Previous Politech messages: "Europe set to nix Bush request, not require ISP data retention" http://www.politechbot.com/p-02789.html "E.U. weighs ordering ISPs to retain traffic, with Bush's support" http://www.politechbot.com/p-02779.html "Update on E.U. plan to log Internet traffic for police use" http://www.politechbot.com/p-02902.html -Declan ----- Forwarded message from statewatch <statewatch-offat_private> ----- From: statewatch <statewatch-offat_private> Subject: Crucial vote on data surveillance Date: Tue, 07 May 2002 22:58:02 +0100 Statewatch press release, 8 May 2002 EU GOVERNMENTS SECRETLY DRAFTING BINDING FRAMEWORK DECISION TO INTRODUCE UNIVERSAL SURVEILLANCE OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS - European Parliament faces crucial vote on 15 May to reject the governments' demands on the retention of data and access by the law enforcement agencies Statewatch has learnt that in advance of the completion of the EU legislative process on proposals for the revision of the 1997 EU Directive on privacy in the telecommunications sector a number of EU governments are drafting a binding Framework Decision to ensure that all EU member states introduce a law requiring the retention of telecommunications traffic data and the granting of access to it by law enforcement agencies (police, customs, immigration and internal security agencies). On 15 May the European Parliament plenary session is due to vote on a report adopted by the Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights on 18 April. This report re-affirmed the position taken by the parliament in its 1st reading on 13 November 2001 which opposed the fundamental change being put forward by the Council. Under the 1997 Directive data can only be retained for a short period for "billing" purposes (ie: to help the customer confirm usage details) and then it must be erased. The Council want this data to be retained for law enforcement agencies to access. The European Parliament proposes that the current position is maintained whereby such data can be accessed for the purposes of national security and criminal investigations where it is authorised in a case-by-case basis by judicial authorities. Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments: "By drafting a binding Framework Decision before the proper legislative processes are finished EU governments are showing their utter disregard for the European Parliament. The vote in the European Parliament and the final decision on this issue will be a defining moment for the future of democracy in the EU. If all telecommunications - phone-calls, e-mails, faxes and internet usage - are placed under surveillance not only will data protection be fatally undermined but so too will be the very freedoms that distinguish democracies from authoritarian regimes" The full story is on: <http://www.statewatch.org/news/2002/may/05surv.htm> For further information please contact Statewatch office: (00 44) (0) 208 802 1882 Tony Bunyan at: (00 44) (0) 207 254 3597 ----- End forwarded message ----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sign this pro-therapeutic cloning petition: http://www.franklinsociety.org -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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