It is planned that the group of experts will have periodically some meetings throughout 2017 with three basic tasks: to carry out a diagnosis about the current situation of the protection of the rights and duties of the citizens, to promote a neutral, transparent, open and informed debate about digital rights and to contribute to the European agenda in this subject.

The rest of the members of the group are José Luis Piñar, Tomás de la Quadra-Salcedo, Diego Naranjo, Miguel Pérez Subías, Christoph Steck and Ofelia Tejerina, recognised experts in the academic environment and civil society who will work the whole year to establish the basis for the future normative developments of these area in the executive and legislative branch.

Nowadays, within the European Union, these rights are being standardised in numerous legislative texts related to privacy and protection of data, the Digital Single Market, the regulation of the telecommunications field and the rights of the consumers on Internet. With this initiative, Spain is among the most developed countries in Europe in matters of citizen’s rights.

This group will address some issues of greatest concern for citizens in the digital environment. Some examples are the freedom of information and communication, privacy, intellectual property, the right to be forgotten, equality and law enforcement, among others.

Likewise, regarding the relationship between the digital world and democracy, experts will discuss about electronic management, transparency, participation, the reuse of public information and open data.

The upcoming milestone of the group will be the organisation of the International Congress about Citizen’s Digital Rights that will take place on 30 May at the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid. It will gather the main national and international experts in this issue.

The Secretary of State for Information Society and Digital Agenda, José María Lassalle; the general director of Red.es, José Manuel Leceta; and the director of the National Observatory of the Telecommunications and Information Society, Jorge Pérez, coordinator of the group.