives little, if any, appreciation to the impact of AI data centres on water consumption, electricity use, and on communities. ➡️ https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/proposal-cloud-and-ai-development-act-cada

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· 3mo ago

Replying to

2/4 🔎 This law would allow #BigTech companies like Microsoft and Meta to mass scan their users’ private messages to search for child abuse material. Despite the important aim to protect children, EDRi and many legal experts have argued that scanning everyone’s messages – rather than just those reasonably suspected of serious criminal acts – is a violation of everyone’s communications confidentiality and fundamental rights. Why is the upcoming THIRD vote this week concerning?... 🧵

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· 3mo ago

Today, the 🇬🇧 announced a social media ban for under-16s. 🚫 Exclusion is NOT empowerment! Shielding children from the digital world is no substitute for preparing them to navigate it. Lawmakers should focus on regulating the systems that cause harm, making social media platform a safe space for all, regardless of age. This is why ➡️ https://edri.org/our-work/why-age-verification-misses-the-mark-and-puts-everyone-at-risk/

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· 4mo ago

Replying to

5/ 📣 We call on the legislators in the European Parliament and the Council to question the Commission’s misguided belief in data centre growth and hyper-scaling unicorns, and instead build on the promises made in the Open Source Strategy and make sure they actually happen. It is time to steer this continent towards a future where technology works for the people, democracy, and the planet.

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· 3mo ago

Replying to

3/4 ⚠️ If the interim derogation is voted through, voluntary mass scanning by Big Tech platforms becomes legal - with no need for a warrant, little to no oversight, and with no legal basis, on millions of conversations. ⚠️ The outcome of the vote on "#ChatControl 1.0" will either strengthen or undermine the Parliament's position on the #CSARegulation - which has so-far protected encryption and rejected mandatory mass surveillance of private.

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· 2mo ago

Replying to

2/2 🔎 The #GDPR requires the European Commission to keep adequacy decisions under continuous review. When the legal or institutional conditions change, the Commission has a duty to reassess whether an adequate level of protection still exists. 📣 Adequacy is a living legal mechanism, not a political label. The credibility of the GDPR depends on applying that principle consistently, and the European Commission must act accordingly.

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· 4mo ago

🚨 From 2-4 June, Czech Republic is hosting ISS World Europe, a #surveillance industry trade fair where some of the most harmful and invasive surveillance tools like #spyware are traded and promoted. 🚫 Such a marketplace for digital repression tools, connected to companies directly involved in war crimes, human rights violations, and the genocide in Gaza, should have no place in the EU. ✊🏽We are calling for an immediate cutting of EU's ties with the ISS. Our statement ➡️ https://edri.org/our-work/statement-end-complicity-with-iss-world-europe/

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· 5mo ago

Replying to

3/3 The message is clear: when powerful actors complain loudly enough, safeguards can be recast as burdens and rules that protect people can be reopened. ❤️‍🩹 This does not make the EU digital rulebook simpler. It makes it weaker, harder to enforce, and less protective of people’s rights. It also confirms a dangerous direction of travel: companies are being given more space to mark their own homework, while #FundamentalRights, justice and democratic oversight are pushed further to the margins.

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· 3mo ago

Replying to

2/2 🙅🏽‍♀️These revelations might be new but our concerns are long-standing: spyware is incompatible with a safe and secure democratic society that respects fundamental rights. Join us, and thousands of people, in urging EU lawmakers to keep it safe and secure by banning spyware ➡️ https://edri.org/take-action/our-campaigns/keep-it-safe-and-secure/

Keep It Safe and Secure - European Digital Rights (EDRi)

Safe and secure communications and devices allow us to work, socialise, organise, express ourselves, and connect with each other.

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· 2mo ago

1/2 🎉 It's happening - join us for #PrivacyCamp26 on Tuesday, 13 October 🎉 We're inviting proposals for sessions at #PrivacyCamp26 that investigate the theme: ⭐ 'The Origins of Future Technologies: Towards communities of digital self-determination' ⭐ 📬 Call for session proposals is now OPEN: https://privacycamp.eu/privacycamp26-call-for-sessions/ 🗓️ Deadline for submitting session proposals is 10 August.

privacycamp.eu

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📝 : https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=MH_ksn3NTkql2rGM8aQVG16DMINI-MBAnUrIpqPWklBUNk9ZNDZDSFZNMzVKSVdWMFhHWk9SWVJQRi4u

· 4mo ago

Technology is never neutral. Far too often, LGBTIQ+ communities are among the first to experience the consequences: profiling, censorship, data exploitation, discriminatory systems & online harassment.

