EU/US PRIVACY RELATIONS

STATEMENT CONCERNING TODAY'S MEETING BETWEEN
PRIVACY INTERNATIONAL AND US GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS

LONDON, 16 December 1998.

Privacy International today met US government officials to discuss the current privacy dispute between the United States and Europe.

The meeting was attended by officials of the US Department of Commerce, the US State Department, and the US Embassy in London. The US Delegation was led by Peter Swire, a US law professor currently working for the US Department of Commerce promoting self-regulation. They met with three Privacy International staff responsible for the organisation's campaign strategy and policy.

The meeting, at the London School of Economics, took place at the request of the United States Government following Privacy International's announcement in October that it intends pursuing legal action on behalf of European citizens against US companies which violate European privacy rules.

The London meeting failed to identify any common ground between the parties. Privacy International remains firmly opposed to the US government's preferred voluntary-based privacy options, including "Effective Self Regulation" and "Safe Harbor". Privacy International believes these options fail entirely to address European privacy requirements which protect European citizens from privacy abuses, and will afford little or no protection to US companies in the event of legal actions.

Privacy International intends to continue its challenge to illegal data processing by US companies.

More information on the EU data privacy directive and Privacy International's project is available at:

http://www.privacyinternational.org/issues/compliance/

General information on Privacy International is available at:

http://www.privacyinternational.org/