The EU Parliament and EU Council yesterday struck a political deal on the reform of the EU Digital Identity Regulation (eIDAS 2). A new digital identity wallet app is to allow EU citizens to access public and private digital services such as Facebook or Google, and pay online. The deal was made even though more than 500 scientists and numerous NGOs in an open letter „strongly warn against the currently proposed trilogue agreement, as it fails to properly respect the right to privacy of citizens and secure online communications“ – criticism which the Pirate Party Members of the European Parliament underline.

“This regulation is a blank cheque for surveillance of citizens online, endangering our privacy and security online”, comments Pirate Party lawmaker Patrick Breyer. “Browser security is being undermined, and overidentification will gradually erode our right to use digital services anonymously. Mark Zuckerberg should have no right to see our ID! Entrusting our digital lives to the government instead of Facebook and Google is jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. This deal sacrifices essential requirements the European Parliament had put forward to make the eID app privacy-friendly and secure. The EU misses the opportunity to establish a trustworthy framework for modernization and digitization. We will watch the implementation very closely.”

Pirates Mikulas Peksa and Patrick Breyer worked until the last minute to try and fix at least some of the numerous risks of the EU digital identity scheme. In a major victory, Member States will not be obliged to assign a single unique ID number to every citizen. Signing up for the eID app will be voluntary, and it will remain possible to access public and private services by other existing identification and authentication means. The app client will be open source.

Overall though the scheme remains a blank cheque for surveillance of citizens online: As hundreds of scientists publicly warn and contrary to what the EU claims, web browser manufacturers could be forced to expose our securely encrypted Internet use (including intimate and sensitive activities) to government surveillance. This is an unacceptable attack on secure encryption. The eID apps can also be used to monitor our digital lives because there is no requirement of unobservability. The content of our eID wallets (potentially bringing together personal banking data, medical prescriptions and criminal records) could be monitored via central databases because we have no right to store documents exclusively on our personal devices.

The lure of conveniently signing in to private digital services using a single official eID app is a trap. Overidentification will gradually erode our right to use digital services anonymously which currently keeps us safe from criminal activity, unauthorised disclosure, identity theft, stalking and other forms of abuse of personal data. The eID app will not allow for multiple, truly separate user profiles which vulnerable persons rely on.

The server-side code of the eID wallet will not have to be open source, meaning the public cannot know what the code actually does and if it is safe.

In view of all this, the new EU eID app will not be trustworthy and will fail to sufficiently encourage the development of digital and eGovernment services in Europe – much to the Pirates regret.

See also the assessment of the deal published by NGO epicenter.works

patrick-breyer.de/en/eu-digita…

Yesterday, the EU Parliament and Council agreed on new rules on transparency and targeting of political advertising. The Parliament was able to secure a publicly accessible library of online political advertising, but targeting political messages based on the individual preferences, weaknesses, situation and personality of every user will remain legal (so-called surveillance advertising). Patrick Breyer, EU lawmaker and digital freedom fighter for the Pirate Party, who co-negotiated the regulation in the Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE), takes stock:

“The targeting rules are a farce. The digital manipulation of elections in the style of Cambridge Analytica, targeted disinformation before referendums such as Brexit, contradictory election promises to different voter groups – all of this remains legal. Anti-democratic and anti-european movements will benefit most: they can continue to use surveillance advertising to target hate messages and lies at voters who are susceptible to them in order to undermine our democracy. Here, the short-sighted self-interest of those in power and the surveillance capitalist interests of big tech have combined to create a toxic mixture for democracy.”

The agreed targeting rules in detail:

1. The existing prohibition in the Digital Services Act of analysing the user’s political opinion, sexual orientation or health for advertising purposes remains in place. In practice, however, political advertising tends to be based on matching interests and other correlations, which remains legal. Even Cambridge Analytica did not analyse the political opinion of users before Trump’s election as US president, but rather their personalities.
2. The user consent already required under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) remains a precondition for being allowed to tailor political advertising to the individual situation of the user and profiling their digital lives. Surveillance data from third-parties may not be used. For the first time, Parliament could implement a ban on annoying consent banners if the user rejects personalised political advertising via their browser settings (“do not track”). Parliament was also able to ensure that consent to political surveillance advertising may not be made a precondition for accessing websites (“tracking walls”).

