Policy Observatory

Between 26 and 29 September, the annual Freedom not Fear (FNF) conference and barcamp will take place in Brussels. Privacy advocates will tackle surveillance, censorship, net discrimination. Simon Davies, publisher of the Privacy Surgeon and co-founder of Privacy International, will present the first global analysis of the impact of the Snowden revelations and Paul Nemitz, Director at DG Justice of the European Commission, will discuss the data protection reform and the future of the EU-US umbrella and Safe Harbor agreements.

EU commissioner-designate and vice-president Andrus Ansip told MEPs he backs robust net neutrality rules.

The EU's competition authorities on Friday gave social media site Facebook the green light to complete its €15bn takeover of mobile messaging startup WhatsApp.

EDRi together with several NGOs, consumer groups and industry representatives sent an open letter to the Council of the European Union, calling for Telecoms ministers to support strong net neutrality rules in the EU. The Council is currently reviewing the proposal of the Telecoms Single Market Regulation, voted on by the European Parliament in April.

Estonia is to become the first country to offer e-residency to people around the world, offering state-proven digital identities that give access to services like online banking, education, and healthcare. The issuing of smart ID cards will begin towards the end of the year, with anyone eligible to apply to become an "e-Estonian".

From November 24, OHIM will only examine trade mark applications and process any mail related to them after they are paid for. This means the Office can be more efficient, as it will no longer examine applications that ultimately will never be paid for. OHIM is a European Union agency that serves businesses across the EU.