A thought: will the Vatican City be the first state in Europe to free itself from U.S. tech dependence?

Orbán’s Spying Kit Revealed: Israeli Surveillance Tool Combined with Hungarian Technology - VSquare.org Intelligence agencies of Viktor Orbán's government have been secretly using Webloc — a mass surveillance tool that tracks hundreds of millions of people via smartphone advertising data — making Hungar...

🔎📱 Just before Hungary’s election, we revealed Viktor Orbán’s intelligence agencies secretly use Webloc – an Israeli mass surveillance tool tracking hundreds of millions via smartphone ad data – making Hungary the first confirmed EU user, likely violating GDPR. @vsquare.bsky.social @citizenlab.ca

How Accurate Are Google’s A.I. Overviews?

Important reporting from NYT
AI overviews above search results are wrong about 10% of the time, but the scale of this is so vast that it really matters.
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/t...

Lili might be right
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/w...

The reality is those countries that switched to renewables are now much more insulated from the crisis than those that didn't. Yet there will be many conservatives in Europe that will fall for this BS from the US State Department. Sad.

Kudos to @micheal-martin.bsky.social for this clear and direct criticism

Enforce is hiring: AI Expert How data about European defence personnel and political leaders flows to foreign states and non-state actors

Job opportunity

We are hiring an AI expert to join ICCL Enforce

www.iccl.ie/digital-data...

Enforce is hiring: AI Expert How data about European defence personnel and political leaders flows to foreign states and non-state actors

Job opportunity

We are hiring an AI expert to join ICCL Enforce

www.iccl.ie/digital-data...

Irish law ‘blocking’ actions on behalf of children over ‘addictive’ social media apps State is in breach of EU law, Irish Council for Civil Liberties claims

Ireland is blocking ICCL from taking the cases it needs to take to protect vulnerable children against dangerous and addictive social media companies.
www.irishtimes.com/technology/2...

Response from the President of the @ec.europa.eu

It would have been good if the President had provided links or citation to the evidence.

www.iccl.ie/wp-content/u...

As I told the Oireachtas Justice Committee yesterday evening, Ireland is a tax haven and a digital haven.
When forced to act against Meta by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), the DPC sued the EDPB instead.

It's a Wild West here. There is no sheriff. And no shame.

There was no assessment of candidates' conflict of interest, such as stock options and non disparagement agreements with a previous tech employer. This is a problem.

The Department of Justice's selection criteria prevented any serious, credible enforcer from even being short listed, instead favouring generic management. The interviews dedicated only 10 minutes to expertise - and that was led by a corporate lawyer who works for big tech.

My testimony at the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) Justice Committee yesterday evening: new documents reveal serious problems in the recruitment process for Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner.

I'll do my best

I will also set out that Ireland's previous Data Protection Commissioner (A) tried to sue all other EU data authorities to resist investigating Meta's intimate data use (DPC v EDPB); and (B) two weeks ago joined Meta's primary law firm, which represents Meta in many lawsuits against the DPC.

ICCL reveals information about DPC recruitment process ICCL is appearing before the Oireachtas Justice Committee to discuss the EU's Digital Omnibus package.

This afternoon I will speak at the Oireachtas Justice Committee. I will share new information obtained by ICCL about the latest Data Protection Commissioner recruitment process, in which a former Meta spokesperson was appointed Ireland's new Data Protection Commissioner.
www.iccl.ie/press-releas...

'In the pocket of US multinationals': How is Ireland seen by Europe? Podcast Episode · Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan · 23 March · 42m

Good interview by @hlinehan.bsky.social with Eoin Drea.
podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/i...

Johnny Ryan: Big Tech, Privacy & Data Power | GDPR Enforcement Failure | Europe’s Real Bottleneck YouTube video by Digital Markets Research Hub

My conversation (long) with Oles Andriychuk on Tech, Competition, Privacy, Power is now live
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIkc...

Energy fallout from Iran war signals a global wake-up call for renewable energy The Iran war is exposing how much the global economy still depends on fragile fossil fuel supplies. The conflict has virtually choked off the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for a fifth of the...

Trump inadvertently boosts the Green energy agenda

apnews.com/article/midd...

More concentration, more risk: three firms account for almost half of Ireland’s corporation tax revenues - Irish Fiscal Advisory Council 19 February 2026 – Beyond the Budget Series

Correct link for Fiscal Advisory Council note www.fiscalcouncil.ie/more-concent...

Before The Smyths there was Patrick Kavanagh

Excellent. I just signed up to a founder subscription. Good luck @carolecadwalla.bsky.social

Caption this

We reaffirm our firm commitment to the principles of international law and the rules-based order everywhere in the world.

I have just held a call with President Pedro Sánchez to express the EU’s full solidarity with Spain.

The EU will always ensure that the interests of its Member States are fully protected.

Apple + Microsoft + Eli Lilly paid 46% of all corporate tax to Ireland in 2024
See note from the Ireland's Fiscal Advisory Council.
- www.fiscalcouncil.ie/new-council-...
- www.irishtimes.com/business/eco...

US Border Patrol admits using Real-Time Bidding (RTB) data to track people's movements.

The failure to enforce against the RTB data breach at the heart of online advertising is very, very dangerous.

Big scoop by @josephcox.bsky.social @404media.co!

www.404media.co/cbp-tapped-i...

Taoiseach criticised over 'minimalistic' effort with X Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Media Alan Kelly has criticised the Taoiseach for making a "minimalistic" effort to get the social media platform X to appear before it.

And @alankellytipp.bsky.social has a point here www.rte.ie/news/politic...

Europeans are dangerously reliant on US tech. Now is a good time to build our own | Johnny Ryan By trusting the US, we handed Trump a kill switch. Yet Europe’s digital sovereignty is an achievable goal, says civil liberties campaigner, Johnny Ryan

We are building up the issue

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...