“Every user will be able to decide in favour of or against political surveillance advertising,” explains Breyer. “In the best-case scenario, yesterday’s agreement heralds the beginning of the end of annoying cookie banners and tracking walls. We can build on this foundation in the ePrivacy negotiations and extend these rules to all banners. In the worst case scenario, the new rules will be undermined by suggestively designed consent banners and consent clauses hidden deep in terms and conditions. Letting individual internet users decide on the protection of democratic elections is a dangerous failure of the legislator, for which the EU Commission and EU governments are responsible.”

The new rules will come into force in 2025.

patrick-breyer.de/en/political…

La guerra genocida è iniziata in Tigray il 4 novembre 2020. I media italiani politicizzati non ne hanno dato degna visibilità, se non per mettere in luce qualche sporadica notizia sensazionalistica.

Personalmente coinvolto emotivamente per amicizie di lunga data e visto le premesse informative in Italia, ho cominciato a condividere aggiornamenti, per quel che potevo, per quel che riuscivo a sapere da varie fonti.

Il Tigray, stato regionale a nord dell’ Etiopia confinante con l’Eritrea, ha circa 7 milioni di abitanti.

Sono stati distrutti il 90% degli ospedali, lo stupro è stato usato come arma producendo una stima di 120.000 abusi su donne di ogni età, arresti di massa, deportazioni e detenzioni su base etnica contro il diritto umanitario internazionale su persone di ogni genere, di ogni età e ceto sociale (anche donne e umoni di chiesa) e persone solo per il sospetto che fossero sostenitori dei “ribelli”. Furono attaccati anche luoghi di culto. La guerra per strategia bellica fu combattuta in totale isolamento comunicativo e blackout elettrico: 2 anni in cui il popolo tigrino è stato tenuto in ostaggio. Le stime delle vittime parlano di 800.000 morti, tigrini civili uccisi direttamente da attacchi aerei, massacri, uccisioni extragiudiziali o per fame indota da volontà politiche del governo etiope. L’occupazione delle forze regionali amhara e milizie Fano nellla parte nord occidentale del Tigray hanno perpetrato attività di pulizia etnica, anche dopo l’inizio della tregua del novembre 2022, che ha decretato un formale cessate il fuoco con l’accordo di Pretoria tra il governo federale etiope e i membri del TPLF – Tigray People’s Liberation Front, partito del Tigray considerato gruppo terroristico dalla legge etiope dl maggio 2021. Questo ultimo anno di tregua formale comunque non ha fermato abusi e violenze sulla popolazione civile di etnia tigrina.

ARCHIVIO: Tigray : la Guerra Genocida Dimenticata dal Mondo – Archivio

Oggi la situazione si è normalizzata ma resta critica e grave.

Ci sono ancora più di 1 milione di sfollati interni, IDP, in Tigray in attesa oltre che di poter tornare a casa, anche di assistenza e supporto alimentare e per cure mediche.

Le persone continuano ancora a morire di fame dopo un anno dall afirma dell’ accordo di tregua.

Secondo uno studio congiunto condotto dal Tigray Health Bureau, dal Tigray Health Research Institute e dalla Mekelle University, almeno 1.329 persone sono morte di fame in soli 9 distretti nella regione per il periodo di 9 mesi che hanno portato ad agosto 2023.

La sospensione degli aiuti alimentari da parte di WFP e USAID per nove mesi consecutivi, ha aggravato le condizioni umanitarie di una regione già scosse da disastri come siccità, invasione di locuste nel deserto

La presenza degli sfollati crea disagi perché in varie zone occupano edifici scolastici per cui i ragazzi non possono tornare sui banchi di scuola.

