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Location: http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2098596,00.html
Bush lobbies EU to drop traffic data retention ban
Wendy McAuliffe
President Bush is calling for a change to the proposed EU directive on
privacy and communications, to allow for the blanket retention of all
traffic data for criminal investigations.
The US President has added his voice to those of the British government
and EU law enforcement agencies, who have been demanding powers to
intercept electronic communications for terrorist and criminal
investigations. In a letter to the Belgian prime minister Guy
Verhofstadt, who currently holds the presidency of the EU, Bush spoke of
US opposition to the current EU data law that prohibits the retention of
personal data beyond the legal period deemed acceptable for billing
purposes.
"This isn't just Bush coming in cold -- this is the US putting its weight
behind existing demands for data to be retained," said Tony Bunyan,
editor of Statewatch.
The European Parliament (EP) Civil Liberties Committee approved a report
by the radical MEP Marco Cappato in July in favour of strict regulation
of law enforcement authorities' access to personal data collected by
telecoms companies and ISPs. Such data contains information on what phone
calls and fax calls people have made, what Web sites they have visited
and the emails they have sent.
As the Cappato report stands, EU countries should restrict police powers
to intercept communication traffic data and location data in normal
circumstances. It also rejects proposals contained within the draft EU
telecommunications directive to retain traffic data for up to seven
years, and states that information should not be stored for longer than
is necessary for the transmission of data and for traffic management
purposes.
But in a report presented by the European Council's Legal Service on 12
October, it was decided that EU governments already have the necessary
powers to intercept telecommunications to combat terrorism. It was,
however, concluded that these powers could not be extended for criminal
investigations.
"Bush is not just calling for a terrorist power, but a more general
power," said Bunyan.
The Home Office admitted one week ago that it plans to reserve extra
powers to force ISPs to retain data about customers if its current
"voluntary code of practice" proves inadequate to deal with terrorists.
New legislation is expected to hit the statute books in November to deal
with the terrorist threat.
Statewatch has completed two analyses of the new measures affecting civil
liberties that have been proposed by the EU since the 11 September. It
concludes that of the 11 legislative proposals being rushed through the
EU at the moment, six were proposed before 11 September and another four
were already on the agenda. The EU's anti-terrorism programme following
the bombings on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon only amounts to
one new proposal, which aims to examine immigration and asylum
legislation in light of the terrorist threat.
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