This article is also available in:
Deutsch: Verhandlungen zum Datenschutz: EU-Kommissarin kritisiert USA
Following a meeting she had in December 2010 with US attorney general Eric Holder and Interior Minister Janet Napolitano, the EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding expressed her concern on what she believed to be a lack of interest of the US officials regarding the data protection agreement to be negotiated between EU and US.
"The meeting turned out to be somewhat disappointing on data protection. From the outset, we have noted an apparent lack of interest on the US side to talk seriously about data protection," Ms Reding said in a statement adding that the US have not appointed a negotiator yet.
The US administration disagreed with Ms. Reding and William Kennard, the United States ambassador to the European Union, stated that in his opinion things had moved ahead and that, in order to decide on the negotiator, the US administration needed to better understand what EU negotiators wanted to include in the agreement.
The EU-US data-sharing agreement (so-called SWIFT deal) that gives US authorities access to bank transfer information for anti-terrorism purposes was rejected by EU legislature in February 2010 pending better data protection conditions. An agreement became operational in August 2010 when further protections were added to the SWIFT deal, such as the presence of an EU supervisor in Washington to check that no abuse occurs.
In the meantime, US authorities continue talks for the existing EU-US PNR (Passenger Name Record) exchange agreement which obliges airlines to send details on passengers flying to USA that are to be cross-checked with the US terrorist watch list.
The scope of the data use is wider than the European Parliament is comfortable with. EP is asking for a high level of protection of the transferred personal data (such as PNR data and financial information) and wants a charter of rights outlining the fundamental principles that should stand at the basis of future data-sharing, covering also bilateral agreements.
According to leaked information, the US authorities have several parallel bilateral data sharing agreements with European governments."Member states do business with the US and don't tell anyone, not even their own parliaments. So the things the European Parliament can do on PNR for instance, are marginal, because if Washington doesn't get it that way, they do it bilaterally," stated MEP Sophie in't Veld.
The EU wants citizens to get the right to rectify and delete data and to go to court in case of data misuse and asks for a more proportionate use of the data by the authorities.
Reding wants to obtain limitations of retained data , a strict ban on the transfer of data to other countries and asks for an independent data protection supervisor to be appointed by the US for the supervision of the authorities' use of citizen data, as there is in Europe.
Reding slams US over data privacy (21.12.2010)
http://euobserver.com/22/31555
Reding asks the "Kissinger question" on Data Protection Agreement with US
(22.12.2010)
http://bendrath.blogspot.com/2010/12/reding-asks-kissinger-question-on...
Viviane Reding takes on US over data privacy rights in anti-terror campaign
(20.12.2010)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/20/eu-accuse-us-on-data-prote...
US envoy rejects Reding's charges on data protection (20.12.2010)
http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/2010/12/us-envoy-rejects-reding-s...
EDRi-gram: Data protection authorities call for a strict EU-US privacy
agreement (1.12.2010)
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number8.23/eu-us-privacy-agreement