The German Constitutional court declared the data retention law as unconstitutional, in a landmark decision given today 2.03.2010.
After data retention ruling: Civil liberties activists call for political end to retention of telecommunications data
+++ Data retention opposed by 70% of German population +++ European Citizens’ Initiative for repealing the EU directive on data retention announced +++ [...]

Article published in EDRi-gram 8.3
On January 28 and 29, the Council of Europe held a consultation meeting on the launch of work on a new international instrument that would create neighbouring rights for broadcasting organisations. The purpose of this initiative is to take up the work of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) which, following [...]

Article published in EDRi-gram 8.3
The transposition of the Data Retention Directive in Belgium has remained stagnant for a long time. Following a public consultation in May 2008 on a first draft law proposal and draft royal decree to transpose this Directive into Belgian law, a broad group of organisations voiced a strong position against the [...]

See now FAQ on Swift also in French, German, Italian and Finnish
In German
http://www.edri.org/files/SWIFT-FAQ_2010-02-10-DE.pdf
In Italian
http://www.edri.org/files/SWIFT-FAQ_2010-02-10-IT.pdf
In French
http://www.edri.org/files/SWIFT-FAQ_2010-02-10-FR.pdf
In Finnish
http://www.effi.org/uutiset/100209-swift-faq-sopimus.html
After the Civil Liberties committee in the European Parliament (EP) rejected on 5 February 2010 the interim nine-month SWIFT deal between the EU and US, now it will be up to the plenary of the EP to confirm the decision [...]

AEDH (European Association for the Defence of Human rights) and EDRI (European Digital Rights) launch the first edition of the European Civil Society Data Protection Award (ECSDPA). The prize aims at rewarding positive initiatives contributing to the visibility and effectiveness of right to privacy and to the protection of personal data in Europe. The ECSDPA [...]

(Please note that all notes from Live Blogging were taken live and might contain some errors)
Last session from the Public Voice events - http://thepublicvoice.org/events/madrid0…
Presenting the declaration - Global Privacy Standards for a Global World, The Civil Society Declaration Madrid, Spain, 3 November 2009
Ms. Jennifer Stoddart, Privacy Commissioner, Canada (Canada)
Describing Canada’s situation. Other activitis from the [...]

See the previous workshops coverage
Moderator: Prof. Yves Poullet, Computing Research Centre, Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix (Belgium)
Mr. Pedro Martinez, Fiscal, Madrid High Court (Spain)
Data retention directive -  scope to monitor citizens
Implementation in spain - software SITEL - part of Interpol. Discussion on spanish issues regarding wiretapping and data retetion directive ( The translator [...]

Moderator: Ms. Anna Fielder, TACD, Privacy International (UK)
Mr. Michael Donohue, OECD
Cloud computing = industralization of IT. No formal defition, cloud servicies - convienient on-demand access to services over the Internet.
Policy - security & privacy.  But also procurement (govt buyer of claud services), broadband access, competition policy, IP + consumer protection.
Tension between user control and cloud [...]

Notes taken during the Speech (might have misssed some things):
Speech Stravros Limbrinidis - VicePresident EP
- we live in a world where everyone want to have the biggest access to our private data. And they can, today. This is the schyzofrenia of the Internet. Talk freely. Organize freely. The right to education and access to info. [...]

Live blogging from the Public Voice Coalition - Global Privacy Standards for a Global World - check out the programme here. Held in conjunction with the International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy
Also watch #globalprivacy on twitter or EDRi’s twitter account
Marc Rotenberg starts talking about Public Coalition, thanking Katitza Rodriguez for her help and for [...]