About: GDPR
EU data watchdog ‘strongly encourages’ institutions to avoid US data transfers
The EU's data protection watchdog has warned the bloc's institutions that they should refrain from embarking on new activities that involve transferring personal data to the US, in the wake of a decision from the European Court of Justice earlier this year.
EP’s COVID website overrun with US web trackers, MEP raises data concerns
The European Parliament's coronavirus test management website is overrun with user tracking requests, some of which are attempting to siphon data to US-based firms at a time in which the future of transatlantic data flows is far from clear.
Commission must refuse UK data adequacy, rights group says
The European Commission should not grant the UK a data adequacy agreement as part of its ongoing assessment of the country's data protection landscape, an Irish civil rights group has said.
MEPs furious over Commission’s ambiguity on Clearview AI scandal
The European Commission's lack of substantial response to concerns over the use of Clearview AI technology by EU law enforcement authorities has drawn the ire of MEPs on the European Parliament's Civil Liberties committee.
Commission will ‘not exclude’ potential ban on facial recognition technology
The European Commission has not ruled out a future ban on the use of facial recognition technology in Europe, as the EU executive mulls the findings of a recent public consultation on Artificial Intelligence.
Facebook accused of ‘copy, acquire and kill’ tactics in US antitrust hearing
Social media giant Facebook has come in for heavy criticism as part of a US congressional hearing into the dominance of online tech platforms, being accused of ‘copy, acquire and kill’ tactics as part of its history in acquiring smaller...
EU-US data transfers at critical risk as ECJ invalidates Privacy Shield
The EU-US Privacy Shield agreement that attempts to guarantee the secure transmission of EU data to the United States, has been declared invalid by the European Court of Justice, in a ruling that will provoke major disruption to transatlantic data flows.
Schrems charts US surveillance pushback after ECJ ruling
Silicon Valley should seek to further distance itself from a culture of surveillance established by US law, Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems has said ahead of a key ruling on global data flows later this week.
Commission to ‘analyse necessity’ of GDPR infringement procedures
The European Commission will consider the necessity of introducing infringement procedures against member states that fail to comply with the EU's general data protection regulation (GDPR), the Commission's Justice Chief Didier Reynders has warned.
Commission uncertain on future UK data adequacy agreement
The European Commission has said that it 'cannot predict' whether the UK will be fit for a data transfer adequacy agreement with the EU as part of ongoing negotiations on a future trade deal between the two parties.
LEAK: Commission pushes UK for ‘high degree of convergence’ in GDPR review
The European Commission will tomorrow (24 June) highlight the importance of the UK abiding by EU data protection rules as part of a future relationship between the two parties, in the first review of the landmark general data protection regulation, obtained by EURACTIV.
Crowd monitoring facial recognition tech awarded Commission seal of excellence
The European Commission has given its 'seal of excellence' to a technology that provides 'advanced video analytics, including real-time face recognition and crowd behaviour analysis,' to be used in the bloc's fight against another potential outbreak of the coronavirus.
German data protection commissioner criticises government agencies, legislative procedures
Ulrich Kelber (SPD) rarely shies away from criticising his own government in his role as Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI). During the presentation of his annual reports, he pointed out hasty procedures where data protection is at risk. EURACTIV Germany reports.
Volt MEP: Abolishing unanimity is key to making the EU more effective
The coronavirus crisis has once again shown that reforms of "the basic structure" of the EU are necessary, including abolishing unanimity in the European Council, to strengthen the EU's ability to act, German MEP Damian Boeselager (Volt) told EURACTIV Germany in an interview.
Irish data protection authority under fire over Facebook case
In an open letter, online privacy activist Max Schrems has criticised the Irish data protection commission's handling of a complaint against social media giant Facebook and called on the European Union to step in. EURACTIV Germany reports.
COVID-19 crisis could ‘kick off digital revolution in agriculture’
Digital farming is set to boom in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis, given its capacity to help the EU farming sector improve its sustainability and recover from the outbreak's impact. But there are also considerable concerns raised about the pace of this change and whether farmers are adequately prepared for it.
GDPR enforcement held back by lack of resources, report says
Enforcement of EU data privacy rules is being stifled by a lack of resources across national authorities, according to a new study published today (25 May), on the second anniversary of the EU's landmark general data protection regulation (GDPR).
Irish regulator reaches preliminary decision in Twitter privacy probe
Twitter may be the first big technology firm to face a fine by the EU’s lead regulator under the region’s tougher data protection rules after it submitted a preliminary decision in a probe into the social media firm to other member states.
EU data watchdog ‘very worried’ by Hungary’s GDPR suspension
The European Data Protection Board, the EU's umbrella organisation overseeing the application of EU data protection rules on the bloc, has voiced its concern over the suspension of EU data protection rights in Hungary.
Austrian ministry could face GDPR penalty after publishing personal data online
Austrians' personal data has been publicly accessible on the Ministry of Economy's website since 2009. The liberal party NEOS and NGO epicenter.works call it the "biggest data protection scandal of the Second Republic." NEOS is considering legal action and a GDPR expert told EURACTIV Germany it could be successful.
UK video games to deliver ‘geotargeted’ COVID-19 warnings to players
The UK's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has announced a partnership with a contingency of the UK’s leading video games firms to deliver in-game coronavirus warnings to players.
Commission to probe COVID-19 apps in Europe
The European Commission is monitoring the use of mobile applications used in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic to make sure that the bloc's "values and rules" are not being infringed upon, Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said on Thursday (2 April).
Privacy activists on COVID-19 surveillance: Either ineffective or questionable
In Germany and Austria, there are concrete ideas to monitor their citizens using Big Data, but to be truly effective, the methods would have to be deeply invasive. EURACTIV Germany reports.