In Europe and elsewhere, citizens' fundamental are frequently being undermined by governments and corporations: through the disproportionate storage of data by governments and corporations, through access to websites or applications being blocked and through restrictions that are increasingly being implemented on an ad hoc basis by private actors, undermining due process and the rule of law. NGOs and activists had to react to a great number of EU proposals that threatened our rights and freedoms.

This talk will give an overview of what we have been fighting for over the past five years and look at how the upcoming elections can be used as a unique opportunity for action instead of reaction. In order to prevent the zombie apocalypse and the return of bad proposals, EDRi, a network of 36 civil rights organisations, has launched We Promise.

After the next elections, parliamentarians will be confronted with new proposals on copyright, on civil enforcement of IP rights, on criminal enforcement of IP rights, on data retention, "trade secrets"... and those are only the ones we know about already! This year's European election is a crucial moment to ensure that digital rights are pushed to the forefront of the political agenda.