As we do every summer, we are publishing our annual transparency report. The pandemic year of 2020 was one of the most turbulent, busiest, but also one of the most exciting years in the association’s history.

We had anticipated 2020 to become a very special year to us. epicenter.works was…

Research is important. Using research as a cover to obtain unchecked access to sensitive official data is not.

At the beginning of July, the Austrian chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, submitted to pre-parliamentary consultation a bill that would cause a seismic shift in how the government treats its…

The civil rights NGO epicenter.works protested in front of the A1 Telekom Austria Group’s building yesterday to raise awareness of the involvement of the partially state-owned company in the Internet shutdowns in Belarus that unfolded around the controversial election of the long-term dictator…

Today, the European Parliament votes on the interinstitutional compromise text on the regulation(s) on the EU Digital COVID Certificate (EU DCC, also known as the Digital Green Certificate and the European Green Pass). The proposed legislation regulates the “framework for the issuance, verification…

Today the European Commission has published guidelines for the implementation of the Copyright Directive which undermines users’ protections. Upload filters (aka censorshipmachines) operated and designed by multinational companies will get to decide what content can be shared online and what can’t,…

Even though its effects are very visible, the ePrivacy Directive is hardly known to the wider public. Cookie consent dialogues, familiar to every web user, are often associated with GDPR and widely complained about since 2018. However, they are really a consequence of the ePrivacy Directive's…

Despite being one of Austria's most powerful institutions, the Federal Agency for State Protection and Counterterrorism (abbreviated BVT in German) does not enjoy a good reputation. Numerous past incidents have branded the BVT and damaged its international standing. Among foreign intelligence…

Austria is reforming its telecommunications law to incorporate the new European directives on electronic communications. The Austrian government has now an unique opportunity to leverage router freedom at the legislative level to protect consumers and the market.

It should go without saying that…

On April 28, 2021, the European Parliament adopted its position on the Covid Pass (the "Digital Green Certificate" or "Green Passport"). The legislative proposal has been designed to make travel within the EU possible again. The proposal aims to provide EU countries with a common framework which…

If you browse the web without an ad blocker, you will have noticed that the ads you see tend to follow you around. Have you been looking around for a new pair of shoes? Be prepared to see more ads for shoes on completely unrelated websites. This advertising technique is called "behavioural…