Data Privacy Deal

This week the focus will be centered around privacy. One of the definitions of privacy is freedom from unauthorized intrusion. This of course can be done by individuals or even by governments. Today, we will get into how the US and the European Union (EU) have been in discussion for 18 months trying to nail down how the governments will share data of private individuals.

A senior EU official said on Tuesday, July 2 the European Union could strike a deal with the United States as early as next year to protect personal data collected on their citizens to bolster the fight against terrorism but warned that important questions still needed to be resolved.

The EU and the US have been in talks on the sensitive issue of data protection and sharing ever since US officials demanded access to passenger name records (PNR) on flights from the EU to the US in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

While both the EU and the US want to further push data sharing among police and counter-terrorism officials, there is acknowledgment the topic is a sensitive one and both sides say they need to cooperate on data privacy to build trust.

In recent years, privacy advocates and rights groups in Europe have strongly criticized deals with Washington including one giving it access to private data on air passengers traveling to the US and the right to keep the information for 15 years. Another allowed the US government to consult records of Swift, a consortium that tracks global bank transfers, including those of European customers in anti-terrorism investigations.

Reacting to criticism by European lawmakers and rights groups that data-sharing deals lacked privacy protection, a panel of EU and US justice officials set up more than a year ago has sought to assuage fears about privacy erosion.

In a report, the panel concluded that a binding deal on data privacy would be the best way to boost cooperation in fighting crime and terrorism.

The negotiators, meeting since February 2007, have mostly worked out draft language for 12 major issues at the heart of a "binding international agreement". This pact would make clear that European governments and companies could lawfully exchange personal information with the US.

They have already agreed on 12 principles, including security, what constitutes sensitive data, the purpose of its use and effective and independent oversight of exchanges. Among the principles agreed by the EU-US panel was that information revealing a person's racial or ethnic origins, political, religious or philosophical views and health or sexual orientation may not be processed unless domestic legislation provides appropriate safeguards.

They also agreed people should be told about use of their data, which must be supervised by an independent authority.

There are however some sticking points that are not resolved as of yet.

But the two sides are still at odds on several other matters, including whether European citizens should be able to sue the US government over its handling of their personal data. Europeans currently do not have the same legal rights in the United States as US citizens do in Europe. Currently, US law does not allow foreigners to sue the US government for damages resulting in improper handling of personal data.

Another concern that the EU does not appear willing to compromise on is whether Washington would eventually be able to access data contained in the vast computer system monitoring control border crossings in Europe's so-called Schengen passport-free zone.

Negotiators are trying to work out minimum privacy rights standards, such as limiting access to information to "authorized individuals with an identified purpose" for seeing it.

"I am very worried that once this will be adopted, it will serve as a pretext to freely share our personal data with anyone, so I want it to be very clear about exactly what it means and how it will work," said Sophia in't Veld, a Dutch member of the European Parliament and privacy rights advocate.

Our federal government does not have the best track record at respecting our right to privacy. So I personally am very skeptical at what the standards will be and how they will be used. We will get more into this later this week. Stay tuned ...

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.

Speak up and judge fairly;
defend the rights of the poor and needy. Proverbs 31:8-9 (NIV)

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