On Monday 14
May there will be a special meeting of the European Parliament's Civil
Liberties Committee (LIBE) for the item “Transatlantic Dialogue” at
which Michael Chertoff, United States Secretary of State Homeland Security,
Minister Dr. Wolfgang Schauble, German Presidency and Franco Frattini,
Vice-President of the Commission (and DG JHA) will be speaking: LIBE agenda (pdf).
In advance of
the meeting Commissioner Frattini sent a letter to the chair of the LIBE
Committee: Frattini letter (pdf).
Also being
circulated are the OECD's so-called “15
Principles of Data Protection” taken from the OECD on international data
transfer drafted in the 1980s and being discussed in the “High Level
Contact group on data protection and data sharing” – for which “the
US delegation handed over a Proposed Outline” of work.
The USA is seeking to get a “global agreement” on the
transfer of personal data in order to circumvent the tedious negotiations with
the EU on each and every issue where EU data protection laws stand in the way
of unfettered access to personal data.
One of the
issue dealt with by Mr Frattini is the automated passing of financial
transaction through SWIFT (transfers between countries) to the USA. His letter says that
SWIFT is negotiating to ensure to “provide their customers with the
necessary information”.
Statewatch has
received complaints from people with online UK banking accounts informing them
that from 14 May 2007 details of all financial transfers by them through SWIFT
will be passed to US authorities for the purposes of money-laundering,
terrorism and crime in general (not just terrorism as referred to in Mr
Frattini's letter). They are asked to agree or not – and if not they cannot
transfer money.
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments: “SWIFT's
compliance with EU data protection laws appears to mean simply informing people
that all their data will be transferred to the USA for any purpose connected to
any crime with no obligation to tell them when and to whom it is passed, how it
is processed, to whom it is passed on to, and for how long it is held, and to
whom they can apply for their records or to whom they can appeal against the
content and use of processing or further processing by un-named agencies and bodies.
If this is what data protection means then it is utterly worthless.”
Are you a UK
company? Do you use Swift? Do you want the US
to know everything about you and your company, without you knowing when it has been taken, by whom or for what it is going to be used?
Then tell Gordon Brown!!!
World Government and the New World Order gets closer every day.
IanPJ on Politics 