Gli ospedali dopo 3 anni continuano ad essere in mancanza di risorse. Ci sono flebili segnali di ripresa e supporto nei più grandi centri, ma per le aree rurali e più decentralizzate, soprattutto quelle ancora occupate dalle forze amhara ed eritree, sussistono problematiche di accesso alle cure e al supporto umanitario alimentare.

Approfondimenti: Etiopia: le atrocità cessa l’anniversario del fuoco – Human Rights Watch

La commissione degli esperti sul diritto umanitario dell’ ONU – ICHREE, istituita per investigare in maniera indipendente sui crimini di guerra e contro l’umanità perpetrati sul popolo tigrino, è stata bloccata nel suo operato. Il suo mandato non è stato rinnovato come sperato dalla diaspora e da tutta quella parte di società civile che chiede giustizia per le vittime. Il mandato non è stato rinnovato per due cause principali: la pressione da parte del governo etiope perché ha rivendicato, come strumento di distrazione di massa, di essere stato sovrano quindi che come da accrodo di Pretoria ha istituito un processo di giustizia di transizione come processo interno nazionale e dall’altra la volontà politica dell’ ONU che non ha rispettato il “mai più” voltandosi dall’altra parte il 4 ottobre durante la seduta della commissione per decidere le sorti del ICHREE. Il movente della comunità internazionale? Probabilmente tutelare le proprie risorse in gioco, vecchi e nuovi accordi economici mascherati da “crescita e sviluppo” in Etiopia.

In una dichiarazione rilasciata in occasione del primo anniversario dell’accordo di Pretoria, il TPLF afferma che il popolo del Tigrai continua a soffrire terribilmente a causa della sua mancata attuazione, affermando che:

“Milioni di persone nel Tigrai sono sparse ovunque in cerca di rifugio nei campi, e coloro che sono sotto le forze d’invasione sono costretti a cambiare la propria identità, mentre coloro che si trovano nei campi per sfollati stanno morendo di fame”

“Le forze d’invasione avrebbero dovuto ritirarsi dal Tigrai, ma non sono state ritirate.” ha osservato il TPLF. Il TPLF esorta il governo federale, l’UA, gli Stati Uniti, l’UE, l’IGAD e le organizzazioni internazionali dei media e dei diritti a mantenere i progressi raggiunti attraverso l’accordo di Pretoria e ad impegnarsi per assumersi i propri obblighi morali e legali per garantire la piena attuazione dell’accordo.”

Per l’Italia naturalmente si è tutto risolto con la firma dell’accordo di Pretoria, così i media italiani si sono sentiti legittimati di non scriverne più (non che prima di tale data avessero contribuito con l’informazione su tale contesto, anzi).

A fine ottobre 2023 funzionario USA rivela che la richiesta dell’Etiopia di idoneità AGOA è “ancora in sospeso”. “Queste decisioni sono ancora in sospeso”, ha detto la signora Hamilton ai giornalisti del continente, e che “probabilmente non ci sarà alcun annuncio al momento in cui arriveremo al Forum AGOA”. Il presidente Joe Biden ha firmato un ordine esecutivo nel novembre 2021 che rimuoveva l’Etiopia dall’AGOA a seguito dell’escalation della guerra, iniziata un anno prima nella regione del Tigrè, e ha assistito a “grosse violazioni dei diritti umani riconosciuti a livello internazionale. ”Il governo etiope ha condannato la decisione, descrivendola come “sbagliata e non riuscendo a considerare il benessere dei comuni cittadini.”

Approfondimento: L’accordo di pace di Pretoria: promesse infrante e l’appello urgente per l’emendamento e la rinegoziazione

La guerra genocida iniziata in Tigray il 4 novembre 2020 ha avuto fine formale il 3 novembre 2022 con l’accordo di cessazione ostilità, ma abusi e violenze continuano ancora oggi.

