EU to press for 'right to be forgotten' online

EUObserver writes that the EU is in the process of revamping its data privacy rules dating back to 1995 so as to encompass social networks, online data aggregators and the way prosecutors and policemen across the bloc handle personal records.

The Facebook generation knows it. Everything you've posted online can and will be used against you at some point. People have been fired for the party pictures or unthoughtful jokes they've posted online.


Deleting a Facebook account does not help. According to the popular website, users can "reactivate" their accounts at any time: Facebook does not erase your data, its simply hides it from others.


In a bid to stem these developments, the commission is now revising a 15-year-old "Data Protection Directive," drafted before the Google and Facebook booms. New legislative proposals are set to be put forward mid-2011, but the commission has already adopted a "strategy" on how to go about the changes.

One of the principles mentioned is the "right to be forgotten" online, meaning that people who want their online profiles deleted "should be able to rely on the service provider to remove personal data, such as photos, completely

Seen from the American perspective, businesses find it difficult to navigate between the EU laws and the patchwork of national data protection requirements, one US official familiar with this dossier told EUobserver.
"The lack of harmonisation among the member states in terms of interpreting the directive and transposing the directive into national laws led to uncertainty among compliance officers, privacy officers, and legal counsel. These ambiguities result in confusion and a lack of clarity with regard to obligations the business community must meet," said the official, who requested not to be named.

Read the full article here: http://euobserver.com/9/31200/?rk=1

UK Privacy body to re-examine Google

The BBC reports that Britain's privacy watchdog is to look again at what personal information internet giant Google gathered from private wi-fi networks.


The Information Commissioner's Office had investigated a sample earlier this year after it was revealed that Google had collected personal data during its Street View project.

At the time, it said no "significant" personal details were collected.

But Google has since admitted that e-mails and passwords were copied.

Read more here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11614970

Book says Carla Bruni used police files to uncover plot

A biography of France's First Lady, Carla Bruni, claims she used police and secret service files to find out who was spreading rumours about the state of her marriage.


According to the book, France's first lady obtained lists of telephone calls and texts made by those she suspected of plotting against her.

Her husband, President Nicolas Sarkozy, is already fighting claims that his office spied on newspaper Le Monde.

Read more here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11343002

Czechs halt Google Street View

The BBC reports that authorities in the Czech Republic have stopped Google from collecting images for its Street View mapping service. The Czech Office for Personal Data Protection refused to grant the search engine giant a licence to collect fresh data in the country.

Read more here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11312390

Germans upset by Google Street View

According to EUObserver.com, over 10,000 Germans, including the country's consumer minister, have asked not to be photographed when Google's Street View vehicles pass to photograph their homes in the coming weeks.


Read more here: http://euobserver.com/9/30620/?rk=1

Google bosses convicted in Italy

The BBC reports that an Italian court has convicted three Google executives in a trial over a video showing a teenager with Down's Syndrome being bullied.

The Google employees were accused of breaking Italian law by allowing the video to be posted online.

Judge Oscar Magi absolved the three of defamation but convicted them of privacy violations.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8533695.stm

Microsoft woos EU privacy watchdogs

Euractiv.com reports that Microsoft's Bing search engine will retain private Internet search data for a maximum period of six months, the ICT giant announced yesterday (19 January) as EU antitrust regulators started to scrutinise the company's alliance with Yahoo.

Microsoft offered to reduce from 18 to six months the period it retains the IP addresses of Internet users making queries through its Bing search engine, the company said. The change will be implemented over the next 12 to 18 months, it added.

Read the article here: http://www.euractiv.com/en/infosociety/microsoft-woos-eu-privacy-watchdogs/article-189063

EU Parliament threatens to derail EU-US bank data deal

EUObserver.com reports that the European Parliament is threatening to derail an interim agreement allowing US authorities to track European bank transactions in terrorism investigations unless certain concessions are made.

The president of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek at the end of last week sent a second letter to the Spanish EU presidency asking for more information on the so-called Swift agreement.

A plenary debate on the matter is scheduled for Wednesday in Strasbourg, during which the Spanish presidency is expected to give more answers on the technicalities of the deal.
The agreement would allow US prosecutors and investigators to tap into intra-European bank transactions as part of anti-terrorist enquiries - something EU lawmakers say raises privacy concerns.

Read the article here: http://euobserver.com/9/29284/?rk=1

EU stalls bank data deal with US ahead of Lisbon Treaty

According to EUObserver.com, opposition from four EU member states to a draft agreement between the EU and US allowing the use of banking data in anti-terrorist investigations is likely to delay a decision until after 1 December, drawing the European Parliament into the decision making process.

Citing data privacy concerns, Germany, Austria, France and Finland are opposing the text negotiated by the Swedish EU presidency and the European Commission allowing American authorities access to information from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift) - the interbank transfer service.

Read the article here: http://euobserver.com/9/28984/?rk=1

Google unveils privacy tools

The FT reports that Google has unveiling tools that will allow users to see what information the internet company is keeping on them, to aleviate the concerns of privacy campaigners.

Users who have signed up for any of Google’s consumer services, such as Gmail, Blogger, Picasa, and YouTube, will be able to see a “dashboard” listing the personal details that are stored about them. Users will be able to edit and delete the information.

The dashboard is similar to the tools Google introduced earlier this year to allow people to see the data that it was collecting about them in order to serve them targeted advertising.
Privacy campaigners welcomed the privacy tools as a step forward. “If the rest of the industry took this line, we would start to solve some of the problems with privacy,” said Simon Davies of Privacy International, the pressure group.

Read the article here: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e5116b30-c9f5-11de-a5b5-00144feabdc0.html

Future of internet has dangers for privacy, Brussels warns

EUObserver.com reports that according to the European Commission, the future of the internet contains pitfalls as well as possibilities

There is a dark side to some of the impressive new online technologies that are appearing, from social networking to behavioural advertising to RFID smart chips, the European Commission's internet chief has warned.

While such technologies offer great vistas of opportunity, the commission is monitoring their development "closely" for the very real potential threats to privacy they contain, information society commissioner Viviane Reding said on Monday at a debate on the future of the internet in Brussels.

Read the article on EUObserver.com here: http://euobserver.com/9/28792/?rk=1#

EU says UK failing to protect internet users' privacy

According to EUobserver.com, the European Commission has threatened to take the UK to court over "structural" failures to guarantee internet users' privacy, in line with European law.
In a formal letter sent from Brussels to London on Tuesday (14 April), the commission gave UK authorities two months to respond to criticism of new web surveillance technology or face legal action at the Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

The complaint centres around US-based software company Phorm, which uses records of people's surfing activity obtained from internet service providers to help advertisers target customers more accurately.

Read the entire article here: http://euobserver.com/9/27945/?rk=1

UK Information Commissioner's Office launches public consultation on a Privacy Notices Code of Practice

The UK's Information Commissioners Office (ICO) has launched a public consultation prior to publishing a Privacy Notices Code of Practice. The Code of Practice will help organisations to draft clear privacy notices and make sure that they collect information about people fairly and transparently. The Code contains good and bad examples that organisations will be able to use to help draw up their own privacy notices.We would welcome your comments on the draft code of practice by Friday 3 April 2009.

How to respond
Please use the response form for submitting your comments. Forms should be saved in Word format and emailed to: consultations@ico.gsi.gov.uk . Alternatively you can print out this form and post to: Data Protection Development Team, ICO, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.Click on the titles below to view the draft code of practice and the consultation response form.
Draft Privacy notices code of practice
Privacy notices code of practice: consultation response form