European Parliament lawmakers are calling on the European Commission to urgently come up with alternatives to the Safe Harbor agreement between the EU and the US, following the ruling by the European Court of Justice that it is invalid.
Bottom line: the #SafeHarbor ruling indicates the indiscriminate interception of communications is a violation of rights. Search OR seizure.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 6, 2015
The Safe Harbor principles, agreed in 2000, allowed for the passing of data between companies in EU countries and the US, allowing for trade to continue electronically, but with the proviso that the data would not be accessible by third parties.
Following the Edward Snowden revelations in 2013 of mass surveillance by the US National security Agency (NSA) and Britain's GCHQ, the issue of mass surveillance became a global one — particularly among human rights and privacy campaigners.
Plenary of the @EUparliament will debate #SafeHabor ruling at about 19:00 CET: http://t.co/spBRfJRz5c
— Max Schrems (@maxschrems) October 14, 2015
However, the European Court of Justice declared Safe Harbor invalid in a case brought by Austrian citizen Maximilian Schrems, regarding Facebook's processing of his personal data. The court found that the "United States authorities were able to access the personal data transferred from the Member States to the United States and process it in a way incompatible, in particular, with the purposes for which it was transferred."
Calls for End to Indiscriminate Mass Surveillance
However, the European Commission said the decision would not stop the transfer of data across the Atlantic, saying other means — apart from Safe Harbor — were available to companies, a statement that annoyed European lawmakers, who felt that the Commission was not upholding personal data protection principles. The lawmakers say the Commission has dragged its heels on the matter, ever since the Snowden revelations came out.
— Paul Bernal (@PaulbernalUK) October 6, 2015
Mass #surveillance: EU citizens' rights still in danger, @EP_Justice MEPs say. Press release http://t.co/KAH3KroSpP @ClaudeMoraesMEP
— LIBE Committee Press (@EP_Justice) October 13, 2015
The civil liberties committee chair and rapporteur on mass surveillance, Claude Moraes said:
"The European Parliament's inquiry into the revelations by Edward Snowden of electronic mass surveillance was the most comprehensive investigation completed to date."
"Not only did the report call for an immediate end to indiscriminate mass surveillance practices by intelligence services both in the EU and the US, but it also set out a roadmap for further action in this area," he said.
"Following this inquiry, there is widespread agreement that something has gone wrong with the way that intelligence agencies and others have acted. Work needs to continue to ensure that civil liberties are defended on the internet too."
The committee called on the Commission to reflect "immediately" on alternatives to Safe Harbor and on the "impact of the judgement" on any other instruments used for the transfer of personal data to the US and report on it by the end of 2015.
