NL Times, 12 July 2017: 'Lawsuit started against new Dutch data mining law'
Wednesday, 12 July 2017 Privacy First in the Media
"Twelve organizations teamed up to file a lawsuit to stop the implementation of a new data mining law in the Netherlands. The new law was adopted by the Dutch Senate on Tuesday and gives the intelligence services more capabilities to spy on internet traffic on a large scale. "We trust that the Dutch judges will pull the brake and say: this law goes too far", human rights lawyer Jelle Klaas, who is representing the coalition of organizations in their lawsuit, said to RTL Nieuws. The coalition includes the Public Interest Litigation Project, civil rights organization Privacy First, the Dutch Association of Journalists, the Dutch Association of Criminal Law Attorneys and the Platform for the Protection of Civil Rights. According to…
EU Passenger Name Records: every airline passenger a potential suspect
Thursday, 14 April 2016 Privacy First in the Media
EU Passenger Name Records: every airline passenger a potential suspect. Today is a historic day in both a positive and a negative sense: on the one hand European Parliament has taken an important step forward in the area of privacy by adopting the General Data Protection Regulation. On the other hand, that same parliament has today concurred with large-scale storage of data of European airline passengers. As a result, every airline passenger becomes a potential suspect. The General Data Protection Regulation will replace national privacy legislation in all EU Member States (this includes the Dutch Data Protection Act, Wet bescherming persoonsgegevens) and, in broad terms, will lead to better privacy protection throughout the European Union. Privacy Impact Assessments and Privacy…
Forbes.com (USA), 27 January 2016: 'Facebook Fires Back In EU Privacy Dispute'
Friday, 29 January 2016 Privacy First in the Media
"Facebook continues to breach personal data privacy rights in Europe, says a group of human rights organizations, and it demands that Facebook’s EU-US data transfers stop by February 6, 2016. Facebook has formally responded. As previously reported, the Privacy First Foundation, Public Interest Litigation Project PILP and the Dutch Platform for the Protection of Civil Rights (collectively, “Privacy First”) sent Facebook a demand letter, to which Facebook has now replied in writing. Facebook’s written response Facebook responded to Privacy First’s demand letter by giving written assurances of data protection in accordance with current law–that is, those parts of the Privacy Directive that survived the ruling in Schrems, the case that invalidated Safe Harbor. Specifically, Facebook states that “the grounds for…
ictBusiness.it (Italy), 17 December 2015: 'L’attacco olandese e la difesa Facebook: non siamo peggio di altri'
Sunday, 20 December 2015 Privacy First in the Media
"Non siamo la pecora nera, e rispettiamo le stesse regole degli altri. Potremmo così sintetizzare il nocciolo della difesa di Facebook contro le accuse di alcune organizzazioni pro-privacy e utenti olandesi che hanno chiesto, con lettera formale, di impedire il trasferimento di dati personali degli iscritti verso gli Stati Uniti, dove risiedono molti suoi data center e molte delle sue aziende inserzioniste. Minacciando azioni legali nel caso il social network non interrompa questa pratica prima del 16 gennaio. Le radici della vicenda sono note: dalla denuncia inoltrata nel 2013 dallo studente austriaco Max Schrems, fino alla recente decisione della Corte di Giustizia dell’Unione Europea di invalidare gli accordi regolati dal Safe Harbor.Vero è che le nuove regole comunitarie travolgono non…
Forbes.com (USA), 15 December 2015: 'Facebook Threatened With Lawsuit Over EU-US Data Transfers'
Thursday, 17 December 2015 Privacy First in the Media
"Facebook, Inc. and related entities have received a letter demanding them to stop EU-US data transfers until U.S. laws comply with the EU data protection regime, or risk lawsuit in the Netherlands. Facebook must cease transfer by 15 January 2016. The complaining parties have reserved rights to file suit if compliance is not forthcoming. The demand and summons letter was sent today by the Boekx law firm in Amsterdam on behalf of numerous plaintiffs including:• Privacy First Foundation (Stichting Privacy First)• Public Interest Litigation Project PILP• Dutch Platform for the Protection of Civil Rightsand other users of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The letter was sent to Facebook Netherlands B.V., Facebook Ireland Limited, Facebook Inc. and Instagram LLC (California), and WhatsApp…