⚠️ These are warning signs about the direction our digital environment is taking.

At Digital Rights Lounge, we'll be discussing how tech shapes queer lives, what risks of surveillance are & how we can fight back.

📍 19 May, 13.00-16.30 at BeCentral in Brussels

forms.office.com

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· 4mo ago

👏🏽 Europe's first and only Digital Justice Fund is live, thanks to Weaving Liberation 👏🏽

This fund will support politics, visions and strategies to challenge systemic harms, who are currently under-resourced or excluded from funding, to build power and liberatory digital futures.

If you're a non-profit initiative working on #DigitalJustice organising in Europe, this opportunity could be for you.

⚠️ Registration deadline: 24 May

Find out more details and register here ➡️
https://weavingliberation.org/digital-justice-fund/

eupolicy.social

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· 3mo ago

Boosted by @gvenema@fairmove.net

📣 EU leaders: Fight for us, not for Trump’s billionaires. With @PeopleVsBigTech@mastodon.social, We Move Europe & @GreenpeaceEU@eupolicy.social, we’re taking the message across Europe & not even the EU’s own landmarks are off limits. Brussels talks up "digital sovereignty", governments are preparing the biggest rollback of digital rights in European history. Decades of hard-won protections wrapped up with a bow Big Tech. ✊Our right to privacy, safety and democracy aren't up for sale ➡️ https://action.wemove.eu/sign/2026-01-omnibus-tech-petition-EN/

action.wemove.eu

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· 3mo ago

🚨 Yesterday, the European Commission announced a new reform proposal for #Europol – the EU’s policing agency – which expands Europol’s operational powers and weakens key data protection safeguards to the tune of €3 billion. This is the third Europol reform in six years changing the agency’s mandate to increase its powers and budget. Read more from #ProtectNotSurveil ➡️ https://protectnotsurveil.eu/resources/press-release-europol-mandate-overhault-2026/

protectnotsurveil.eu

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· 4mo ago

Replying to

2/ This follows a complaint we filed last year together with @bitsoffreedom@chaos.social, @Freiheitsrechte@chaos.social & Convocation Research+Design on behalf of an 🇮🇪 user. For over a year, civil society organisations have raised concerns that Meta’s design practices undermine people’s freedom to choose how content is recommended to them online. More information ⤵️ https://edri.org/our-work/civil-society-files-dsa-complaint-against-meta-for-toxic-profiling-fueled-feeds/

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· 4mo ago

📣 EDRi is looking for Conflict Prevention & Resolution Professionals!

We're recruiting at least 5 experts in dispute resolution, HR, and NGO governance to join our independent Complaint Mechanism bodies (Confidential Advisor & Complaints Committee).

🗓️ Deadline: 25 May 2026
📍 Remote | 3-year contract

Find out more and apply here 👉 https://edri.org/take-action/careers/edri-is-looking-for-conflict-prevention-and-resolution-professionals/

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· 4mo ago

1/8 It's happening! The 19th edition of @CPDPconferences@eupolicy.social is officially underway in Brussels – the multidisciplinary conference on privacy and data protection, bringing together researchers, policymakers, civil society, and tech practitioners from across the globe.

Come find our booth and say hi! And stay tuned for our key sessions 👇

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· 4mo ago

🚨 New research commissioned by EDRi analyses the implementation of the #LawEnforcementDirective in Bulgaria, France, Greece, Germany and Slovenia.

Even eight years after the LED’s entry into application, its implementation remains fragmented and insufficient ❌

The LED is a crucial #DigitalRights protection instrument and provides protection standards for the processing of personal data by law enforcement authorities 🚔

Read the full study and country reports ➡️ https://edri.org/our-work/research-study-evaluation-of-eus-law-enforcement-directive-shows-implementation-still-fragmented-and-insufficient/

eupolicy.social

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@eric@mastodon.ericbeckers.nl Here: https://privacycamp.eu/join-us-for-the-digital-rights-lounge-powered-by-privacy-camp-2/

· 4mo ago

Replying to

privacycamp.eu

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