European Parliament calls on search engine companies to spy on all EU citizens
24/06/2010
EU proposal to retain all Internet search traffic clears its first hurdle as the majority of MEP’s call on the Commission to take action
Privacy watchdog mounts pan-Europe campaign to defeat “draconian, ill-informed, unlawful and deeply intrusive” imposition
The watchdog group Privacy International will this week write to more than 200 European organisations to form a campaign to fight the adoption of an EU proposal to require the retention and analysis all European Internet search traffic.
The proposal, which was adopted yesterday (23rd June) was signed by 371 MEPs (the majority of the European Parliament) and has now become the formal position of the Parliament.
Written Declaration 29 is the first stage of a process to establish a European Early Warning Service to detect child pornography and sexual harassment by requiring retention and analysis of web searches. The proposal purports to aid the tracking of Internet activity of sex offenders and paedophiles.
The adoption of the Written Directive is a significant milestone for the proposal. While the instrument does not in itself have legal status, it acts as a formal invitation to the Commission to take action to address the issues raised by the Declaration. The Commission may choose to ignore the invitation.
Of even greater significance is the perceived moral high ground the Declaration gives to the Council of Ministers and Member States to push for the initiative to be adopted.
The aggressive campaign behind the proposal has been dogged by controversy, with some MEPs urging their colleagues to withdraw support after being “misled” by its promoters.
The proposal raises a number of deeply troubling issues. Extending existing requirements for communications data retention to searches would violate EU regulations which make it clear that only traffic data and timestamps - as opposed to content of communications - should be retained.
The reason for this safeguard is to protect the privacy of communications - a fundamental right afforded to all EU citizens under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Any proposal to retain data on the content of communications with search engines dangerously extends existing regulations to the point where it would contravene law.
Once authorities are able to store and analyse the search records of all EU citizens, a window into the interests, associations and activities of tens of millions of people will have been opened. And on the basis of recent history it would be reasonable to assume that exploitation of this rich reserve of personal information would eventually extend well beyond its original purpose.
Even as European courts and governments are concluding that the European Parliament went too far by approving telecommunications data retention in 2006, the Parliament wants to significantly extend its reach.
Privacy International's Director, Simon Davies, said: "Of course all of us support genuine and effective methods to protect children but this proposal is dangerous and counterproductive".
"The police need intelligence-led approaches to this problem, not mountains of irrelevant data that will overwhelm scarce resources."
"I am stunned that our elected representatives would even consider such a plan. I can only presume that most have signed the Declaration out of genuine concern about the problem rather than informed enthusiasm for the method proposed."
For more information please see the wiki resource on Declaration 29.
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