5: IN MAJOR PRIVACY VICTORY, TOP EU COURT RULES AGAINST MASS SURVEILLANCE
THE EUROPEAN UNION’S TOP court has severely undermined the British government’s mass surveillance powers in a new ruling that could rein in police and spy agency investigations.
In a judgment handed down in Luxembourg on Wednesday, the European Court of Justice declared that the “general and indiscriminate retention” of data about people’s communications and locations was inconsistent with privacy rights. The court stated that the “highly invasive” bulk storage of private data “exceeds the limits of what is strictly necessary and cannot be considered to be justified, within a democratic society.”
Camilla Graham Wood, legal officer with the London-based group Privacy International, hailed the ruling as a victory for civil liberties advocates. “Today’s judgment is a major blow against mass surveillance and an important day for privacy,” she said. “It makes clear that blanket and indiscriminate retention of our digital histories — who we interact with, when and how and where – can be a very intrusive form of surveillance that needs strict safeguards against abuse and mission creep.”
The Intercept
4: New Zealanders Can’t Test Their Holiday Drugs After Ecstasy Kits Withheld From Retailer
“We’ve already turned two people away today. It can be a matter of life and death.”
Thousands of free pill testing kits will be distributed at major Australian music festivals this summer, following concerns over the rise in drug-related deaths among festival-goers. The same can’t be said for New Zealand where our drug laws prohibit organisers from acknowledging the use of substances on their premises, and allowing drug testing effectively does that.Vice News
3: Registry used to track Arabs and Muslims dismantled by Obama administration
The Obama administration is dismantling a discriminatory surveillance system that was used after 9/11 to keep tabs on Arabs and Muslims across the US, in a move that will make it more difficult for president-elect Donald Trump to achieve his goal of introducing a Muslim registry.
Thursday’s announcement by the Department of Homeland Security that it is tearing down the remnants of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (Nseers) marks the most audacious attempt yet by Barack Obama to place roadblocks in the way of his successor’s declared intentions. A key element of Trump’s bid for the White House was his threat to prevent non-citizen Muslims from entering the US and to keep them under surveillance once inside the country.
The Guardian
2: Trump: US should veto UN Israel settlement resolution
Hours before the United Nations Security Council was to vote on a draft resolution demanding Israel halts settlement activities in occupied Palestinian territories, president-elect Donald Trump urged the US to veto the measure.
Egypt on Wednesday circulated the draft calling on Israel to “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem”.
The vote was scheduled for 3pm (20:00 GMT) on Thursday.
Aljazeera
In Syria, the evacuation of rebels and civilians from eastern Aleppo have resumed, after thousands were left stranded on Wednesday amid heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures. Syrian government forces said they expected the last of the evacuees to board buses within the coming hours, leaving the Syrian Army to take total control of the city, which has been devastated by months of heavy bombing and siege warfare. We speak to Syrian dissident and former political prisoner Yassin al-Haj Saleh, who lives in exile in Turkey. His wife, Samira Khalil, disappeared three years ago along with the prominent human rights attorney Razan Zaitouneh. Yassin al-Haj Saleh’s forthcoming book is titled “The Impossible Revolution: Making Sense of the Syrian Tragedy.”
Democracy Now
