According to the report Collateral Damage of IP-Based Blocking During LALIGA Football Streaming in Spain: Evidence from OONI Measurements, published by the OONI Project (Open Observatory of Network Interference), DIGI may have used Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) techniques that could put users’ privacy and personal data at risk.
ASUI is calling on Spain’s Data Protection Authority (AEPD) to extend its investigation to other Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that have implemented the IP blocking measures promoted by LALIGA, amid concerns that they may have used Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) or other equivalent technologies in ways that infringe the privacy of electronic communications.
ASUI is requesting that the AEPD launch an ex officio investigation to determine whether such techniques have in fact been used and whether they have infringed the privacy of users’ electronic communications.
ASUI also calls on the AEPD to extend its investigation to other ISPs that have implemented the IP blocking measures promoted by LALIGA, in order to determine whether they have relied on Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) or other equivalent technologies. These technologies inspect the contents of data packets travelling across the network by opening and analyzing them by examining the contents of packets in transit, enabling real-time decisions on how the traffic is processed.
The use of these techniques could constitute a violation of consumers’ and users’ rights protected under Articles 5, 6, 25 and 35 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Organic Law 3/2018 on the Protection of Personal Data and the Guarantee of Digital Rights, Law 11/2022 (General Telecommunications Law), Article 18(3) of the Spanish Constitution, and Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
ASUI Urges the Spanish Authorities to End LALIGA’s IP Blocking Measures
A parliamentary initiative is currently underway to restrict the use of mass IP address blocking, such as the measures promoted by LALIGA, through an amendment to Spain’s Digital Services Act. ASUI urges the Spanish authorities to approve this reform under an expedited legislative procedure or, alternatively, through a Royal Decree-Law, given the risks that these practices pose to the confidentiality and privacy of users’ electronic communications and personal data.
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