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Date: 2002-05-17
Datenschutz: Offener Brief ans EU-Parlament
Das Electronic Privacy Information Center [EPIC] sucht Unterstützer-Organisationen aus dem NGO-Bereich für einen Offenen Brief an den Präsidenten des EU-Parlaments.
Es geht darum, den dreisten Versuch, die EU-Datenschutzrichtlinie auszuheben, gebührend zu beantworten.
Organisationen wenden sich direkt an [Marc] rotenberg@epic.org und sollten dies mit Name, Organisation, Mailaddresse, vor dem 22 Mai tun.
Der Offene Brief auf deutsch
http://stop1984.com/index2.php?text=aktionen_euparl_brief.txt
Related http://www.quintessenz.at/archiv/msg01938.html
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Mr. Pat Cox President, European Parliament European Parliament Bâtiment Paul-Henri Spaak - 11B011 60, rue Wiertz B-1047 Brussels BELGIUM
European Parliament Bâtiment Louise Weiss - T15003 Allée du Printemps - BP 10024/F F-67070 Strasbourg Cedex FRANCE
Washington, DC, 22 May 2002
Dear Mr. Cox:
We write to you on behalf of a wide range of civic organizations in the world concerning the upcoming vote on the proposed European Union Directive on the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector ("the proposed Directive") scheduled for 29 May. We urge you to vote against general and exploratory data retention of individuals' electronic communications by law enforcement authorities. With this collective statement, we want to underline the critical importance that this vote will have for democratic societies.
We believe that data retention of communications by law enforcement authorities should only be employed in exceptional cases. It should be authorised only by the judicial or other competent authorities on a case-by-case basis. When permitted, data retention must be a proportionate and temporary measure, in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights, and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights.
We therefore strongly endorse the April 18 vote of the European Parliament Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs on the Draft Recommendation for second reading ("the Committee's Draft Recommendation"). We particularly endorse Amendment 32 to Article 15(1) because its language promotes and preserves the most fundamental values democratic societies must defend: the right to privacy, freedom of expression, and presumption of innocence. We recommend opposing the language of the Council's common position of 28 January because it allows Member States to authorise general and exploratory electronic surveillance on a large scale. While the fight against terrorism is a legitimate purpose, we do not believe it can justify actions that undermine the most fundamental rights of democratic states.
Many European institutions involved in the legislative process share our position and have emphasized the importance of the decision before the European Parliament with respect to the protection of individuals' privacy.
The European data protection authorities have opposed efforts to create new data retention obligations. In a letter of 7 June 2001 to the President of the Council of the European Council, the Chairman of the Article 29 Working Group wrote that "systematic and preventive storage of EU citizens communications and related traffic data would undermine the fundamental rights to privacy, data protection, freedom of expression, liberty and presumption of innocence."
Similarly, members of the European Parliament Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs have stressed that Member States should not have a general right to request whatever traffic and location data they wish without stating a specific reason why such information is needed. They have noted the risk that law enforcement authorities might use such authority to conduct broad and arbitrary 'fishing expeditions'.
Further, European privacy commissioners have recognised that one of the best privacy safeguards is to minimize the collection of personal data where possible. They have consistently affirmed that confidentiality of communications is one of "the most important elements of the protection of the fundamental right to privacy and data protection as well as of secrecy of communications", and that "any exception to this right and obligation should be limited to what is strictly necessary in a democratic society and clearly defined by law." A blanket retention of all communications data for hypothetical and future criminal investigations would not respect these basic conditions.
Wide data retention powers for law enforcement authorities, especially if they were used on a routine basis and on a large part of the population, could have disastrous consequences for the most sensitive and confidential types of personal data. Vast databases now include personal data about medical conditions, racial or ethnic origins, religious or philosophical beliefs, political opinions, trade-union membership, and sexuality. New retention requirements as envisaged by the common position's broad language will create new risks to personal privacy, political freedom, freedom of speech, and public safety.
We therefore respectfully urge you to approve Amendment 32 of the Committee's Draft Recommendation and reject its Amendment 33.
Sincerely,
[SIGNATORIES]
CC:
Prime Minister José María Aznar López, President, European Union Council of Ministers.
Mr. Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission. Mr. Stefano Rodota, Chairman of the Article 29 Working Party.
Mr. Javier Solana, Secretary-General/High Representative, Council of the European Union.
REFERENCES
GILC (Global Internet Liberty Campaign)'s letter to Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, President, EU Council of Ministers (12 November 2001), at <http://www.gilc.org/verhofstadt_letter.html> [English version]; <http://www.gilc.org/verhofstadt_french.html> [French version].
