After two years since the formation of the current German "traffic light" coalition, eco provides a mixed assessment of the progress in digital policy. In the Traffic Light Coalition Check, the association analysed twelve areas of Internet policy action and compared them with the goals of the coalition agreement. The conclusion reached by eco Chair of the Board Oliver Süme. “Instead of an ambitious digital policy, after two years of the current German coalition government, we are experiencing at best a stop-and-go.”

38.1 per cent pay attention to different payment methods when shopping on the Internet Relevant reviews from 36.4 per cent of other shoppers eco Association gives 7 tips for shopping on Black Friday without concerns With the Christmas shopping season beginning on Black Friday, 80.6 per cent of online shoppers are...

Germany is at a turning point. At the German federal government’s Digital Summit in Jena on 20 and 21 November 2023, representatives from business, society, science and politics will discuss how digital services and technologies contribute to addressing multiple challenges such as the fight against effects of advancing climate change, the increasing scarcity of resources, or the energy crisis.

To mark the European Day on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, the German hotlines FSM, eco and jugendschutz.net have compiled important tips for dealing in Germany with online depictions of abuse of minors.

Today, the EU Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) voted in favour of its recently presented compromise on the EU Commission’s proposed CSAM Regulation. With this compromise, the lead EU parliamentary committee imposes clear limitations on the proposed chat controls and opposes the weakening of end-to-end encryption.

Associations in Germany are calling for improvements in the conditions for network rollout. Today the Gigabit Symposium – organised by ANGA, Bitkom, BREKO, BUGLAS, eco and VATM – is reviewing the situation together with politicians and the industry, with the current German federal government now two years in action. The important EU level groundwork is also under discussion.

AI is a key technology of the future with a wide range of possible applications and the potential to transform the economy, science and society. Nevertheless, there are still major reservations about AI-based technologies in large parts of the German population, as displayed through an eco/Civey survey. eco calls for a broad debate in order to boost societal acceptance.

eco expressly welcomes the fact that the key theme of “digitalisation” is receiving its own federal state body at ministerial level for the first time, thereby aligning with the conferences of ministers of other established departments.