12. December 2019

Casual attitude in intelligence sharing is troubling

The Dutch secret services share data with foreign services…

Lotte Houwingby Lotte HouwingPolicy Advisor & Researcher at Bits of Freedom

Lotte Houwing is a policy advisor and researcher at Bits of Freedom. She focuses primarily on the relationship between the state and its citizens and the power relations that accompany it. Her portfolio includes the secret services (the Intelligence and Security Services Act) and the investigatory powers of the police. She is committed to protecting citizens against any abuse of these powers. Lotte obtained a Bachelor's degree in philosophy and IT law from the University of Groningen, and then completed a Research Master's degree in 'Functionality of the Law' with an emphasis on digital human rights with distinction, working within the Security Technology and e-Privacy (STeP) research group at the University of Groningen. Lotte also did an internship with the criminal law department at Prakken d’Oliveira lawyers, supporting detainees with political actions, and worked as a file coordinator for the Intelligence and Security Services Act file at the Public Interest Litigation Project.

18. November 2019

Hardwired bias: how data-driven policing exacerbates racial discrimination

New report by the European Network Against Racism shows…

Karen Taylorby Karen TaylorChair of the European Network Against Racism (ENAR)

Karen Taylor is Chair of the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) and Director of Advocacy at Each One Teach One (EOTO e.V.), based in Germany. In addition, Karen is a member of the coordination group for the implementation of the "UN-Decade for people of African descent" in Germany.

23. October 2019

FRAgile liberty: why we brought Sweden before the Strasbourg court

One of the counsels for the applicant in Centrum för…

Alexander Ottossonby Alexander OttossonCounsel for the applicant in Centrum för rättvisa v. Sweden

Alexander Ottosson is an associate lawyer at the Stockholm-based public interest law firm Centrum för rättvisa (Centre for Justice). Prior to commencing his work as a lawyer, Alexander held the position of research fellow at Centrum för rättvisa, publishing legal research on constitutional law issues. Alexander earned his undergraduate and master’s degree from Uppsala University, specialising in European human rights law and has acquired experience in the ECHR system from an internship at the Swedish representation at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. At Centrum för rättvisa, Alexander represents and advises individuals in public interest litigation on issues of fundamental rights and freedoms and due process. He is also engaged in public advocacy, holds lectures, and conducts legal research.

8. October 2019

Why we’re launching about:intel

Editors-in-Chief Thorsten Wetzling and Eric Kind explain…

Thorsten Wetzlingby Thorsten WetzlingEditor-in-Chief about:intel

Thorsten heads SNV’s research on surveillance and democratic governance. He created the European Intelligence Oversight Network (EION) and is a Principal Investigator in the new collaborative research project GUARDINT designed to address and to redress the gap between increasingly transnational surveillance practices and still largely national accountability mechanisms. Thorsten gave testify before the European Parliament and the Bundestag on intelligence legislation, and his work appeared in various media outlets. He is a member of the advisory board on Europe/Transatlantic of the Heinrich Boell Foundation in Berlin and the scientific committee of the Cyber and Data Security Lab at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). Thorsten holds a doctorate degree in political science from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. In the past, Thorsten worked as Senior Fellow at the Brandenburg Institute for Society and Security, The Hague Institute for Global Justice and as Advisor for the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF). As Transatlantic Post-Doc Fellow for International Relations and Security (TAPIR), Thorsten studied national surveillance policies at the French Institute for International Relations (ifri) in Paris and the RAND Corporation and the Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C.