Come sempre a pagarne il caro prezzo, anche con la vita, sono i milioni di persone. Come prassi, l’informazione in Italia ha spento i riflettori su questa ennesima crisi umanitaria in atto per passare al prossimo scoop.

Una preghiera per tutte le vittime della guerra genocida in Tigray. Una pensiero di speranza per tutte le persone che ancora soffrono.

tommasin.org/blog/2023-11-04/e…

This week, the European Parliament’s negotiators reached a broad majority agreement on a common position concerning the controversial EU chat control bill. The Commission’s bill proposes bulk scanning and reporting of private messages for allegedly suspicious content by using error-prone algorithms, including „artificial intelligence“. But the European Parliament’s position removes indiscriminate chat control and allows only for a targeted surveillance of specific individuals and groups reasonably suspicious of being linked to child sexual abuse material, with a judicial warrant. End-to-end encrypted messengers are exempted. Instead, internet services will have to design their services more securely and thus effectively prevent the sexual exploitation of children.

EU lawmaker Patrick Breyer of the Pirate Party, a digital freedom fighter who negotiated the parliamentary position on behalf of his group Greens/EFA, explains:

“Under the impression of massive protests against the looming indiscriminate chat control mass scanning of private messages, we managed to win a broad majority for a different, new approach to protecting young people from abuse and exploitation online. As a pirate and digital freedom fighter, I am proud of this breakthrough. The winners of this agreement are on the one hand our children, who will be protected much more effectively and in a court-proof manner, and on the other hand all citizens, whose digital privacy of correspondence and communication security will be guaranteed.

Even if this compromise, which is supported from the progressive to the conservative camp, is not perfect on all points, it is a historic success that removing chat control and rescuing secure encryption is the common aim of the entire Parliament. We are doing the exact opposite of most EU governments who want to destroy digital privacy of correspondence and secure encryption. Governments must finally accept that this highly dangerous bill can only be fundamentally changed or not be passed at all. The fight against authoritarian chat control must be pursued with all determination!

In detail, our position will protect young people and victims of abuse much more effectively than the EU Commission’s extreme proposal:

1. Security by design: In order to protect young people from grooming, internet services and apps shall be secure by design and default. It must be possible to block and report other users. Only at the request of the user should he or she be publicly addressable and see messages or pictures of other users. Users should be asked for confirmation before sending contact details or nude pictures. Potential perpetrators and victims should be warned where appropriate, for example if they try to search for abuse material using certain search words. Public chats at high risk of grooming are to be moderated.
2. In order to clean the net of child sexual abuse material, the new EU Child Protection Centre is to proactively search publicly accessible internet content automatically for known CSAM. This crawling can also be used in the darknet and is thus more effective than private surveillance measures by providers.
3. Providers who become aware of clearly illegal material will be obliged to remove it – unlike in the EU Commission’s proposal.
4. Law enforcement agencies who become aware of illegal material must report it to the provider for removal. This is our reaction to the case of the darknet platform Boystown, where the worst abuse material was further disseminated for months with the knowledge of Europol.

At the same time, we are pulling the following poisonous teeth out of the EU Commission’s extreme bill:

1. We safeguard the digital secrecy of correspondence and remove the plans for blanket chat control, which violate fundamental rights and stand no chance in court. The current voluntary chat control of private messages (not social networks) by US internet companies is being phased out. Targeted telecommunication surveillance and searches will only be permitted with a judicial warrant and only limited to persons or groups of persons suspected of being linked to child sexual abuse material.
2. We safeguard trust in secure end-to-end encryption. We clearly exclude so-called client-side scanning, i.e. the installation of surveillance functionalities and security vulnerabilities in our smartphones.
3. We guarantee the right to anonymous communication and remove mandatory age verification for users of communication services. Whistleblowers can thus continue to leak wrong-doings anonymously without having to show their identity card or face.
4. Removing instead of blocking: Internet access blocking will be optional. Under no circumstances must legal content be collaterally blocked.
5. We prevent the digital house arrest: We don’t oblige app stores to prevent young people under 16 from installing messenger apps, social networking and gaming apps ‘for their own protection’ as proposed. The General Data Protection Regulation is maintained.”

