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.
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Latest Posts
Chat control: EU Ombudsman criticises revolving door between Europol and chat control tech lobbyist Thorn
Half-good new Polish Chat Control proposal to be discussed on Wednesday
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.