International

Privacy concerns over U.S.-E.U. move

LONDON: Highly personal information about British citizens, including their Internet browsing habits, could be passed to American authorities under a proposed agreement between the European Union and the U.S. government as part of the “war” on terror.

Rights campaigners have expressed alarm over the sweeping nature of the agreement which is said to be in an “advanced” stage.

“There will be no such thing as personal information left if the accord goes through,” one activist said reacting to a report in The Observer that the agreement would allow the FBI to have access to U.K. citizens’ credit card details, travel history and browsing habits, among other things.

“Talks about the transfer of highly personal information held by the U.K. government and leading companies to American security agencies began following the September 2001 terrorist attacks. U.S. counter-terrorism officials argued that increased information on the movements and habits of European residents would help prevent a repeat attack,” the newspaper said.

A dispute is reported to have arisen over E.U.’s insistence that citizens whose personal data is passed to American authorities should have the right to sue them if it is abused.

Human rights groups are also concerned that such an agreement will set a precedent for America to demand information of even more personal nature such as religious and political persuasion of U.K./European citizens.

The British government is already facing accusation that it is turning Britain into a “surveillance” society in the name of fighting terror. Britain’s anti-terror laws are among the toughest in Europe and a new legislation to increase the number of days for which a terror suspect can be held without charge from 28 to 42 days has provoked a nationwide controversy with a senior Tory MP David Davis resigning his seat to contest again on a civil liberties’ platform.

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