US could access EU data retention information

Richard Forno rforno at infowarrior.org
Sun May 14 02:50:28 PDT 2006



US could access EU data retention information

12.05.2006 - 09:50 CET | By Helena Spongenberg

US authorities can get access to EU citizens' data on phone calls,
sms' and
emails, giving a recent EU data-retention law much wider-reaching
consequences than first expected, reports Swedish daily Sydsvenskan.

The EU data retention bill, passed in February after much controversy
and
with implementation tabled for late 2007, obliges telephone operators
and
internet service providers to store information on who called who and
who
emailed who for at least six months, aimed at fighting terrorism and
organised crime.

A week later on 2-3 March, EU and US representatives met in Vienna
for an
informal high level meeting on freedom, security and justice where
the US
expressed interest in the future storage of information.

The US delegation to the meeting "indicated that it was considering
approaching each [EU] member state to ensure that the data collected
on the
basis of the recently adopted Directive on data retention be
accessible to
them," according to the notes of the meeting.

Representatives from the Austrian EU presidency and from the European
Commission said that these data were "accessible like any other data
on the
basis of the existing ... agreements" the notes said.

The EU representatives added that the commission would convene an expert
meeting on the issue.

Under current agreements, if the FBI, for example, is interested in a
group
of EU citizens from a member state who are involved in an
investigation, the
bureau can ask for help with a prosecutor in that member state.

The national prosecutor then requests telephone operators and internet
service providers for information, which is then passed on to the FBI.

This procedure opens the way for US authorities to get access under
the EU
data-retention law, according to the Swedish newspaper.

In the US itself meanwhile, fury has broken out in the US congress after
reports revealed that the Bush administration covertly collected
domestic
phone records of tens of millions of US citizens since the attacks in
New
York on 11 September 2001.

President George Bush did not deny the allegations in a television
statement
last night, but insisted that his administration had not broken any
laws.

) EUobserver.com 2006
Printed from EUobserver.com 14.05.2006

The information may be used for personal and non-commercial use only.

This article and related links can be found at:
http://euobserver.com/9/21580





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