civil society
EU urged to reject ‘weak’ Amazon offer to end antitrust probe
A series of commitments offered by Amazon in the EU, where regulators are investigating competition concerns linked to its use of third-party data, has been dubbed “weak, vague and full of looph
Microsoft links Windows zero-day hacks to Austrian spyware maker
Microsoft has linked the exploitation of several Windows and Adobe zero-days targeting organizations in Europe and Central America to a little-known Austrian spyware maker. The technology giant’
UK could force E2E encrypted platforms to do CSAM-scanning
The U.K. government has tabled an amendment to the Online Safety Bill that could put it on a collision course with end-to-end encryption. It’s proposing to give the incoming internet regulator,
UK urgently needs new laws on use of biometrics, warns review
An independent review of UK legislation has concluded the country urgently needs new laws to govern the use of biometric technologies and called for the government to come forward with primary legisla
EU unveils tougher industry Code to combat disinformation
The European Commission has just taken the wraps off a beefed up industry Code of Practice for tackling online disinformation across the EU. Signatories to the Code — who include tech giants lik
Who’s liable for AI-generated lies?
Who will be liable for harmful speech generated by large language models? As advanced AIs such as OpenAI’s GPT-3 are being cheered for impressive breakthroughs in natural language processing and
Europe’s top court unblocks more GDPR litigation against Big Tech
A ruling by the European Union’s top court today is set to unblock a raft of litigation brought by consumer protection organizations seeking to apply the bloc’s General Data Protection Reg
Report reveals Big Tech’s last minute lobbying to weaken EU rules
A new report has peeled back the curtain on big tech’s frenzied lobbying of European Union lawmakers as they finalize a major series of updates to the bloc’s digital rulebook. It reveals s
NSO hacked new Pegasus victims weeks after Apple sought injunction
Investigators say they have found evidence that a Jordanian journalist and human rights defender’s iPhone was hacked with the Pegasus spyware just weeks after Apple sued the spyware’s make
Europe’s AI Act contains powers to order AI models destroyed or retrained, says legal expert
The European Union’s planned risk-based framework for regulating artificial intelligence includes powers for oversight bodies to order the withdrawal of a commercial AI system or require that an
How Europe has expanded its bid to disrupt Big Tech
The European Union’s co-legislators reached political agreement on a major reform of digital competition rules late yesterday, which will introduce up-front obligations and restrictions (literal
The Web Foundation is taking on deceptive design
The Web Foundation‘s Tech Policy Design Lab is working on an interesting-looking project to counter deceptive design — aka dark patterns* — with the goal of producing a portfolio of
Ireland’s privacy watchdog sued for inaction over ‘massive Google data breach’
Ireland’s evasive response to a major security complaint filed against Google’s adtech the year the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into application i
European lawmakers launch investigation into use of Pegasus spyware by EU states
The European Parliament voted on Thursday to create a new “committee of inquiry” to investigate allegations that European member states acquired and used the powerful Pegasus mobile spywar
More deceptive cookie banners targeted in latest noyb EU action
European privacy advocacy group noyb has fired off a second batch of cookie consent complaints (270 in total) targeting websites in the region that it says are failing to properly request users’
Give users genuine control over ad targeting, MEPs urged
Over 30 civil society organizations, pro-privacy tech businesses and European startups are making a last-ditch pitch to try to convince EU lawmakers to put stricter limits on surveillance advertising
Poland’s phone spyware scandal raises doubts over 2019 election
A brewing scandal over the alleged historical use of controversial mobile spyware by Poland’s ruling party against an opposition lawmaker is raising questions over the legitimacy of the country&
Europe’s AI Act falls far short on protecting fundamental rights, civil society groups warn
Civil society has been poring over the detail of the European Commission’s proposal for a risk-based framework for regulating applications of artificial intelligence which was proposed by the EU