Open Source

India has adopted the largest worldwide lockdown and 1.3 billion people must stay at their homes since March 25. To prevent the virus from spreading, the Indian government developed an app called Aarogya Setu to trace COVID-19 patients or suspected cases. Recently, there have been attacks from the government on the freedoms on the Internet, so the question of the tracing app raises concerns. As a member of the delegation for relations with India in the European Parliament, I have been watching the issue of digital rights for quite some time. [Read More]

As part of the gradual lifting of confinement measures, the Commission published on April 16 an EU toolbox, developed by Member States for the use of mobile applications for contact tracing and warning in response to the spreading of COVID-19. This is a very timely and welcome initiative given that certain countries started to work on their own measures, often declaring state of emergency and deprioritizing fundamental rights. Poland was one of the first Western countries to roll out an app that collects large amount of personal data, including people’s location and digital photos, in order to combat the pandemic. [Read More]

Together with the white paper on Artifical Intelligence, the Commission presented their digital strategy for the upcoming legislature: Shaping Europe’s digital future. The paper defines a three pillar strategy “that will ensure that Europe develops and pursues its own way of vibrant, globally competitive, value-based and inclusive digital economy and society.” My thoughts on this: Technology that works for people Cyber security: The strategy refers to the EU toolbox for 5G as an important milestone for achieving resilience. [Read More]