Emerging Privacy Issues Between the US and the EU: Bridging the Transatlantic Gap
The EU and the US are engaged in a race to the bottom as regards privacy and data retention. At issue are the Passenger Name Record (PNR), commercial use of personal data, and lack of privacy policies in both blocs.
Various MEPs discussed the issue with US lawyers in Georgetown today. There’s a webcast available of the whole discussion at http://www.law.georgetown.edu/webcast/eventDetail.cfm?eventID=557
It’s pretty interesting, though the moderator should have squashed Sophia in’t Veld when she started her 5 minute anti-american rant. Here’s the programme:
MODERATOR: Marc Rotenberg, Executive Director, Electronic Privacy Information Center, and Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University Law Center
PANELISTS: Sophia in’t Veld, Member of European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (Netherlands)
Baroness Sarah Ludford, Member of European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (United Kingdom)
Alexander Alvaro, Member of European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (Germany)
Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Member of European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (Netherlands)
Ignasi Guardans Cambo, Member of European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (Spain)
Adam Levitin, Professor, Georgetown University Law Center
NOTE: The United States and the European Union are confronting many common privacy challenges - promoting trust and confidence for Internet commerce, developing safeguards for behavioral targeting and search histories, security breach notification and identity theft. There are also areas - identification requirements, border control and passenger record transfers - where national security requirements
appear to conflict with privacy laws. The panelists will discuss current efforts to address these challenges.