DSA compliance handbook for Fediverse administrators

Some users are moving away from centralized platforms, such as Instagram or X, to federated social media platforms, sometimes collectively called the Fediverse. The Fediverse refers to a collection of interconnected, decentralized social media platforms bringing power back to users by letting them create their own server. The EU has meanwhile adopted the Digital Services… Read more

Policy brief on the legal obstacles to the Right to Repair

The European right to repair refers to a set of policies and regulations aimed at ensuring that consumers have the ability to repair and maintain the products they purchase. These policies are designed to counteract a trend toward products becoming more difficult to repair, due to e.g., design choices, software locks, and a lack of… Read more

Complaint against discrimination with job ads by Facebook

Facebook’s ad platform often shows job ads based on historical gender stereotypes, NGO Global Witness found when they placed genderneutral ads on the platform and reviewed the data. Ads for pilots and mechanics were shown mostly to men; ads for preschool teachers mostly to women. Global Witness together with female rights’ organisation Clara Wichmann filed… Read more

e-lending for public libraries

This policy brief examines the practice of e-lending with a focus on public libraries. Currently, public libraries face legal uncertainty regarding the legality of lending e-books due to copyright issues and the implementation of the public lending right. This policy brief aims to further provide recommendations on how to improve legal certainty on public e-lending at EU level.

Distinguishing ‘harmful’ and ‘illegal’ content in the DSA

The ILP Lab is partnering with the DSA observatory and the data rights agency AWO to investigate the proposed requirement for online intermediaries to distinguish ‘harmful’ and ‘illegal’ content on their services. In the proposal for a Digital Services Act (COM/2020/825 final), the European Commission amongst other things urges providers of intermediary services to take… Read more

End-to-end encryption under child protection rules

End-to-end encryption is applied in various communication services. It provides secure communications and affords its users privacy. However, encryption also makes it difficult for law enforcement to detect and investigate the distribution of images of child sexual abuse via these services. Recently, various policymakers, including the Dutch government, have proposed to restrict encryption in chat… Read more

Data retention revisited

The ILP Lab, together with EDRI, is  critically revisiting the question of data retention. Are the ongoing aspirations to reintroduce a data retention obligation in the EU remain in violation of EU law as long as the strict necessity of data retention is unproved and no genuinely targeted retention obligation is considered ? In light… Read more

Processing of children’s personal data on social media platforms

In collaboration with the Dutch Consumer Organisation the ILP lab is conducting research into the processing of children’s personal data on social media platforms. According to the GDPR, platforms must offer ‘specific protection’ to children with regard to the processing of their personal data (recital 38 GDPR). The question is whether this is really actually done. Another… Read more