❗Conference Alert ❗New date for Open Search Symposium #ossym26 : 7-9 Oct 2026.

🇪🇺 "Boosting Digital Sovereignty" is the #ossym26 conference topic. Join us in Berlin at the CODE University of Applied Sciences.

👉 We are calling for your contribution with scientific papers, sharing of practical experiences or introductions of concepts and positions in relevant fields, such as computer science, legal, economics & ethics.

📗 The Call for Papers is still open! All info:
https://opensearchfoundation.org/events-osf/ossym2026/

⚡ 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗵𝘁𝗴𝗲𝗳𝗮𝗵𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗶 𝗧𝗶𝗸𝗧𝗼𝗸? 𝗩𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗷𝗮!

Seit Februar 2024 untersucht die Europäische Kommission, ob TikTok die Vorgaben des Digital Services Act (DSA) einhält. In einem förmlichen Verfahren überprüft die Kommission u.a. das Design von TikTok auf Suchtgefahren, die Empfehlungssysteme und den sogenannten “Rabbit Hole Effect” sowie Sicherheit, Privatsphäre und Jugendschutz auf der Plattform.

Unsere PriDI-Juristin Charlotte Werther ordnet das Verfahren in unserem Blog ein. 👉 https://pridi-projekt.de/tiktok-auf-dem-pruefstand/

@thom Wir nehmen den Impuls auf :)! Danke.

💡Neue Woche – neues Wissen! Holt Euch Eure Daten – und nehmt sie mit!

👉 Ihr wollt Euren Anbieter, zum Beispiel beim Musikstreaming, wechseln? Nach Artikel 20 DSGVO habt Ihr das ⚖️ Recht auf Datenübertragbarkeit. Die Anbieter müssen Euch Eure Daten in maschinenlesbarer Form zur Verfügung stellen. Das gilt zum Beispiel für Playlists oder Gesundheitsdaten von Fitnesstrackern.

Mehr Infos gibt es auf unserer PriDI-Projektwebsite in der Serie (R)echt bekannt?! 📚 https://pridi-projekt.de/#wissen

#DSGVO

🫵 Have you already become DI – Digitally Independent?
No!? Let's get started!

Last Sunday was Digital Independence Day again (#DIDAY) – an initiative that we wholeheartedly support 💙. Switch now to 🇪🇺 European alternatives for search engines, email, etc.. "Recipes" on how to switch are available at: 👉 https://di.day (𝘪𝘯 𝘎𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯)

#diday #digitalsovereignity

@mailbox_org @MetaGer @Mojeek @protonprivacy @LibreOfficeDE

📢 Gestern war Europäischer Datenschutztag 2026. 👉 Es ist an der Zeit, zu handeln!

Die Nutzung des Internets ist nämlich teuer geworden. Sie kostet uns den Großteil unserer Privatsphäre – denn Daten sind die Währung im Netz. Werdet aktiv und steigt um – es gibt sie nämlich: Alternativen, die Eure Privatsphäre respektieren. 💡Gute Wechsel-Tipps findet Ihr hier: https://di.day/.

Erfahrt mehr über Eure Rechte in puncto Datenschutz unter: 📌 https://pridi-projekt.de/#wissen

#Datenschutz #diday

Another year, another #ossym to look forward to!
And this is your chance to be a part of it –
we are #calling for #contributions! 📣

The 8th International Open Search Symposium will take place in Berlin from 5-7 October 2026.

Don't miss your chance to hand in your contribution ideas before 1 March 2026.

All info available here 👉 https://opensearchfoundation.org/events-osf/ossym26/#CfP2026

Schönen Nikolaustag!💫

"Lieber, guter Nikolaus,
hol uns aus der kniffligen Lage raus!
Bring uns Spenden – große und kleine,
dass der OSF e.V. all seine
Mitarbeiter:innen halten kann,
die fleissig arbeiten daran,
Europas digitale Souveränität
von der Vision in die Realität
zu überführen schon ganz bald
– ein offenes Web für jung und alt.
Wer braucht schon einen Santa Claus
Wenn es doch gibt den Nikolaus ;)!"

🙏 Danke für Unterstützung:
https://opensearchfoundation.org/de/spenden/

📍In eigener Sache! Wir brauchen Eure Untertützung, denn in 3 Monaten wird es eng. Im Februar 2026 endet unsere Hauptfinanzierung. Das Anschlussprojekt startet erst Ende 2026.

Damit wir unser Team halten können, den europäischen offenen Webindex weiter promoten können & um die #OpenWebSearch Initiative weiter zu koordinieren, benötigen wir jetzt Eure Hilfe!

