One of the key issues in the debate...

the Netherlands Data Protection Authority. He appeared Thursday at the second hearing on electronic mass surveillance held by the European Parliament Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) Committee. The first part of the hearing was a private briefing on talks between EU and U.S. data protection experts in July. It’s unclear what rights Europeans have to fight back against collection of their personal data, since Americans themselves have scarcely any redress, Kohnstamm said Thursday. The WP, members of which are national privacy watchdogs, wants an international accord on redress, he said. The only possible actions at this point are political, involving the safe harbor, passenger name records and Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication agreements, he said. They're all based on trust in how people’s personal data is used, and if it’s being leaked by the National Security Agency and other secret services, in the end the EU has done a lot of work without coming to the desired result, he said. Referring to the discussion between the EU and U.S. on mass spying, he said there’s a “serious problem.” If it’s true that national administrations in Europe are doing more or less what the U.S. is, the EU must look at what the balance should be between intelligence services and data protection as a fundamental right, he said. It would be helpful if U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act material were declassified, he said. Documents arrive with mostly white pages, he said. Kohnstamm listed the information the WP wants, as set out in an Aug. 13 letter to Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Commissioner Viviane Reding and other EU officials (CD Aug 21 p18). Among the questions were what information is being collected on Europeans; when the U.S. considers personal data to be “inside” the country; and what procedures the FISA Court uses to target information collection. Several LIBE members said safe harbor should be suspended and questioned the point of having any such agreements with the U.S. Data protection authorities will meet in Warsaw in two weeks to discuss a possible protocol to reinforce the right to privacy on an international level, Kohnstamm said. He urged lawmakers to get on with their work on proposed data protection overhaul legislation as quickly as possible. The first LIBE hearing on surveillance took place Friday (CD Sept 6 p7).