Spotlight
The growing importance and normalisation of intelligence politics has entailed a whole range of captivating processes, from litigation to legislation, from oversight reports to political processes. In Spotlight, we keep checking in on key developments as they unfold and give context to European intelligence news.
The Pegasus scandal in Poland – between old problems with state surveillance and the current rule of law crisis
The abuse of state surveillance in Poland can only be tackled by establishing independent oversight institutions capable of providing effective legal remedies for victims.
Finnish intelligence overseers’ right of access supersedes Originator Control
The Originator Control principle does not prevent the Finnish Intelligence Ombudsman’s access to all material relating to the national intelligence authorities' cooperation with NATO.
Confronting a blunt Tool: Perspectives on Israel’s mass surveillance litigation
This “Israeli Snowden moment” might tip the scale towards greater proportionality in the laws concerning bulk data collection.
Dutch watchdog orders bulk datasets held by intelligence services to be deleted
The Complaints Department of CTIVD has used its binding authority for the first time. Though the Dutch secret services are now compelled to delete unlawfully held data, weaknesses of the oversight system are evident.
The EU’s Proposed Data Act: Regulating International Flows of Non-Personal Data
The U.S. government has consistently denied deploying its foreign intelligence apparatus to benefit U.S. companies. The Data Act proposal proceeds on the premise that it does.
Five things you didn’t know about Germany’s foreign intelligence reform
An account of 5 critical changes that merit careful scrutiny from the international community.
Privacy risks of (automated) Open Source Intelligence (OSINT)
The privacy interference in the current practice of ‘automated OSINT’ can no longer be perceived as ‘minor’ and begs for a legal debate and sufficient legal safeguards.
Update on the Dutch “Dragnet-Act”: One step forward, two steps back?
A second Amendment Proposal prepared by the government is feared to fundamentally threaten effective oversight.
U.S. and European Surveillance Law Regimes: Time to Adjust the Contrast?
Basic requirements for a more lasting transatlantic data transfer architecture.
France’s tepid intelligence reform
Draft law to introduce new data analysis capabilities.
by Arthur Messaud & Noémie Levain
CJEU rulings v. French intelligence legislation
The Conseil d'État deliberately misinterpreted the EU Court.
French Council of State discovers the ‘philosopher’s stone’ of data retention
A legal analysis on the Court’s recent ruling.
France’s police bill: surveillance for the long haul
The French state’s illiberal drift.
Beyond Europe: the political economy of bulk data collection
South Africa’s mass surveillance ruling offers an opportunity for fresh debate.
GCHQ’s ethical approach to AI: an initial human rights-based response
It’s more than just the Right to Privacy at stake.
Brexit highlights the EU and UK data protection regimes
The consequences for large-scale intelligence collection and civil liberties.
A new digital hub for intelligence law and oversight
One searchable database for all documents about intelligence.
The quantum threat: why we need regulation and transparency
The high-stakes game of shaping the internet of tomorrow.
New hacking powers for German intelligence agencies
The Grand Coalition's draft law can’t keep up with what is already practiced in other democracies.
Wanted: better safeguards for intelligence in an interconnected world
Everyone’s a foreigner somewhere.
A strange war
How France abandoned its secular foundation to build an anti-terrorist republic.
Spain’s digital future rests on learning from past errors
The Spanish government’s new Digital Agenda should think of security, the economy, and privacy as interconnected.
Can MI5 agents get away with murder?
The Security Service’s secret policy on participating in crime.
France’s second try at the Intelligence Act
What the French Parliament needs to discuss in its upcoming legislative debate.
Greece: Technology-led policing awakens
Hellenic police and border authorities are bulking up on surveillance.
Covid-19 tracking apps, or: how to deal with a pandemic most unsuccessfully
Are tracking apps really the solution or do they just add surveillance creep into democratic societies?
Try harder, Bundestag! Germany has to rewrite its foreign intelligence reform
What the German Constitutional Court’s decision on the BND Act means for the future of surveillance and end-to-end oversight in Germany.
The Polish surveillance regime before the ECHR
After ignoring the Constitutional Tribunal’s call for greater oversight and safeguards, Polish surveillance law is bad news for human rights.
The Club de Berne: a black box of growing intelligence cooperation
An in-depth account of how this notoriously secret club has expanded over the years.
Digital technologies in peace operations
As conflict moves to the cyber realm, peace efforts must, too.
European metadata retention: news from the EU court
An analysis of the AG’s opinion on data retention and access to metadata at the court in Luxembourg.
Years of MI5 lawbreaking expose failure of UK surveillance safeguards
The only thing worse than secret services with sweeping surveillance powers is secret services with sweeping surveillance powers that are left unchecked by a toothless oversight system.
Update pending: intelligence oversight needs oversight intelligence
Seven ideas for how to close the gap between high-tech intelligence and low-tech oversight.
Austrian government’s hacking law ruled unconstitutional
Why the Constitutional Court of Austria scrapped government spyware & street surveillance.
Casual attitude in intelligence sharing is troubling
The Dutch secret services share data with foreign services far too easily. Better legal and internal safeguards are essential.
Hardwired bias: how data-driven policing exacerbates racial discrimination
New report by the European Network Against Racism shows ostensibly neutral police tools could disproportionately impact and further disadvantage racialised communities.
FRAgile liberty: why we brought Sweden before the Strasbourg court
One of the counsels for the applicant in Centrum för Rättvisa v. Sweden at the European Court of Human Rights explains the case against the Swedish bulk collection regime and what the pending judgment means for civil liberties in the digital age for all of Europe.
Why we’re launching about:intel
Editors-in-Chief Thorsten Wetzling and Eric Kind explain why we started about:intel and what we are trying to achieve with it.