SkyCon talk – Sleepwalking into a Surveillance Society?
We were delighted to be invited to Limerick last weekend for the very enjoyable SkyCon where TJ gave a talk on whether we are “Sleepwalking into a Surveillance Society?” The talk got off to a promising start when we were met with this sign at …
Dublin City-Wide WiFi – Privacy Implications?
It’s great to see that Dublin City Council are planning free wireless internet access for Dublin – hopefully replacing the expensive and patchy coverage currently available. One issue that will be important in designing and implementing this system is whether it respects the privacy of …
Progress on the Data Retention Case
You might be wondering why you haven’t heard more about our case against the Government over data retention. This is because the defendants, despite being well out of time, have failed to put in their defence. In non-legal terms, this would be rather like a …
ICEL Conference on Privacy and the ECHR
The Irish Centre for European Law are holding a conference on “Privacy: Developments in the European Court of Human Rights” on Wed. 13th December. They’ve secured a superb line up of speakers: Professor William Binchy, T.C.D. (Chair Panel I) Gavin Millar Q.C., Doughty Street Chambers, …
New Irish Passports have RFID chip
Despite the recent press attention to the launch of ‘biometric’ passports, not many reporters have focused on the fact that these new passports seem to include Radio Frequency ID (RFID) chips. From the Department of Foreign Affairs website (link) “The chip technology allows the information …
New IRMA Legal Action
As before DRI support copyright holders’ efforts to protect and assert their rights. However the way in which IRMA has done so still leaves a number of questions unanswered. …
WIPO Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Orgainisations: Update
The WIPO broadcast treaty (or Treaty on the protection of broadcasters, as is its official title) seems to have gone into retreat for the time being. The WIPO General Assemblies did not rubber stamp the recommendation to convene a diplomatic conference (to finalise the treaty). …
Launch of DRM.info: what the public should know about “Digital Restrictions Management”
Earlier today, a group of likeminded organisations and authors launched DRM.info, a collaborative platform to share information about the impact, use and potential dangers of DRM. DRM is commonly discussed as “Digital Rights Management” (DRM) or “Technological Protection Measures” (TPM). However, as the experience to …
Terrorism no excuse to undermine privacy
Peter Hustinx, European Data Protection Supervisor: Terrorism and organised crime should not be used as excuses for passing laws which undermine people’s privacy and data protection rights … It is a misconception that protection of privacy and personal data holds back the fight against terrorism …
The DRI legal action – What can you do to protect your rights?
We are at the edge of Europe, but our legal action challenging mass surveillance has implications for the whole European Union. We are the only group bringing a legal challenge and we need your support. We need support on a number of fronts: – We …
DRI brings legal action over mass surveillance
We have now started our legal action against the Government challenging Irish and European laws on data retention. Here’s the full press release. DIGITAL RIGHTS IRELAND CHALLENGES MASS SURVEILLANCE LAWS Irish civil rights group Digital Rights Ireland (DRI) has started a High Court action against …
Support a right to be warned if your personal information is exposed
Disclosure of your personal information can expose the most private details of your live and leave you vulnerable to identity theft. Unfortunately Irish law doesn’t require companies to tell you when their security has been compromised and your personal information stolen. The first you might …
