A Dutch member of the European Parliament is threatening to take the European Commission to court for failing to protect the digital privacy of its EU citizens. EU MP Johanna Boogerd is also vice-chairman of LIBE, the parliamentary committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs. She opposes the agreement between the Commission and US Customs that allows for live access for an unlimited amount of US security officials to information about European air passengers, including sensitive personal data like travel history and food preferences.

As she explains in an interview with Radio Netherlands, providing such access to third parties breaks EU laws and directives designed to protect the privacy of the individual.

The UK supermarket chain Tesco has confirmed that it is testing a controversial surveillance system that tracks customers in one of their stores in Cambridge. Anyone buying certain products will have their picture taken. Twice.

The system uses Radio Frequency Identifiers (RFIDs) to trigger CCTV cameras to take a picture of the customer. In the test RFIDs are embedded in Gillette razor blades. When the customer takes a package of Gillette from the shelf a RFID reader will trigger a camera to take a picture. At the checkout another RFID reader will trigger a second camera. The camera's are monitored by security personnel in the shop who will compare the two pictures. The system is supposedly designed to detect theft.

RFIDs are very small radio chips that transmit a unique serial code when a reader is placed in their proximity. Retailers hail the technology for its usefulness in logistics and supply chain management. Consumer groups and privacy advocates are campaigning for rules for the use of the chips to prevent the technology from becoming a covert surveillance tool to spy on consumers.

On 26 June a special copyright advisory board within the French Ministry of Culture published a report supporting government plans to increase surveillance of Internet users as part of a wider bid to stop the online copying of protected works.

The Superior Council for Artistic and Literary Intellectual Property (Conseil Supérieur de la Propriété Littéraire et Artistique, or CSPLA) advises to create a 3 year period of mandatory retention of traffic data by ISP's to help track down online copyright violations and counterfeiting. The legal regime for data retention is set by the law on daily safety (Loi sur la Sécurité Quotidienne - LSQ) from 15 November 2001, even though the application decrees have not been adopted yet.

Developers of Radio Frequency Identification (RFIDs) are making plans to 'neutralize opposition' to their new technology. The strategy is discussed in confidential documents from the Auto-ID Center, in which RFID developers work together.

International technical standards bodies (ISO) and civil aviation bodies (ICAO) are preparing plans for 'globally interoperable machine readable passports'. The technology should consist of RFIDs (Radio Frequency Identification) that contain 'details that enable the machine-assisted identification of the presenter'. These technical descriptions point at passports that can transmit biometric data over a radio frequency.

The organizations aim at 'fast-track deployment' presumably because of an October 2004 deadline. By that time the USA demand biometric data in passports issued by countries whose citizens normally don't need visa for travelling to the States, such as most EU countries. The US Enhanced Border Security and Visa Reform Act of 2002 states that those countries must have a program to issue "machine-readable passports that are tamper-resistant and incorporate biometric identifiers that comply with applicable biometric identifiers standards established by the International Civil Aviation Organization".

The head of Switzerland's data protection commission says the United States' war on terror is undermining personal privacy. Hanspeter Thür calls for tighter controls on the campaign against terrorism and for more money to safeguard individual rights. According to him, the Bush administration is pursuing a repressive policy with little regard for data protection.

The unusually outspoken comments are contained in a new report to mark the tenth anniversary of Switzerland's data protection commission. In particular, Thür cites USA requirements for airlines flying to the USA to supply personal details of all passengers, including their religion, dietary preferences and credit card numbers to US customs.

On 4 July, the European Commission organised a technical workshop on Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETS) in Brussels. 39 experts, from Europe, the USA and Canada were invited to participate, ranging from Commission officials to academic experts, from data protection authorities to business representatives. Amongst the invitees were also 2 EDRI-members; FIPR and Bits of Freedom.

After a somewhat predictable debate about the meaning of the acronym PET, the need to create PET-lovers, and possible other acronyms such as PUT and PAT, the value of existing privacy enhancing technologies was discussed. Basically, technology is considered privacy-friendly when it disables traceability to a person (be it a person or a company).

In a remarkably high-speed procedure, the EU Council plans to oblige all Member States of the Union to introduce chips containing biometric data on their passports within little less than a year. Allegedly, this step is taken to meet a U.S. deadline set on 26 October 2004. After that date, according to a law passed eight months after the 11 September attacks, the U.S will demand visas from all travellers entering the U.S. who don't have DNA code, fingerprints, or iris scans embedded in their travel documents.

It is an open secret however, that the filing of biometric features and their inclusion on personal documents have for a long time been on the wishlist of EU law enforcement officials, in particular those associated with the Schengen Information System (SIS). The EU itself plans to introduce biometric data on visas and residence permits for third country nationals, as part of its fight against illegal immigrants. These data will be stored in the SIS, apparently along with biometric data of EU citizens who have come into conflict with the law.