Tag: Privacy

A key European Parliament lawmaker seeks to bolster the EU's proposed data protection rules and bring companies throughout the world under its authority, triggering warnings from the US technology industry about a revival of transatlantic tensions over online privacy.

The European Parliament voted today (29 March) over the objections of the airline industry to strengthen rights of passengers who face flight cancellations or other travel interruptions.

While financial services and banking firms are increasingly looking to cloud computing services to enhance their businesses, actual take-up is being hampered by legal uncertainties and conflict between the EU and the US over data privacy.

The European data protection supervisor, Peter Hustinx, has determined that current EU legislation on the retention of personal data contradicts rights to privacy and data protection. EurActiv France reports.

The European Commission has said that Google's Buzz is in line with the bloc's data protection guidelines, while 10 national regulators from Canada to the UK are demanding that Google must change the privacy controls of the social networking site.

The EU's Data Protection Day on Thursday (28 January) will be the first public opportunity for the new commissioner in charge of fundamental rights, Viviane Reding, to spell out her priorities on Internet privacy, particularly regarding an upcoming review of the Data Protection Directive, officials close to the commissioner said.

Tagging photos on social networking websites may soon become an ordeal for aficionados of Facebook, MySpace and the like, as EU privacy regulators recommended imposing strict rules on users uploading pictures of other individuals on their personal pages.

The European Commission yesterday (14 April) opened an infringement procedure against the UK regarding online behavioural adverts, which represent the new frontier in targeted advertising but raise substantial data protection issues.

As Europe celebrated its third 'data protection day' yesterday (28 January), the European Commission announced plans to tighten the relevant rules. Meanwhile, EU privacy authorities are focusing on Internet search engines' data storage and street viewing software.

The European Commission will present a new document aimed at paving the way for the spread of mobile television in Europe "within a few weeks," EU Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding told EurActiv in an interview. She gave positive signals on advertising on mobile handsets, but warned of dangers regarding invasion of privacy.

The French EU Presidency will today (6 October) hold a high-level conference dedicated to building the so-called 'Internet of Things'. The meeting comes as the Commission prepares to present measures aimed at overcoming privacy concerns related to the use of the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) microchips that are expected to lead the technological revolution.

Searching on the Internet via a mobile phone poses higher privacy-related concerns than traditional computer-based queries, according to the Italian authority for the protection of personal data.

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) wants EU research projects to take account of privacy and data protection requirements from early on, in particular when developing information and communication technologies. 

The European Union is losing the technological battle for the mass deployment of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chips, seen as the driver of the creation of an "Internet of things," the Commission warned. It announced it would put forward new legislation "by the end of the year," including new funds to boost the development of this revolutionary technology.

The EU institutions are stepping up their efforts towards stronger protection of personal data on the Internet and in relation to the use of new technologies, such as radio frequency identification (RFID).

Data-protection practitioners and legal experts have criticised the Commission's lack of standing in negotiations with the US over the advance transfer of personal data concerning airline passengers crossing the Atlantic.

The interim agreement, which will be valid for less than a year, ends a week of legal limbo for airlines but remains unsatisfactory to MEPs concerned about privacy protection.

Data protection and privacy advocates are wrongly criticised of hindering security policies, says the EU Data Protection Supervisor, who warns against giving up hard-won rights.

The Parliament has called upon member states' governments and EU institutions to investigate the transfer of data concerning international payments to US secret services, and to disclose how much they knew about the practice.

Commission President José Manuel Barroso will put pressure on US President George Bush to lift visa restrictions for EU citizens when both meet at the EU-US summit, on 21 June 2006, in Vienna. 

The Parliament has given in to pressure from the UK Presidency and adopted a set of amendments that bring the draft directive on data retention into line with a more far-reaching proposal backed by, among other countries, the UK.

EU ministers have declared their wish to implement e-Government services while the Commisison is improving its online presence.

On 24 November 2005 the Europen Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) voted on the Commission's draft directive on data retention. The outcome of the vote is unlikely to please in particular the UK Presidency, because the committee decided to furtherly limit the retention obligationin the commission draft, which was already a watered-down version of the draft framework decison presented by, among other goevernements, the UK. In an exclusvie German-language interview with EurActiv,  the Rapporteur, Alexander Alvaro (ALDE, Germany) talked about the situation after the vote. 

Ahead of a key Council-Parliament meeting to discuss the retention of traffic and location data from the use of telephone and internet services, industry and civil society organisations have been urging them to curb or limit the scheme.