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11. October 2024

🇬🇧In response to my complaint, Europol admits mistakes when employees switched to surveillance tech provider Thorn. Internal rules were disregarded without consequences. Europol promises reforms. However, the checks for conflicts of interest would need a fundamental overhaul to exclude pro-surveillance lobbying by ex-employees.

Report: balkaninsight.com/2024/10/11/e

Audit report: ombudsman.europa.eu/en/doc/ins

If you don't already know, make sure you read the scandalous original stories on the file and how commercial interests are entangled with state security and political actors to push for destroying the secrecy on correspondence online:
balkaninsight.com/2023/09/25/w

11. October 2024

🇩🇪Auf meine Beschwerde räumt Europol Fehler beim Wechsel von Mitarbeitern zum -Dienstleister Thorn ein. Vorschriften wurden folgenlos missachtet. Europol verspricht Besserung. Die Prüfung auf Interessenkonflikte müsste aber grundlegend reformiert werden, um Überwachungs-Lobbying durch Ex-Mitarbeiter auszuschließen.

Pressebericht (englisch): balkaninsight.com/2024/10/11/e

Prüfbericht: ombudsman.europa.eu/de/doc/ins

10. October 2024

🇬🇧Dutch Parliament just passed an exemplary resolution on with broad majority +++ "irreconcilable concerns about the proportionality of the European CSAM Regulation" +++ "detection order to be issued on the private communications of all citizens" is unacceptable +++ Government and experts to draft "an alternative European proposal to combat the dissemination of images of online child abuse"
berthub.eu/tkconv/document.htm

10. October 2024

🇩🇪Niederländisches Parlament verabschiedet mit breiter Mehrheit vorbildliche Entschließung zur +++ "unüberwindbare Bedenken gegen die Verhältnismäßigkeit" +++ "die private Kommunikation aller Bürgerinnen und Bürger zu überwachen" sei abzulehnen +++ Regierung soll bis Dezember mit Experten "einen alternativen europäischen Vorschlag zur Bekämpfung der Verbreitung von Bildern von Kindesmissbrauch im Internet erarbeiten"
berthub.eu/tkconv/document.htm

09. October 2024

🇬🇧Thanks to staunch rights defenders in science, NGOs and politics, home affairs ministers will discuss this week but not take a vote! 🥂🥳 parlament.gv.at/dokument/XXVII

Their public exchange tomorrow at around 12.50h will be live streamed and recorded: video.consilium.europa.eu/even

Last meeting with Big Sister Ylva Johansson. Will her successor Magnus Brunner stop the EU's obsession for good?

Patrick Breyer Digital freedom fighter and former Member of European Parliament for the German and the European Pirate Party

Europe’s voice of privacy and the free Internet

About me

I passionately defend human rights in the age of the digital revolution.
I have been active in the civil liberties movement for many years. In court I successfully contested the first German law on data retention and the law on access to subscriber data. I have sued for Internet surfers’ privacy and achieved access to information regarding Court documents in the EU Commission’s possession.

In the European Parliament, as a member of the Greens/European Free Alliance group, I worked on issues including indiscriminate messaging and chat control, European Digital Identity, European space for health data (EHDS) and privacy in electronic communications (ePrivacy) – more of my former responsibilities here.


Latest Posts


Latest Videos

Digital Euro? A Bad Proposal!

05.06.2024: The Commission proposes to create a digital Euro with mandatory identification, holding limits, and payment limits. Every online payment, no matter how small, would be traceable. I discussed how this jeopardises our right to priv...

Julian Assange: Germany has to say and something!

20.05.2023: Today the UK High Court may greenlight the extradition of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange for exposing war crimes. Then his fate will be in the hands of the UK Home Secretary James Cleverly and the US President. We need to contin...

Julian Assange to be extradited? Keep up the pressure on the UK!

08.05.2024: Only two weeks to the extradition decision: We must build pressure on the UK to Free Assange NOW, explains Stella Assange in this video.

Julian Assange: Intimidating the press to keep us ignorant

03.05.2024: On Press Freedom Day, it's a disgrace for the West that Julian #Assange remains in prison for his unwelcome revelations! "Intimidating the press is to keep us ignorant" Stella Assange told me. Only transparency will allow us to control...

EU restrictions on cash payments: Hands off our cash!

Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange: Will Europe break its silence?

26.02.2024: On 26 February, we Pirates and our parliamentary group voted on whether the "Extradition and prosecution of Julian Assange and its impact on press freedom" should be discussed this week.

EU to make interconnected electronic patient records mandatory for all citizens

EU Parliament doesn't want Chat Control! What next?

#ChatControl: The way out

Real child protection is possible without data retention!

29.09.2023: The Polish Advocate General of the EU Court of Justice recommends weakening jurisdiction and using data retention to prosecute file-sharers. First the killer argument "child protection" and now all dams break to track down petty crimin...

Banning TikTok is not enough to stop the surveillance capitalist business model!

18.09.2023: The €345 million fine against Tik Tok for violating children's privacy is right and way overdue, but much more needs to follow, as I have recently criticised. https://politico.eu/article/tiktok-fine-social-media-china-violate-children-...

Digital Education: How is the EU helping?

Amazing #AIAct victory: EU Parliament just voted to fully ban real-time #facialrecognition in Europe!

https://www.patrick-breyer.de/en/historic-vote-eu-parliament-to-ban-biometric-mass-surveillance/

Data retention: Myths and Facts

Pirates sailing together in the European Parliament


My priorities for Europe

Protecting human rights in the digital age

PRIVACY

Right to privacy instead of mass surveillance and data retention – because it is nobody’s business, with whom you are in contact and which websites you visit.

CENSORSHIP

Right to the free exchange of information and opinions – so that nobody censors or filters what you are allowed to read and write on the Internet.

COPYRIGHT

Modern, fair copyright law – so that you can no longer be cashed in by lawyers.

FREE KNOWLEDGE

Free software and free knowledge – because projects and ideas get better when everyone can work on them.

FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT

Right to free movement – because reintroducing border controls in Europe is the wrong way to go.

Update for Europe

As the “Robin Hood of politics” we want to give power back to the citizens

DISCLOSE CONTACTS

Disclosure of contacts between lobbyists and politicians in order to curb the influence of business on politics.

PUBLISH DOCUMENTS

Publication of official documents instead of secret agreements (e.g. TTIP).

INVOLVING CITIZENS

Citizen participation and direct democracy instead of backroom politics behind closed doors.

PROTECT WHISTLEBLOWERS

Protection instead of prosecution of whistleblowers.

SECURE THE RULE OF LAW

Rule of law for everyone instead of private arbitration courts for corporations.