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On 11 November 2008, Peter Hustinx, the European Union's Data Protection Supervisor, gave some comments to the report published on 26 June 2008 by EU-US High Level Contact Group (HLCG) on information sharing between US-EU on privacy and personal data protection.
According to Hustinx, a greater sharing of personal data between the European Union and the US should be accompanied by guarantees that the individuals whose data are exchanged may examine the exchange process and correct eventual mistakes. He believes that US and EU should be allowed to share individual personal data in criminal cases, only if people can take the authorities to court when they are wronged. "Strong redress mechanisms, including administrative and judicial remedies, should be available to all individuals, irrespective of their nationality," says the EDPS.
With this position, he agrees with the EU request for the right to take the authorities to court regardless of nationality of the person whose data is processed, something that the US did not agree with. Currently, the US Privacy Act says that only US citizens and legal permanent residents can sue the authorities and only after having exhausted all direct actions with the government agencies before going to court.
The EDPS thinks that in the context in which the transatlantic exchange of information will continue to grow and include other additional sectors where personal data are being processed, "a dialogue on 'transatlantic law enforcement' is at the same time welcome and sensitive. It is welcome in the sense that it could give a clearer framework to the exchanges of data that are or will be taking place. It is also sensitive since such a framework could legitimise massive data transfers in a field - law enforcement - where the impact on individuals is particularly serious, and where strict and reliable safeguards and guarantees are all the more needed."
Hustinx also wants more interest groups to be involved in the discussion between the interested parties as well as a greater involvement of the European Parliament. He believes transparency is necessary during the future debates as until now HLCG has been working behind closed doors.
He expressed his concern related to the increasing demands for international transfers of data from private companies and third parties. "It appears from this context that the request of enforcement authorities of third countries for personal information is constantly widening, and that it also extends from traditional government data bases to other types of files, in particular files of data collected by the private sector. As an important background element, the EDPS also recalls that the issue of transfer of personal data to third countries in the framework of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters is addressed in the Council Framework Decision on the protection of personal data processed in the framework of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters4 that is likely to be adopted before the end of 2008."
Hustinx's office said the report should lay at the basis of a road map towards a legally binding agreement, in a process that should not be hasty.
Opinion of the European Data Protection Supervisor on the Final Report by
the EU-US High Level Contact Group on information sharing and privacy and
personal data protection (11.11.2008)
http://www.edps.europa.eu/EDPSWEB/webdav/site/mySite/shared/Documents/...
EU Data Protection Supervisor seeks a roadmap for transatlantic data
protection (14.11.2008)
http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/118902
EU privacy regulator says US must agree to data swap court action
(13.11.2008)
http://www.out-law.com//default.aspx?page=9593