Data protection

The European Parliament today adopted a resolution on the negotiating mandates for a data protection agreement with the US, as well as agreements on passenger data (PNR) transfers. Following the vote, Green spokesman on civil liberties and home affairs Jan Philipp Albrecht stated:

"The European Parliament has today given strong backing to EU justice commissioner Viviane Reding to negotiate a strong, binding data protection agreement with the US. The current patchwork of different data protection conditions is clearly insufficient. There is a clear need to create a single, unified set of rules and limits to govern the transfer of European data to US authorities and concerns.

"We hope EU governments will heed this signal from the EP and give the green light for the negotiation of a binding agreement, which includes the existing bilateral provisions of EU member states. This is the only way to guarantee Europe's citizens that their concerns regarding data transfers are being properly addressed.

"With regard to the transfer of European passenger data to the US, Canada and Australia, the European Parliament has made clear that any attempts to use such data for mining or profiling or to store the data without justification would be in conflict with EU data protection law. EU home affairs commissioner Malmström must ensure the current negotiations with the US reflect this and exclude such use, or risk the rejection of the agreement by the European Parliament. Only if there is better protection of citizen's basic rights in relations with third countries, can measures to ensure swifter information exchange between police and justice authorities be considered."