Data & Privacy

Industrial Strategy 08-11-2023

Europe lacks courage in pursuing digital sovereignty, cloud service CEO says

Est. 5min

EU policymakers should have the "courage and fair-mindedness" to pursue a sovereign cloud and regulate American cloud providers under the EU antitrust law on digital markets, Michel Paulin, CEO of the leading French provider OVHcloud, told Euractiv in an interview.

Law enforcement 04-07-2023

Poland slams child sexual abuse material regulation as unnecessary

Est. 4min

The regulation to fight child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online is unnecessary as there are other regulations for safety on the internet, Paweł Lewandowski, Polish undersecretary of state at the chancellery of the prime minister, told EURACTIV.

30-05-2023

New study points to economic, geopolitical gaps in EU data strategy

Est. 5min

Economic preparedness and the geopolitical dimension of data are potential pitfalls of the EU data strategy, an economic expert told EURACTIV ahead of the publication of a new study next week. “The paper underlines how Europe is lagging behind the US …

19-04-2023

Child sexual abuse: leading MEP sceptical of technical limitations

Est. 5min

As the European Parliament's published its draft report on the proposal to fight child sexual abuse material (CSAM), the rapporteur shared with EURACTIV his vision about the key aspects of the file. Javier Zarzalejos is an influential voice inside European People's …

Data protection 30-07-2021

Schrems has Facebook data processing in sights for next coup

Est. 4min

After notorious data activist Max Schrems already brought down the EU-US Privacy Shield data transfer agreement, his next coup could turn Facebook's entire data processing upside down. In an interview with EURACTIV Germany, Schrems spoke about his new case against the tech giant and the impact it could have.

China 03-06-2021

MEPs sound the alarm over Chinese mass surveillance project in Belgrade

Est. 5min

The European Parliament is taking a close look at China's high-tech present to Serbia, a mass surveillance system that involves the installation of thousands of smart surveillance cameras equipped with facial recognition features, MEP Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield (Greens/EFA, France) told EURACTIV in an interview.

Technology 26-05-2021

Portugal’s contribution to the European Digital Agenda

Est. 5min

Digital transformation of the way Europeans live and do business is one of the priorities of the Portuguese EU Council presidency, which ends on 30 June. To find out how much has been achieved, and what Portugal's successor, Slovenia, should pursue, EURACTIV spoke to Hugo Santos Mendes, Portugal's deputy minister for communications.

Data protection 12-05-2021

China’s third way on data governance

Est. 4min

Last year, China launched its bid to shape global data governance, eager to create its own approach alongside those created by the United States and the EU. Since then, it has been working on a comprehensive data protection framework that could be a game-changer for potential Western investors.

Technology 16-11-2020

MEP: Connectivity is vital for an EU single market for data

Est. 9min

In order for the goals in the EU's data strategy to be realised, connectivity is a necessary prerequisite, but the bloc should also be wary of implementing policies that move towards a culture of data localisation, says Finnish MEP Miapetra Kumpula-Natri.

Future EU 26-05-2020

Volt MEP: Abolishing unanimity is key to making the EU more effective

Est. 5min

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.

Data protection 07-02-2020

Xiaomi president: ‘We invest substantial amounts to be fully compliant with GDPR’

Est. 5min

Amid security concerns surrounding Chinese tech giant Huawei, its smaller telecoms rival Xiaomi has been attempting to distinguish itself by focusing on consumer products and non-critical infrastructure.

Economy 05-12-2019

EU needs to focus on legislation in the digital sphere, MEP Angelika Niebler says

Est. 5min

The EU has proven to be successful in legislating in the digital age but it needs to keep up the work to avoid being left behind, because "the digital revolution has been moving faster than legislation", MEP Angelika Niebler (EPP, Germany) told EURACTIV in a written interview.

Data protection 14-05-2019

User data on the Internet: Manipulation as a business model

Est. 9min

European election campaigns are well underway and online votes are also being sought. In such situations, the temptation to misuse data is great, as the Cambridge Analytica scandal in the US elections demonstrated. In the EU, parties have also long relied on advanced data analysis, but is this still legal? EURACTIV Germany talked to a communication expert.

Gabriel: Facebook users ‘need to know what happened with their data’

Est. 10min

Facebook users “need to know what happened with their data” following reports over a week ago that millions of profiles on the social media platform were secretly used to help political campaigns, EU Digital Commissioner Mariya Gabriel said.

Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, president of the Article 29 Working Party
Data protection 08-02-2018

Falque-Pierrotin leaves top EU post before dawn of ‘new era’ for privacy

Est. 9min

EU regulators have forced tech giants to comply with the bloc's strict data protection rules. But when Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin took over as top EU privacy watchdog in 2014, she said the mostly American companies were ignorant about Europe’s strict standards and thought "the world is uniform".

Data protection 19-01-2018

Jourova: ‘Never say never’ to EU hate speech law

Est. 10min

Tech giants should share the technology they develop to detect hate speech with smaller companies, EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova said in an interview.

Data protection 01-12-2017

Top EU privacy watchdog wants centralised regulator with muscle to police firms

Est. 8min

EU lawmakers should create a new, centralised data protection authority to oversee investigations of privacy breaches that affect more than member state in the bloc, Giovanni Buttarelli, the EU’s top privacy watchdog, said in an interview.

Technology 14-11-2017

Lead MEP: member states’ slow pace on ePrivacy is unacceptable

Est. 11min

Different political groups need to accept the European Parliament’s agreement on the draft ePrivacy regulation, even though conservative and centre-right MEPs opposed the bill, Birgit Sippel said in an interview with EURACTIV.com.

Batteries 18-10-2017

MEP: EU needs common standards for digital transport, data management

Est. 5min

Europe will have to work hard against competitors in China and the US to be a global leader in digital solutions for transport, an MEP involved in the issue told EURACTIV.com in an interview. Legislation must ensure common standards across the EU for transport to flow freely, she stressed.

Big member states are dividing the EU on digital agenda

Est. 10min

Four countries - Germany, France, Italy and Spain - drafted a paper outlining their priorities ahead of last Friday’s (29 September) digital summit, where heads of state gathered in Estonia. Poland’s Digital Minister Krzysztof Szubert told EURACTIV.com their paper risks dividing EU member states on digital issues.

Cybersecurity 27-09-2017

EU digital official: Cyber threats know no borders

Est. 5min

Linda Cogruedo Steneberg, Director at the the European Commission's DG Connect , revealed how the EU executive is trying to extend broadband coverage and democratise the internet, as well as protecting our privacy as hacker attacks become more commonplace. EURACTIV Spain reports.

European Data Protection Supervisor Giovanni Buttarelli published his recommended proposal for the data protection regulation today (27 July)
Data protection 03-08-2017

EU privacy watchdog: Privacy shield should be temporary

Est. 5min

European privacy watchdogs have received “a few” complaints about the privacy shield data transfer agreement with the United States since it was brokered one year ago, the EU's top privacy advocate said in an interview.

Technology 09-02-2017

Czech MEP: Europe needs harmonised standards for smart cities

Est. 9min

According to Dita Charanzová, smart cities are about bettering the lives of Europe's citizens. They'll not only improve urban life but the environment too, she told Euractiv.com

Trade & Society 02-12-2016

Netzpolitik editor: Trump will press on with ‘insidious’ TiSA deal

Est. 5min

TTIP and CETA aren't the only controversial trade deals around. Net politics activist Markus Beckedahl told EURACTIV Germany that the proposed Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) is a huge threat to data protection.