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.

In a letter to the President of the European Commission’s Data Protection working group, Barry Steinhardt of the American Civil Liberties Union describes how the US National Security Agency (NSA) is eavesdropping on Internet communications in Europe.

The bottom line?

“…the NSA is not just targeting individuals but is also using data mining systems to evaluate the communications of millions of people both inside and outside the United States.

This activity involves no oversight or legal protections for non-U.S. persons. As a result, the communications of European citizens are completely vulnerable to abuse. “

The letter cites a 2007 Wired article describing “How the US Became Switchboard to the World”. Essentially, ISPs not in the US wanting to route internet traffic from one country to another have traditionally found it easier and cheaper to send it via the US.

I’m not sure how significant that article is to the issue of NSA tapping into Internet traffic outside the US. It suggests that the practice is diminishing as countries improve their infrastructure and more traffic is routed locally.

So until we hear of documented instances of traffic interception the issue will be somewhat cloudy.