08 November 2022
The DSA fails to reign in the most harmful digital platform businesses – but it is still useful
While the DSA has just been crafted carefully enough to avoid major damage to digital rights in the EU, it has focussed so much on who must delete what kind of content within which time frame, that it missed the bigger picture: no content moderation policy in the world will protect us from harmful online content as long as we do not address the dominant, yet incredibly damaging surveillance business model of most large tech firms. Continue reading >>
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28 August 2022
Secrecy, Democracy, and the Greek Wiretapping Case
The Androulakis case not only challenged and altered the Greek political agenda, but also provoked substantial concerns about the protection of the right to secrecy of communications and in a wider sense the quality of rule of law in Greece. Continue reading >>
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18 August 2022
„Thank you very much, your mail is perfectly fine“
About two weeks ago, the Commission presented its draft for a "Regulation laying down rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse". The planned introduction of the inspection of all digitally sent messages is likely to be the largest state surveillance project in Europe since the end of the Cold War and blatantly violates the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Continue reading >>
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18 August 2022
My spy is always with me
On 11 May this year, the European Commission presented its draft of a "Regulation laying down rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse". Initial reactions to the draft have been controversial. The draft bundles measures to combat sexualized violence that have been common for some time, but whose technical and legal controversies have still not been fully overcome. What is new, however, is that under the proposed regulation, individual communications on certain communications services are to be searched for certain content on a large scale and in part without any probable cause. Continue reading >>
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23 Juni 2022
A Directive altered beyond recognition
On 21 June 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union rendered its decision in the preliminary ruling procedure on the fate of the PNR Directive. The Court had a chance to decisively answer one of the most crucial questions facing European security law: Is indiscriminate mass data retention for and the technology-induced analysis of ordinary human behavior compatible with fundamental rights? It instead opted for an enigmatic compromise creating a whole host of new questions. It does not change the fact that the PNR Directive survives – as a strange beast altered beyond recognition. Continue reading >>
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25 Mai 2022
„Vielen Dank, Ihre Post ist unbedenklich“
Vor rund zwei Wochen hat die Kommission ihren Entwurf für eine Verordnung zur Bekämpfung des sexuellen Missbrauchs von Kindern vorgestellt. Die damit verbundene Einführung der Überprüfung sämtlicher digital verschickter Inhalte dürfte das größte staatliche Überwachungsvorhaben in Europa seit dem Ende des Kalten Krieges sein und verstößt offenkundig gegen die Grundrechte-Charta. Continue reading >>21 Mai 2022
Enabling Digital Authoritarianism in the Name of Counterterrorism
Nigeria's transition to a digital economy is in full swing. As terrorism and violent extremism are ravaging certain parts of the country, the mounting insecurity has necessitated huge budgetary allocations to national security, giving way to a new kind of digital authoritarianism. Serious concerns have been raised regarding the misuse of collected data and arbitrary surveillance, which undermine human rights and civic freedoms. Continue reading >>
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09 Mai 2022
The Costs of Mass Surveillance in Slovakia
Solving the dilemma of how much surveillance is needed to maintain security and not crossing the threshold of its excessive interference with rights is not easy. It is an ongoing process, also in Slovakia, influenced by many factors - the fight against terrorism, despite not being a prominent threat for the country, has been one of the major drivers of invasive state surveillance. When this happens in the context of weak institutions, it leads to the deterioration of democracy. Continue reading >>
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21 April 2022
The legacy of the privacy versus security narrative in the ECtHR’s jurisprudence
The past two decades of counterterrorism strategy attest to the fact that the security/privacy trade-off approach is not only outdated, but that it also amounts to a gross oversimplification of the complexities involved in the modern culture of surveillance. Nevertheless, the ECtHR's acceptance of bulk interception regimes as measures that in principle fall within states’ discretion seems to be predicated on this outdated trade-off. Continue reading >>12 April 2022
Elektronische Überwachung in Zeiten einer demokratischen Krise
Die polnische Erfahrung zeigt, wie eine entschlossene populistische Regierung mit denen in einer Demokratie zur Verfügung stehenden Mitteln in relativ kurzer Zeit die zur Kontrolle der staatlichen Überwachungstätigkeit geschaffenen rechtlichen Garantien aushöhlen kann. Die notwendige Geheimhaltung, die die Arbeit der Sicherheitsdienste umgibt, darf keine Gelegenheit zum Missbrauch von Befugnissen schaffen. Eine Überwachung ohne angemessene Kontrolle schwächt die Demokratie, führt zu einer Verzerrung ihrer Grundsätze und bedroht letztlich, wie der EGMR gewarnt hat, ihre Existenz selbst. Continue reading >>
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