Following a number of complaints filed in 2018 and 2019, including by Panoptykon and Bits of Freedom, and coordinated by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, the Belgian Data Protection Authority has found that the consent system developed and managed by the adtech industry body IAB Europe, and used by many websites in the EU, is illegal under the GDPR.

As the European Parliament gets ready to vote on the AI Act, we call on MEPs to put our fundamental rights first and protect the people affected by AI systems.

The report looks at what happens at the interface of Internet service providers and public authorities in Poland. Who sends requests for users data, how many and for what purpose, what legal procedures are followed and what safeguards apply. During our research we analysed legal provisions and collected data from both major Internet service providers and public authorities. On that basis we were able to identify several systemic problems that should be solved in order to ensure adequate standard of protection for individuals.

We are right to be worried about the polarization of public debate, the rise of populism and digital propaganda. It also goes without saying that social media have a growing impact on our politics and society.

By blocking the accounts and groups of Społeczna Inicjatywa Narkopolityki (SIN, the Civil Society Drug Policy Initiative), Meta has infringed on the organization’s personal rights. On Wednesday, a Polish court issued a watershed decision in a case supported by the Panoptykon Foundation, thereby confirming that Internet platforms cannot block users at will. The court also confirmed that banned users have the right to sue in their own country.