I have finally the right to be forgotten in Google!!!

Google a facut primul pas in vederea conformarii cu hotararea Curtii de Justitie a UE si a pus la dispozitia tuturor un formular prin care pot solicita eliminarea continutului irelevant sau inadecvat din rezultatele afisate la cautare.

Read this post: http://ec-insider.blogspot.be/2014/03/the-new-ec-data-protection-reform-right.html 

O decizie recentă a Curții de Justiție a Uniunii Europene stabilit că anumiți utilizatori pot solicita ca motoarele de căutare să elimine rezultatele pentru interogările care le includ numele, atunci când rezultatele respective sunt inadecvate, irelevante sau nu mai sunt relevante ori sunt excesive în raport cu scopurile pentru care au fost procesate.

Larry Page, seful companiei, spune ca decizia va afecta start-up-urile care vor sa se dezvolte si va ajuta guvernele represive sa limiteze dreptul la exprimare. El spune insa ca Google va privi lucrurile si din perspectiva europenilor si se va dezbate mult pe subiect.

 

thanks to economist.com

OPEN access for internet service suppliers and BAN roaming fees

Two major legislative acts were approved by the European Parliament.

MEPs want clear rules to prevent internet access providers from promoting some services at the expense of others. EU telecoms regulator BEREC reported that several internet access providers were blocking or slowing down services like “Skype”, which is used to make phone calls over the internet.

Internet access providers would still be able to offer specialized services of higher quality, such as video on demand and business-critical data-intensive “cloud” (data storage) applications, so long as these services are not supplied to "the detriment of the availability or quality of internet access services" offered to other companies or service suppliers.

MEPs underline that internet access should be provided in accordance with the principle of "net neutrality", which means that all internet traffic is treated equally, without discrimination, restriction or interference, independently of its sender, recipient, type, content, device, service or application.

MEPs also amended the text to ban “roaming” charges (extra fees for using a mobile

phone to call, send text messages or access the internet in another EU country) anywhere in the EU as of 15 December 2015.

the new EC data protection reform - the right to be forgotten on social networks!

Three quarters of Europeans think that the disclosure of personal data is an increasing part of modern life. At the same time, 72% of Internet users are worried that they give away too much personal data online. They feel they do not have complete control of their data.

The Commission is proposing a strengthened right to be forgotten so that if you no longer want your personal data to be processed, and there is no legitimate reason for an organization to keep it, it must be removed from their system. Data controllers must prove that they need to keep the data rather than you having to prove that collecting your data is not necessary.

What will be the key changes?

• Strengthening the ‘right to be forgotten’ to help people better manage data protection risks online. When individuals no longer want their data to be processed and there are no legitimate grounds for retaining it, the data will be deleted. The rules are about empowering people, not about erasing past events or restricting the freedom of the press.
• Guarantee easy access to your own data.
• Establishing a right for individuals to freely transfer personal data from one service provider to another (data portability).
• Ensuring that individuals must give consent explicitly when it is required for certain types of data processing.
• Increasing the responsibility and accountability of those processing data by introducing data protection officers for companies over 250 employees, and the principles of ‘privacy by default’ and ‘privacy by design’ to ensure that individuals are informed in an easily understandable way about how their data will be processed.

In January 2013 the EC proposed a comprehensive reform of the data protection rules.

The European Parliament last week cemented the strong support previously given at committee level to the European Commission's data protection reform (MEMO/13/923 and MEMO/14/60) by voting in plenary with 621 votes in favour and 10 against.

Only 9 in 100 European app developers are female! Tech is too important to be left to men!

Facts about women in the digital economy:

•  Only 9 in 100 European app developers are female.

•  Only 19% of ICT managers are women (45% women in other service sectors)

•  Only 19% of ICT entrepreneurs are women (54% women in other service sectors) 

•   Less than 30% of the ICT workforce is female

•  Number of female computing graduate is dropping (3% of female graduates compared to 10% of male graduates)

This campaign builds on a Commission study on women in the ICT sector, which found that the best way to get more women into tech jobs is by giving visibility to inspiring tech professionals, thus turning them into role models. Identifying career paths to inspire can also help women already working in technology stay in the sector throughout their career.

European Commission Vice-President @NeelieKroesEU said:

"Tech is too important to be left to men alone! Every week I meet more and more inspiring women in tech. ICT is no longer for the geeky few – it is cool, and it is the future!”

Join the campaign: Check out this collection of video's at ICTLadies.

You can make your own video with your story about life in the digital sector. Share your video to the "Every Girl Digital" Facebook page.

Happy Women Day!!!

Gender Pay Gap: women in Europe still work 59 days "for free"

Women in Europe still work 59 days ‘for free’ – this is what the latest figures released by the European Commission show. The gender pay gap – the average difference between women and men’s hourly earnings across the entire economy – has barely moved in recent years and still stands at around 16% (it stands at 16.4% as the year before).

The gender pay gap is shown as a percentage of men’s earnings and represents the difference between the average gross hourly earnings of male and female employees across the EU economy. The latest figures show an average 16.4% gender pay gap in 2012 across the European Union. They show stagnation after a slight downward trend in recent years, with the figure around 17% or higher in previous years.

Find out more details on the Gender pay gap EC page.

A new Data Protection Compact for Europe: don't be naked online!

Data protection in the European Union is a fundamental right. Europe already has the highest level of data protection in the world. However, nine out of ten Europeans (92%) say they are concerned about mobile apps collecting their data without their consent. Seven Europeans out of ten are concerned about the potential use that companies may make of the information disclosed.

The new rules will put citizens back in control of their data, notably through:

• A right to be forgotten: decide when your data is really deleted.

• Easier access to your own data: A right to data portability will make it easier for you to transfer your personal data between service providers.

• Allowing you to decide how your data is used: When your consent is required to process your data, you must be asked to give it explicitly.

• The right to know when your data has been hacked: for example, companies and organisations must notify the national supervisory authority of serious data breaches as soon as possible (if feasible within 24 hours) so that users can take appropriate measures.

• Data protection first, not an afterthought: ‘Privacy by design’ and ‘privacy by default’ will also become essential principles in EU data protection rules.

The European Commission's data protection reform will help the digital single market and businesses realise this potential, notably through four main innovations:

• One continent, one law: The Regulation will establish a single, pan-European law for data protection, replacing the current inconsistent patchwork of national laws.

• One-stop-shop: The Regulation will establish a 'one-stop-shop' for businesses: companies will only have to deal with one single supervisory authority, not 28.

• The same rules for all companies – regardless of their establishment: Today European companies have to adhere to stricter standards than companies established outside the EU but also doing business on our Single Market.

•  European regulators will be equipped with strong enforcement powers: data protection authorities will be able to fine companies who do not comply with EU rules with up to 2% of their global annual turnover.

"A message to our American friends. Data Protection rules should apply irrespective of the nationality of the person concerned. Applying different standards to nationals and non-nationals makes no sense in view of the open nature of the internet." - Vice-President Viviane Reding, EU Justice Commissioner.

More in the press pack.