Policy Observatory

Politicians at Dublins Web Summit downplayed the impact of scrapping the controversial measure, despite criticism from a former Apple boss suggesting the country would lose its competitive edge. After the Ireland moved last month to close a lucrative tax loophole, former Apple chief executive John Sculley told the summit that the country risked losing the edge that has helped it become the European headquarters of US technology giants including Apple and Facebook. There is a lot of talent in Ireland so I dont think it will be an insurmountable problem but it will take the edge off, if tax advantages do go away, he said.

Continue reading...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/17/ireland-tax-idUSL6N0SC16920141017

The Irish Data Protection Commissioner has been forced to step in after it was revealed that a government online portal exposed citizens’ personal information, potentially putting it in the hands of identity fraudsters. The irishgenealogy.ie site inadvertently allowed users to build up detailed profiles of citizens free of charge and in just a few clicks – perfect fodder for cybercriminals.

In July, Austria had said it would offer tenders for an initial 200 million euros as part of plans to invest some of the proceeds from a controversial mobile frequency auction, which is now the subject of a court case, into broadband infrastructure.

Dutch lawyers, journalists, privacy organisations and publishers are taking legal action against the state to stop telecom firms storing phone and email information. The Dutch government requires telecom firms to keep the information for up to 12 months but the Dutch criminal law association and other groups say this conflicts with EU legislation.

Dutch lawyers, journalists, privacy organisations and publishers are taking legal action against the state to stop telecom firms storing phone and email information via what is described by critics as a ‘snoopers charter’.

Read more at DutchNews.nl: Lawyers, journalists take Dutch state to court over internet privacy http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2014/12/lawyers-journalists-take-dutch-state-to-court-over-internet-privacy.php/

The new European data protection regulation is the most lobbied piece of legislation in Europe thus far because the subject is very important and touches upon almost every aspect of our daily lives. That’s why we used the Dutch freedom of information act to ask the government to publicize all the lobby documents they received. They show what kind of organizations have tried to influence the Dutch government and what their positions are. In these blogs we provide some insight. What kind of organizations are lobbying? What are the most important themes that constantly surface? What kind of arguments are used?