👇 Über diesen Link könnt ihr mit Eurer Spende einen Impact machen:
https://opensearchfoundation.org/de/spenden/

Gerne weitersagen!
Vielen Dank! 🙏

🎈 Save the Date for #EuropeanBigDataValueForum, 12-14 Nov in Kopenhagen

European Big Data Value Forum brings the European data-driven AI research + innovation community together to share knowledge, collaborate & celebrate achievements.

Among the speakers from our team:
🗣️ Stephan Hachinger from @LRZ_DE
🗣️ 🗣️ Jan Martinovič and Katerina Slaninova from IT4Innovations National Supercomputing Center
🗣️ Stefan Voigt from @osf 🗣️
Per Öster from CSC - IT Center for Science

☕ Swing by our booth ;)

Read more and sign here: charter.freewebsearch.org

5 bln. ppl use #SearchEngines & #AI daily for health information, education, news & more.
Dr. Tong-Jin Smith, professor of journalism at Media University of Applied Sciences in Berlin signed our #FreeWebSearch charter.

“Democracy requires free access to information. However, the digital public sphere is controlled by commercial providers. For them, democracy is not a business model. We therefore need a web search that sees itself as public infrastructure & is committed to the public good.”

📰 Have you seen the news? German newspaper Starnberger Merkur writes on the #FreeWebSearch Charter!

"Web search is too important to our democracy to be controlled by the Googles of this world. It belongs under democratic oversight." says Christine Plote, Co-Founder Open Search Foundation and Project Manger #FreeWebSearch Charter.

And there is so much more to it!
Luckily you can dive deeper in today's article in Starnberger Merkur:
https://www.merkur.de/lokales/starnberg/starnberg-ort29487/starnberger-initiative-stoesst-charta-an-internetsuche-als-kritische-infrastruktur-93986145.html

Thank youTobias Gmach for this piece!

Lawyer Prof. Dr. Thomas Höppner, expert in antitrust law & digital regulation, is among the first signatories of the #FreeWebSearch charter.
He points out their social responsibility:
“Search engines are the primary gateway to information of all kinds. As intermediaries, they’ve become bottlenecks: policing what content gets seen by whom. Given their ‚kingmaker’ power, it is essential that they keep the public interest and their social responsibility in view.”
More: charter.freewebsearch.org

It's a wrap for #ossym25
The good news: The proceedings from the 7th International Open Search Symposium are already available:

https://opensearchfoundation.org/en/conference-proceedings-from-ossym25/

Thank you to all contributors and supporters! 🙏

#ossym25 Day 3 brought us an insightful talk on "Searching for Trust: Reflections on Epistemic Virtue Online", provided by Viivi Lähteenoja, CEO of The MyData Company.

Key learnings:
👉 Trust is a two-way relational concept
👉 Trust and Reliance are independent concepts, that are not mutually exclusive in web search
👉 A focus on virtue reduces the arbitrarity of trust with regard to inevitable "hinges".

Throwback to yesterday's keynote at #ossym25
Thank you to Harri Ketamo for sharing about the Headai products and services! Impressed by the deep research that went into building those comprehensive applications that put publicly available data to use to try and make better predictions about the future. 🔥

#ossym25 kicked off at CSC
🎙️Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy of the EC spoke on the need for a European open search ecosystem + AI solutions that offer users more choices & fosters innovation. The EU AI continent action plan focuses on this.
🎙️Finnish MEP Aura Salla voiced a market focused angle in her keynote on European digital sovereignty. She suggests to adjust current regulations in ways that boost European economy while protecting citizens.

💬 “Whoever controls search algorithms controls access to the world's knowledge, to our history and how it is remembered...”

Digital expert + former member of the German Bundestag Anke Domscheit-Berg grew up in the GDR. In her statement for the #FreeWebSearch Charter, she describes why she supports the demands of the charter as one of its first signatories.

Read her full statement here:
https://freewebsearch.org/en/statement-anke-domscheit-berg/

Sign now and take a stand for freedom of information:
charter.freewebsearch.org

‼️ Who controls what BILLIONS can find on the web?

For years now, a handful of tech corporations alone have held this power.

With the #FreeWebSearch Charter, we are campaigning for a web search system that: ✅ Works transparently/comprehensibly
✅ Shows diverse perspectives & sources
✅ Respects privacy
✅ Provides equal access
✅ Is subject to democratic control

The Charter is a call to action to #ReclaimWebSearch as a #publicgood.

How to join?
Sign the charter: charter.freewebsearch.org