[THS] StateWatch: THE US IS PLACING THE EU UNDER SURVEILLANCE

[Peter Webster]

[excerpt from]
Statewatch News Online,  23 April 2008 (06/08)
Home page: http://www.statewatch.org

4.  USA-EU: THE US IS PLACING UNDER SURVEILLANCE E-MAILS,
PHONE-CALLS and INTERNET USAGE and TRANSACTIONS OF
EUROPEANS:: American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Letter to the
President of the EU Article 29 Data Protection Working Party:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2008/apr/aclu-eu-dp-letter.pdf

The letter, from Barry Steinhardt, Director of ACLU's Technology and
Liberty Program, says that US agencies, through agreements with EU
service providers which allow data and content to "pass through" the
USA, is conducting extrajudicial surveillance of Europeans.

- "Internet transactions and email between Europeans is increasingly
sent through servers in the U.S."

- "In many ways this situation is similar to the SWIFT case: transactions
between two individuals in Europe may well transit through U.S.
telecommunications companies and as a result will be made accessible
to the U.S. government."

- "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."

- "We believe that this situation clearly violates European legal
requirements for the fair and lawful processing of personal information."