All the documents related to the legislative process regarding the proposed Directive are available at <http://europa.eu.int/prelex/detail_dossier_real.cfm?CL=en&DosId= 158278>.
Most important official documents:
The proposed Directive:
- Proposal for a European Parliament and Council directive concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (25 August 2000), COM(2000) 385 final - C5-0439/2000 - 2000/0189(COD) - Official Journal C 365 E , 19/12/2000, P. 0223 - 0229, at
<http://europa.eu.int/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod! CELEXnumdoc&lg=fr&numdoc=52000PC0385> [French version];
<http://europa.eu.int/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod! CELEXnumdoc&lg=en&numdoc=52000PC0385> [English version];
<http://europa.eu.int/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod! CELEXnumdoc&lg=es&numdoc=52000PC0385> [Spanish version].
European Parliament Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs:
- Draft Recommendation for second reading on the Council common position for adopting a European Parliament and Council Directive concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector, PE 311.019/20-37 (10 April 2002), at <http://www.europarl.eu.int/meetdocs/committees/libe/20020418/ 466059fr.pdf> [French version]; <http://www.europarl.eu.int/meetdocs/committees/libe/20020418/ 466059en.pdf> [English version]; <http://www.europarl.eu.int/meetdocs/committees/libe/20020418/ 466059es.pdf> [Spanish version].
- Draft Recommendation for second reading on the Council common position for adopting a European Parliament and Council Directive concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (12 March 2002), PE 311.019, at <http://www.europarl.eu.int/meetdocs/committees/libe/20020418/ 462905fr.pdf> [French version]; <http://www.europarl.eu.int/meetdocs/committees/libe/20020418/ 462905en.pdf> [English version]; <http://www.europarl.eu.int/meetdocs/committees/libe/20020418/ 462905es.pdf> [Spanish version].
European Commission:
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty concerning the common position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (30 January 2002), SEC/2002/0124 final - COD 2000/0189 - Celex No. 52002SC0124, at <http://europa.eu.int/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod! CELEXnumdoc&lg=fr&numdoc=52002SC0124> [French version]; <http://europa.eu.int/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod! CELEXnumdoc&lg=en&numdoc=52002SC0124> [English version]; <http://europa.eu.int/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod! CELEXnumdoc&lg=es&numdoc=52002SC0124> [Spanish version].
Council of the European Union:
Common Position (EC) No. 26/2002 adopted by the Council with a view to the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (28 January 2002), 15396/2/01 REV 2 - C5-0035/2002 - 2000/0189(COD) - OJ C 113 E, 14/05/2002, p. 0039-0053, at <http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/fr/dat/2002/ce113/ ce11320020514fr00390053.pdf> [French version]; <http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/dat/2002/ce113/ ce11320020514en00390053.pdf> [English version]; <http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/es/dat/2002/ce113/ ce11320020514es00390053.pdf> [Spanish version].
Working Party on the Protection of Individuals with regard to the processing of personal data ("Working Party Article 29"):
- Opinion 7/2000 on the European Commission Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector of 12 July 2000 COM (2000) 385 (2 Nov. 2000), at
<http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/en/media/dataprot/wpdocs/wp36fr.pdf> [French version];
<http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/en/media/dataprot/wpdocs/wp36en.pdf> [English version];
<http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/en/media/dataprot/wpdocs/wp36es.pdf> [Spanish version]. Reprinted in M. Rotenberg, The Privacy Law Sourcebook, United States Law, International Law, and Recent Developments 437 (EPIC, 2001).
- Recommendation 3/99 on the preservation of traffic data by Internet Service Providers for law enforcement purposes (7 September1999), at <http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/en/media/dataprot/wpdocs/ wp25fr.pdf> [French version]; <http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/en/media/dataprot/wpdocs/ wp25en.pdf> [English version]; <http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/en/media/dataprot/wpdocs/ wp25es.pdf> [Spanish version].
- Letter to Mr Göran Persson, Acting President of the Council of the European Union (June 7, 2001), at
<http://www.statewatch.org/news/2001/jun/07Rodota.pdf>.
EU Forum on Cyber-Crime, Discussion Paper for Expert's Meeting on Retention of Traffic Data (November 6, 2001), at
<http://europa.eu.int/information_society/topics/telecoms/internet/ crime/wpapnov/index_en.htm>
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edited by Harkank
published on: 2002-05-17
comments to office@quintessenz.at
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