The European Privacy Association (EPA) is a

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

-based

lobbying Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agency, regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by va ...

group, founded in 2009. Its stated goal is "to enhance data protection and Internet freedom as fundamental principles of democracy." , Karin Riis-Jørgensen is chairwoman of the EPA. Former EP member

Pat Cox Patrick Cox (born 28 November 1952) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician, journalist and television current affairs presenter who served as President of the European Parliament from 2002 to 2004 and Leader of the European Liberal Democrat ...

is among its founders. EU lobbying watchdog

Corporate Europe Observatory The Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) is a non-profit research and campaign group whose declared aim is to "expose any effects of corporate lobbying on EU policy making". It is based in Brussels. The team (2021) consists of 13 staff members ...

(CEO) has asserted that EPA "is working to represent industry interests in the debate on

data protection Data protection may refer to: * Information privacy, also known as data privacy * Data security {{Authority control ...

in Europe" and "to promote industry-friendly legislation" as a front group for the IT industry. It has been called an example of an

astroturfing Astroturfing is the deceptive practice of hiding the Sponsor (commercial), sponsors of an orchestrated message or organization (e.g., political, economic, advertising, religious, or public relations) to make it appear as though it originates from ...

organisation that "disguises as an independent thinktank". EPA's Policy and Scientific Committee director, Paolo Balboni, has denied the astroturfing allegation in a letter to the editor of the

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

. In 2013, CEO filed a complaint against EPA because the association had not listed any corporate sponsors in the EU

Transparency Register Lobbying in the European Union, also referred to officially as European interest representation, is the activity of representatives of diverse interest groups or lobbies who attempt to influence the executive and legislative authorities of the E ...

, claiming that it had only ten

natural person In jurisprudence, a natural person (also physical person in some Commonwealth countries, or natural entity) is a person (in legal meaning, i.e., one who has its own legal personality) that is an individual human being, distinguished from the br ...

s as members; EPA then admitted that

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Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

and

Yahoo Yahoo (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web portal that provides the search engine Yahoo Search and related services including My Yahoo, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, y!entertainment, yahoo!life, an ...

are among its members. According to EPA, the Transparency Register closed the case in June 2013. The organisation changed its status in the Transparency Register from "Think-tank" to the "Trade, business & professional associations", because a think-tank is not allowed to have corporate members.

Research

EPA members have published a number of scientific papers in international law journals.
Privacy by Design & Anonymisation Techniques in Action: Case Study of Ma3tch Technology
Balboni, P. & Macenaite, M. (2013) Privacy by design and anonymisation techniques in action: case study of Ma3tch technology, Computer Law & Security Review: The International Journal of Technology Law and Practice 29 (2013), pp. 330–340.
Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) Activities in the Cloud Environment: A European Legal Perspective.
Balboni, P., & Pelino, E. (2013). Law enforcement agencies' activities in the cloud environment: a European legal perspective. Information & Communications Technology Law, 22(2), 165-‐190. doi: 10.1080/13600834.2013.821812
Legitimate Interest of the Data Controller New Data Protection Paradigm
Legitimacy Grounded on Appropriate Protection* Paolo Balboni; Daniel Cooper; Rosario Imperiali; Milda Macenaite. International Data Privacy Law 2013; doi: 10.1093/idpl/ipt019

References

{{reflist, 2 Cross-European advocacy groups Information technology organizations based in Europe

Research

See also

References