January
Launched in 1999 and updated regularly, Statewatch News includes our own reporting and writing as well as articles, announcements, documents and analyses from elsewhere on civil liberties, EU policies and state practices. You can receive updates in your inbox by signing up to our mailing list, or use an RSS feed to get instant alerts.
Mailing list updates:
- 15 January 2021 (Issue 01/21, pdf)
- 29 January 2021 (Issue 02/21, pdf)
European Parliament study: Data subjects, digital surveillance, AI and the future of work
A new report published by the European Parliament Think Tank looks at how new technologies - in particular digital surveillance tools and "artificial intelligence" are changing the nature of work, the power of bosses and the rights of employees.
UK: COVID-19: Vaccinate prisoners first, say University of Oxford researchers
Academic researchers have said that people in prison should be amongst the first to receive COVID-19 vaccinations, given the risks that carceral facilities pose for managing outbreaks of the disease, and the fact that there is a high prevalence of prisoners with underlying health conditions placing them at greater risk than many other social groups.
EU: e-Privacy Regulation: Council Presidency aims for consensus with amended text
Four years after the European Commission published its proposal for the e-Privacy Regulation, member states are still unable to agree on a position for negotiations with the European Parliament. The latest attempt to reach a consensus comes from the Portuguese Presidency of the Council (in post from January-June this year), which has circulated a document to member states in which it is "proposing to simplify the text and to further align it with the GDPR. "
UK: London: Met announces stricter Covid enforcement approach
Press release published by the Metropolitan Police on 6 January 2021. London's police force is to enforce the new lockdown measures more strictly than previously, placing new emphasis on fining people and questioning people in the streets as to their activities.
Northern Ireland: Special Police Ombudsman report on policing of protest during the pandemic
The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland has argued in a special report that although the different police approach to Black Lives Matter and "Protect Our Monuments" protests in summer this year was unfair, the approach was not motivated by racism. However, the Ombudsman's explanation for the differential treatment of the protests may not convince everybody.
Drones for border control: a symptom of the security mindset, says new report
The increasing use of drones for border control purposes "is a symptom of viewing borders predominantly in terms of ‘security’ and perceiving people crossing borders as a security threat," says a new report from Drone Wars UK. In this security paradigm, "border control operations are heavily influenced by the military and driven by ‘national security’ considerations rather than human needs," warn the authors.
UK-USA: Assange extradition bid rejected due to suicide risk
A British judge has ruled that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange should not be extradited to the United States on the grounds that his mental health condition would make him a suicide risk, given the detention conditions he would be likely to face in a "supermax" prison in the USA.
Spotted an error? If you've spotted a problem with this page, just click once to let us know.