The Peninsula (Qatar), 12 March 2015: 'Dutch court nixes data storage law, says privacy breached'
Thursday, 26 March 2015 Privacy First in the Media
"A Dutch court on Wednesday struck down a law requiring telecoms and Internet service providers to store their clients' private phone and email data, saying it breached European privacy rules. "The judge ruled that data retention is necessary and effective to combat serious crime. Dutch legislation however infringes on the individual's right to privacy and the protection of personal data," the Hague district court said. "The law therefore contravenes the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union," the court said in a statement. Seven groups and organisations including privacy watchdog Privacy First and the Dutch Association of Journalists dragged the Dutch state to court last month over the issue. The Dutch court's decision comes after the European Court of…
Le Parisien (France), 11 March 2015: 'La justice néerlandaise annule une loi sur les données personnelles'
Thursday, 26 March 2015 Privacy First in the Media
"La justice néerlandaise a annulé mercredi une loi exigeant le stockage de données personnelles, assurant que bien qu'utile à la lutte contre le crime, le texte violait la vie privée des utilisateurs des réseaux téléphoniques et d'internet. "Les juges ont estimé que le stockage de données était nécessaire et efficace pour combattre le crime, mais la législation néerlandaise est contraire aux droits des personnes à une vie privée et à la protection de leurs données personnelles", a indiqué le tribunal de La Haye dans un communiqué. "La loi est donc contraire à la Charte des droits fondamentaux de l'Union européenne", a ajouté le tribunal. Sept organisations, dont l'organisation de défense de la vie privée Privacy First et l'Association néerlandaise des…
Star Online (Malaysia), 12 March 2015: 'Dutch court nixes data storage law, says privacy breached'
Thursday, 26 March 2015 Privacy First in the Media
"A Dutch court struck down a law requiring telecoms and Internet service providers to store their clients' private phone and e-mail data, saying it breached European privacy rules. "The judge ruled that data retention is necessary and effective to combat serious crime. Dutch legislation however infringes on the individual's right to privacy and the protection of personal data," the Hague district court said. "The law therefore contravenes the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union," the court said in a statement. Seven groups and organisations including privacy watchdog Privacy First and the Dutch Association of Journalists dragged the Dutch state to court last month over the issue. The Dutch court's decision comes after the European Court of Justice in…
Bangkok Post (Thailand), 12 March 2015: 'Dutch court nixes data storage law, says privacy breached'
Thursday, 26 March 2015 Privacy First in the Media
"A Dutch court on Wednesday struck down a law requiring telecoms and Internet service providers to store their clients' private phone and email data, saying it breached European privacy rules. "The judge ruled that data retention is necessary and effective to combat serious crime. Dutch legislation however infringes on the individual's right to privacy and the protection of personal data," the Hague district court said. "The law therefore contravenes the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union," the court said in a statement. Seven groups and organisations including privacy watchdog Privacy First and the Dutch Association of Journalists dragged the Dutch state to court last month over the issue. The Dutch court's decision comes after the European Court of…
Chronicle Herald (Canada), 11 March 2015: 'Judge overturns Dutch data retention legislation'
Thursday, 26 March 2015 Privacy First in the Media
"A judge scrapped the Netherlands' data retention law Wednesday, saying that while it helps solve crimes it also breaches the privacy of telephone and Internet users. The ruling followed a similar decision in April by the European Union's top court that wiped out EU data collection legislation it deemed too broad and offering too few privacy safeguards. The Security and Justice Ministry said it was considering an appeal. Under the Dutch law, telephone companies were required to store information about all fixed and mobile phone calls for a year. Internet providers had to store information on their clients' Internet use for six months. The written judgment by Judge G.P. van Ham conceded that scrapping the data storage "could have far-reaching…
