EU votes to pass sweeping online privacy protection

[BelgianMadCow]

From CBC

European Union lawmakers on Monday voted in favour of sweeping new data protection rules to strengthen online privacy and outlaw most data transfers to other countries' authorities to prevent spying.

The draft regulation was beefed up after Edward Snowden's leaks about allegedly widespread U.S. online snooping, including stringent privacy protection and stiff fines for violations. The legislation is poised to have significant implications for U.S. internet companies too.

The rules would for the first time create a strong data protection law for Europe's 500 million citizens, replacing an outdated patchwork of national rules that only allow for tiny fines in case of violations.

Note that this new data protection law has been in the works for 20 months, and was kind of stuck. It has become unstuck through the NSA revelations, but today it "only" passed in committee. The EU parliament hopes to pass the final bill in May. It's gonna be interesting to see how it is applied of course - having the right to penalize companies not adhering to a law and actually doing so aren't the same. But still, good news imho.

[dkf]

1. When do we get ours?

[BelgianMadCow]

4. Reuters has that angle in their article

Facebook, Yahoo!, Google and other Internet-based firms, the vast majority of them American, have lobbied against the Commission's proposal, concerned it will damage their business model by imposing an extra, costly burden on how they handle data, and limit their ability to target goods at consumers.

U.S. authorities are also worried that if Europe establishes strict new data rules, countries in Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia will tend towards the European model, setting a higher global data-protection threshold.

That would leave the United States either having to offer the same protections or lobbying to get countries to adopt its less rigid code of protection, creating an uneven playing field that could dent the competitiveness of U.S. firms.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/21/eu-data-idUSL5N0IB3G920131021

[dkf]

6. Thanks!

[Silent3]

2. This sounds more like it's about what private companies can do with your data...

...which is a good thing, but limiting what governments can do with your data is of course also very important.

[BelgianMadCow]

5. Yep, but there's also this bit:

In response to the revelations of the National Security Agency's online spying activities, lawmakers also toughened the initial draft regulation, prepared by the European Commission, to make sure companies can no longer share European citizens' data with authorities of a third country, unless explicitly allowed by EU law or an international treaty.

So via the companies it does also touch government spying -although with the "unless treaty" part I'm not holding my breath.

On edit: the Greens have been very vocal & active about privacy in the EU parliament. They have a good outline of the current bill on their site; it has the following:

Transfer of data to third countries: Whistleblower Edward Snowden and the Prism scandal laid the ground for the report's demand: companies like Google are not allowed to transfer data to third countries´ authorities. This can only occur under European law or an agreement based on European law. Without any concrete agreement there would be no data processing by telecommunication and internet companies allowed. This was part of a first draft of the Commission's proposal but deleted after intensive lobbying of the American government. It is back in the draft Parliament report.

[LittleBlue]

3. Good to know they have some semblence of democracy

and aren't merely thralls to the US security racket.