The final EU Parliament position upholds all of the fundamental rights demands which were added at committee level. Despite efforts to overturn it, the final position also maintains the committees' strong stance against biometric mass surveillance practices. But it is disappointing that the plenary missed the opportunity to increase protections

Despite the clear warnings, Belgium has taken a position calling on the EU to adopt the CSA regulation as quickly as possible, dismissing the technical problems, and without addressing the serious legal concerns that have been raised. https://edri.org/our-work/the-belgian-government-is-failing-to-consider-human-rights-in-csa-regulation/

The Wall Street Journal reports the European Commission plans to file an antitrust complaint aimed at breaking up Google's advertising technology business. The complaint will call for Google to sell off some of its adtech tools, some of which are driven by data collection and profiling that help generate targeted

Google's generative artificial intelligence tool Bard will not debut in the EU until the company satisfies privacy concerns raised by Ireland's Data Protection Commission, Politico reports. Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle said the regulator "had not had any detailed briefing nor sight of a data protection impact assessment" from Google ahead

A spreadsheet on ad platform Xandr’s website revealed a massive collection of “audience segments” used to target consumers based on highly specific, sometimes intimate information and inferences https://themarkup.org/privacy/2023/06/08/from-heavy-purchasers-of-pregnancy-tests-to-the-depression-prone-we-found-650000-ways-advertisers-label-you

'Rotterdam is at the forefront of digital surveillance,' says Marc Schuilenburg in the sun-drenched garden of his home in De Esch, sipping a mug of filter coffee. 'The idea of a smart city, in which algorithms and data-driven surveillance play an important role, resonates here - just look at

Last year, it was revealed that the USA planned to launch Enhanced Border Security Partnerships (EBSPs) with other states around the world, seemingly targeting the EU, UK and Israel first. These would involve “continuous and systematic” transfers of biometric data to the USA for the purposes of immigration and asylum

The Netherlands' data protection authority, Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, claimed it was made aware of a potential data breach of Tesla, Reuters reports. A German publication claimed to have received 100 gigabytes of confidential data from a whistleblower, indicating lax data practices on the part of Tesla. AP officials declined to state

The Guardian reports the websites of 20 U.K. National Health Service trusts are collecting browser information and sharing details about patients' medical conditions, appointments and treatments with Facebook through a Meta Pixel tool. The U.K. Information Commissioner's Office is investigating. A report published by the Open Rights Group

Eight years after a controversy over Black people being mislabeled as gorillas by image analysis software — and despite big advances in computer vision — tech giants still fear repeating the mistake. By Kashmir Hill and Nico Grant for The New York Times on May 22, 2023 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/

The Ethiopian-born computer scientist lost her job after pointing out the inequalities built into AI. But after decades working with technology companies, she knows all too much about discrimination. By John Harris for The Guardian on May 22, 2023 https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/may/22/there-was-all-sorts-of-toxic-behaviour-timnit-gebru-on-her-sacking-by-google-ais-dangers-and-big-techs-biases

Lab will advance assessments of AI systems in the public interest. From Data & Society on May 10, 2023 https://datasociety.net/announcements/2023/05/10/data-society-announces-the-launch-of-its-algorithmic-impact-methods-lab/

In its opinion on the Bezirkshauptmannschaft Landeck case, the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice is failing to suggest adequate safeguards for police access to our smartphones. https://edri.org/our-work/eu-court-of-justice-advocate-general-accepts-access-to-phones-for-any-crime/

How a Swiss tech expert runs a global phone surveillance systemIn the decade since Edward Snowden’s leaks exposed the workings of the US and UK national surveillance apparatus, the market for spying services has fragmented and expanded into a start-up economy of location trackers, password crackers and data extractors.

On 8 May 2023, the Committee of Inquiry of the European Parliament investigating the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware (PEGA) adopted its final report and recommendation, after 14 months of hearings, studies and fact-finding missions. https://edri.org/our-work/pega-committee-does-not-go-all-the-way-on-spyware-regulation/

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) has a major influence on climate action, climate change mitigation and the work of environmental defenders. It offers potential benefits, for example when it is used to enhance high-resolution mapping of deforestation, coral reef loss, and soil erosion. On the other hand, it poses

The European Commission’s plan for a “security-related information sharing system between frontline officers in the EU and key partner countries” should be scrapped, says a paper signed by 10 organisations, including Statewatch, who warn that it may aid political repression and underpin human rights violations. https://edri.org/our-work/

Meta's quarterly filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission show it's bracing for a stop on EU-U.S. data flows and a "substantial" EU General Data Protection Regulation fine. Meta said the formal enforcement order by Ireland's Data Protection Commission, due by 12 May, could force a halt

Following the burglary of a French logistics company in 2019, facial recognition technology (FRT) was used on security camera footage of the incident in an attempt to identify the perpetrators. In this case, the FRT system listed two hundred people as potential suspects. From this list, the police singled out

The bias encoded in artificial intelligence systems can’t be fixed with better data alone - it requires significant societal change. Meredith Broussard, a data journalist and academic, has written a new book called "More Than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender and Ability Bias in Tech," which highlights the real

Whistleblower reveals Netherlands’ use of secret and potentially illegal algorithm to score visa applicantsIn 2022, a report commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs concluded that the agency’s internal culture was riddled with structural racism. Some employees recounted being described as “monkeys” while others were continually asked to

tem of teacher recruitment in Italy, with the introduction of a GPS algorithm by former Minister of Education Lucia Azzolina. The algorithm evaluates teachers' CVs and preferences in location and class to match them with schools' vacancies. If the algorithm finds a better matching candidate, it selects them instead. With

The EDRi network published amendments and recommendations for the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) proposal calling for comprehensive protection for journalists, journalistic sources and human defenders against surveillance measures. https://edri.org/our-work/spyware-is-only-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-we-need-to-protect-journalists-from-all-forms-of-surveillance/

In the run up to the AI Act vote in the European Parliament, civil society organisations call on the European Parliament to prioritise fundamental rights and protect people affected by artificial intelligence systems. https://edri.org/our-work/civil-society-urges-european-parliament-to-protect-peoples-rights-in-the-ai-act/

Unpublished documents and inside sources give rare look into secretive AI system used to decide who is shirking workSpain has positioned itself as a leader in responsible AI within Europe. Yet promises of transparency have often fallen flat and public watchdogs have struggled to gain meaningful access to algorithms deployed