The EU Parliament’s civil liberties committee is due to confirm the agreement on 13 November.

patrick-breyer.de/en/historic-…

Today, the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, had to answer to the LIBE Committee in the course of the lobbying affair concerning Chat control (#ChatControlGate)[1]. Last month, several European media outlets had revealed the close involvement of lobbyists in the preparation of the controversial regulation on sexual child abuse and the interconnections of the EU Commission with a foreign network.[2] Johansson was asked countless critical questions from all parliamentary groups, but she insisted no mistakes had been made. It would only be examined whether she had violated the Digital Services Act with an emotional advertising campaign in member states that reject her Chat control proposal as it stands.

Pirate Party MEP Patrick Breyer, digital freedom fighter and co-negotiator of the proposed regulation, comments:

“It was only to be expected that Johansson would respond to the revelations with her usual propaganda, such as citing a biased and suggestive Eurobarometer survey that violates the rules of good public opinion research.”[1]

“In order to really hold Johansson accountable for her foreign-influenced bill and her lobbying in office, my committee, on our initiative, has demanded full access to all correspondence of her office with lobbying organisations – such as the secret letters of the dubious US foundation Thorn. Only then can we see the full extent of the entanglement with our own eyes.

“We are having the Legal Service look into legal action against the EU Commission for unfair influence and pressure on the legislative process through targeted false advertising in critical countries. And I have today lodged a complaint with the EU Ombudsman.

“The European Data Protection Supervisor is already investigating. We will hold Ms Johansson accountable for her crimes against our fundamental rights and our democracy!”

—

Breyer’s question to Johansson in the LIBE Committee today was:

“It is about #ChatControl Gate today, about your links with a foreign lobby network, so close that you wrote to the Thorn boss yourself: ‘The regulation I propose is a strong European response. Without your help we would not have come this far.’

May I congratulate you on your new side job as a surveillance influencer on the internet? Recently, you actually dared to try to put pressure on critical member states in the current legislative process by means of a targeted emotional disinformation campaign using taxpayers’ money.

What would you actually say if Parliament were to place targeted advertisements in your home country, Sweden, in order to criticise your authoritarian Chat control proposal, which is contrary to fundamental rights?

Have you lost all respect for democracy and your role in the legislative process?

If these methods are really as normal as you write, when else did you purposefully pressure specific countries?

The best thing about your scandalous methods is that they have failed politically in the Council and also in Parliament.

We will hold you accountable for your illegal methods! Our legal service is examining a possible lawsuit against the EU Commission . Today I have lodged a complaint with the EU Ombudsman.”

[1] patrick-breyer.de/en/breyer-on…

[2] balkaninsight.com/2023/09/25/w…

[3] patrick-breyer.de/en/chat-cont…

patrick-breyer.de/en/chat-cont…

Riportiamo l’articolo di Markus Reuter, pubblicato il 15 ottobre 2023 su Netzpolitik Il Fediverso è un’alternativa aperta, gratuita e non commerciale alle piattaforme convenzionali. Ma i server devono essere pagati, i post moderati e la tecnologia deve essere mantenuta in funzione. Quanto costa effettivamente e quanto tempo dedicano gli operatori alle loro istanze Mastodon? Da quando Elon Musk ha...

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informapirata

2023-10-22 20:34:24

Il Fediverso è un’alternativa aperta, gratuita e non commerciale alle piattaforme convenzionali. Ma i server devono essere pagati, i post moderati e la tecnologia deve essere mantenuta in funzione. Quanto costa effettivamente e quanto tempo dedicano gli operatori alle loro istanze Mastodon?

informapirata.it/2023/10/22/qu…