Spain Archives - Dialogues on European Digital Transition

What if the Google search engine unjustly harms a person’s reputation? Keys to ‘the right to be forgotten’

European Association for Digital Transition Rights and freedom July 12, 2022July 12, 2022Data Protection, Digital rights, Google, Spain

The Spanish Constitutional Court has just endorsed, in a judgment on June 27, 2022, what is known as the ‘right to be forgotten’, declaring previous decisions in regard to this by the Supreme Court and the National High Court to be unconstitutional. Thus, the Constitutional Court has positioned itself in support of arguments made by the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD), which in turn protected a Spanish businessperson affected by negative comments published in the United States and accessible via the Google search engine.

Without confidence, the Digital Transition in Health will be a failure

European Association for Digital Transition Rights and freedom January 17, 2022January 17, 2022Artificial Intelligence, Data Protection, health, Spain

In December 2021, the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System approved its Digital Health Strategy (In Spanish, ESD-SNS), an ambitious roadmap for the Spanish health sector’s digital transition. The document appeared just weeks after the European Commission’s latest Study on eHealth, Interoperability of Health Data and Artificial Intelligence for Health and Care in the European Union.

More power for Google: the Spanish government’s mistake with the media and the Copyright Directive

European Association for Digital Transition Economic future December 29, 2021December 29, 2021Copyright Directive, Google, Press, Spain

In all industries, the digitalisation process is unstoppable. And it’s been the same in the written press, which has adapted its models and structures for the online market with great effort and speed. Each day, as an essential pillar of democracy, the media provides information in compliance with the rights to give and receive information proclaimed in Article 20 of the Spanish Constitution.

Digital Rights Charter: the preamble to reform of the Spanish Constitution?

European Association for Digital Transition Rights and freedom September 22, 2021September 22, 2021Data Protection, Digital rights, Privacy, Spain

Over the past few decades we have witnessed a series of social, economic, and technological changes that are difficult to assess with such little historical perspective. Technology has surely been the most important factor in these processes. The generalisation of computer devices and telecommunications infrastructures has had multiple effects on virtually all aspects of social and economic life, in the private as well as the public sphere. We live in a world that, as expressed by Nicholas Negroponte, has become digital.

Europe and protection of the digital consumer: A challenge halfway met

European Association for Digital Transition Rights and freedom May 4, 2021June 9, 2021Consumers, Didier Reynders, Digital rights, European Commission, Spain

The standard profile of the European consumer is increasingly digital. This transformation process, which began years ago, has accelerated dramatically with the COVID-19 pandemic. It is precisely in the last year that transformation of the legislative framework that protects the European consumer has sped up. Last November, the European Commission published the New Consumer Agenda, a document defining key actions that need to be taken in this area, both at European and state level, over the next five years.

City councils facing the digital transition: Barcelona proposes online delivery tax

European Association for Digital Transition Democratic quality April 21, 2021June 9, 2021Amazon, Digital sovereignty, Fiscal policy, Local business, Spain

The complex debate on taxation of large Internet platforms affects all levels, from the large institutions involved in global governance – such as the G20 and IMF – to city councils in cities that have around two million people, such as Barcelona. For a while now the Catalan city council has been working to implement a tax on home delivery of online purchases. The measure is after an essential objective: to defend the traditional commercial structure and small businesses from the rise of e-commerce, a market dominated by multinational platforms such as Amazon and AliExpress.

Our opinion on the Spanish government’s Digital Rights Charter

European Association for Digital Transition Rights and freedom January 26, 2021June 9, 2021Data Protection, Digital rights, Privacy, Spain

How to incorporate the current rights framework into the digital environment? And how to protect these rights in this area? The Spanish Ministry of Economic Affairs attempts to answer these two questions in what has been titled the Digital Rights Charter, which it presents as part of its ‘España Digital 2025’ plan. This is a document whose purpose is to guide future policy decisions and actions by public authorities.

‘Committees of sages’ and digital rights: how to move from theory to reality

European Association for Digital Transition Democratic quality July 2, 2020June 9, 2021Data Protection, Digital rights, Digital sovereignty, Labor Relations, Spain

Gradually, digitalization, in its broadest sense, is beginning to have a prominent place on the political agenda of governments and institutions. This is a transversal and multidimensional challenge for society as a whole, affecting health, education, wealth creation, mobility, democratic freedoms, the free market, etc. Digital transformation can bring enormous benefits for people, companies – of all sizes – and society overall if the transition process is done in an orderly, rational, and inclusive way. The necessary transition also entails challenges and risks, as adjustments will have to be made and accepted; hence the importance of reaching consensus among all the parties involved. This is why we welcome the launch, by the Spanish Government, of a group of experts who will advise them on the creation of a Digital Rights Charter. Addressed here will be rights already recognized in Spanish legislation – for example, data protection – and more recent realities, such as new labour relations and artificial intelligence.

Does the internet pose a danger for public security? About Spanish regulation

European Association for Digital Transition Democratic quality January 31, 2020June 9, 2021Digital administration, Digital sovereignty, Spain

At the end of 2019, the Spanish government passed a law (Royal Decree-Law 14/2019) to adopt urgent measures for reasons of public security in regard to digital administration, hiring in the public sector and telecommunications.