Brussels To
Sign Away
Your Private
Details To
US
By David
Leppard
30/06/08 "The
Times"
--29/06/08
-American
authorities
will be able
to obtain
greater
access to
private
information
such as
credit card
transactions,
internet
browsing
habits and
travel
histories of
people in
Britain
under a deal
being
finalised by
European
Union
officials.
An internal
report
leaked to
The New York
Times
yesterday
said the EU
was on the
verge of
agreeing to
give US law
enforcement
and security
agencies
information
about all EU
citizens.
Talks on the
new
data-sharing
deal have
been going
on since
last year.
Negotiators
are trying
to agree on
minimum
standards to
protect
privacy
rights. This
would
include
limiting
access to
information
to
“authorised
individuals
with an
identified
purpose” for
their
search. The
Americans
want to
secure final
agreement
before
President
Bush leaves
office in
January.
This
weekend,
privacy
campaigners
said the
move would
allow the
Americans to
carry out
“fishing”
expeditions
against
anyone they
deemed to be
of interest
and would
further
undermine
individual
privacy.
Shami
Chakrabarti,
director of
Liberty,
said: “We
can barely
trust our
own
authorities
with
sensitive
personal
information.
What redress
will we have
on the other
side of the
Atlantic if
our details
are lost or
abused?”
The Foreign
Office would
make no
comment
yesterday
and an EU
spokesman
declined to
discuss the
matter.
Stewart
Baker,
assistant
secretary
for policy
at the US
department
of homeland
security,
said that
the deal
would make
it easier
for the US
to obtain
private
information
on
individuals
from banks,
credit card
firms and
other
companies in
Britain and
the EU.
He said many
firms faced
sanctions
from the EU
if they were
deemed to
have passed
information
to the US in
breach of
data
protection
laws. The
deal would
in effect
give them
greater
protection
from
punishment
in the
future. It
would apply
to airline
passengers
and anyone
whom the US
government
had
legitimate
authority to
obtain
information
about, he
added.
The internal
report said
negotiators
had largely
agreed on an
“international
binding
agreement”.
The pact
would make
it clear
that it was
lawful for
European
governments
and
companies
such as
internet and
credit card
firms to
transfer
private
information
to the
United
States and
vice versa.
Officials
have still
to resolve
whether
European
citizens
should be
able to sue
the US
government
over its
handling of
personal
data. The
deal is
designed to
resolve
conflicts
over
information-sharing
between the
EU and the
US that
followed the
9/11 attacks
in America.
The US
government
demanded
access to
customer
data held by
airlines
flying out
of Europe
and by a
consortium,
known as
Swift, that
monitors
global
banking
transfers.
American
officials
wanted the
data so that
they could
search for
suspicious
activity.
Barry
Steinhardt,
a lawyer at
the American
Civil
Liberties
Union, said:
“Clearly
it’s a broad
exchange of
data. It’s
another
example of
the US
drawing in
the rest of
the world to
sacrifice
its
principles.
“The US is
essentially
asking the
rest of the
world to
conform to
our very
limited
notion of
what’s
private.
“It’s not a
full-scale
transfer of
data between
Europe and
the United
States. But
it provides
for wide
access to
data which
are supposed
to be
protected
under EU
law.”
Additional
reporting:
Sarah Baxter
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2008 Times
Newspapers
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