Slashdot Mirror
EU May Allow US To Keep Snooping On European Bank Data
zaphod2 alerts us to a storm brewing in Europe over access by US intelligence agencies to EU banking data. There is considerable opposition in Europe to extending this access. The submitter adds, "I wonder how long it takes until gambling, online games, or non-RIAA-approved music shops are considered supporters of terrorism." "US anti-terror officials want to be able to continue examining Europeans' financial transactions, and it appears likely that the European Union is going to comply. ... The US has been examining transactions handled by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Transactions (SWIFT) since the 9/11 attacks... However, SWIFT, which is located in Belgium, is planning to move its servers and database — which is currently located in the US — to Europe. With data privacy laws far stricter in Europe, the US would then need permission from the EU before it could gain access to this sensitive information."
because it is absolutely necessary in order to fight the terrorists!! If we don't police the world then WHO WILL!?
All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be. -PF
There are rules on civilization, and one is privacy. Maybe it will be a good idea to let then see one bank account, If a judge able it, but not at random... that would be outlawdish!
-Woof woof woof!
I think terrorism has fully achieved its objective. Majority of citizens in almost every country now face innumerable problems due to the 'anti terrorist' agenda of their governments. How worse can it be ? Success beyond Osama's wildest dreams !
... but those other people? We'll spy on them like crazy to protect your rights. Terrorists and all that, you know? Oh, we may or may not be letting them spy on you. And don't ask if we'll be swapping notes with them behind closed doors. Only terrorist lovers ask questions like that.
"Common sense will be the death of us all"
There is already a police in EU countries, you know. Unfortunately direct access to EU financial data can be used for industry espionage by US companies. And it is far more likely than next terrorists attacks in US.
The sad thing is, things that invade our privacy and violate our basic rights are passed in a non-democratic way. The part of the EU government that is actually elected by the people, has absolutely no say in these matters. They are outraged but powerless.
The EU is a "great" tool for oppression and more powerful governments. Basically everything that no national government would be able to put into a law, can be done in the EU. There is no such a thing as this annoying democratic process.
There is tons of talk like this about swiss banks forcing US clients out. I guess the they're caving under pressure.
What I'm curious about are other tax havens people have been using in recent times above and beyond swiss banks...
You'd be thinking of this
There is no "we". The violence of the U.S. government has not benefited U.S. citizens. If you got in the way of the controlling groups, they would kill you, delt0r, and your family.
The "anti-terror" is only a smokescreen. The U.S. government spends more money on surveillance and war than any country in the history of the world. That taxpayer money partly helps some people profit, for example: House of Bush, House of Saud, and hurts U.S. taxpayers.
The U.S. government has invaded or bombed 25 countries since the 2nd world war. Most or all of the interference was for profit. Quote: '... although nearly all the post-World War II interventions were carried out in the name of "freedom" and "democracy," nearly all of them in fact defended dictatorships controlled by pro-U.S. elites' The dictators pay the corrupters, of course.
U.S. citizens don't want to believe that their government is as corrupt as it is, even though the recent financial corruption has made many of them poor.
They're letting another country snoop on their citizen's financial transactions. Sounds like they're being subordinated to me.
No, the RIAA doesn't exist in Europe... (Guess what the last A in RIAA means) However, pretty much every Nation has its own equivalent institution. I don't know them all, but in Belgium it's SABAM, in France it's SACEM. I'm sure there are others.
You know, the whole point behind those attacks was not to destroy the West, or wipe us off the map, or any of that rubbish.
The main demands the Al Quaida originally made were that US forces withdraw from Saudi Arabia, and for Palestine to be recognised and given equal support to Israel. That was before every fundamentalist nutjob in Islam was invoking the name Al Quaida though ( PDF here, for reference).
I'm sorry to say, no matter what the media would have you believe, these guys aren't SPECTRE. They just want to be left alone. Throw rocks at a wasps' nest, and what do you expect to happen?
Slashdot: news for Apple. Stuff that Apple.
IFPI - International Federation of the Phonographic Industry
She made the willows dance
I will give President Change-you-can-believe-in some points for consistency. He voted to keep FISA in place, and loved the warrantless wiretaps. Mr. Obama speaks better than Bush, comes across as less abrasive, and seems to care more about the common man. Where it counts, however, he is still a power-freak who wants access to as much of your data as he can, just like Bush. All politicians suck.
The matter is more specific than the article leads to believe. SWIFT is not actually 'moving' it's servers, rather it is adding new servers in Europe. Creating one TransAtlantic zone for messages allowed to reach the US and one Europe zone for messages not allowed to reach the US. The 'National Member Group Chairperson' of each country has specified in which of these zones their traffic should be traveling in, so with some exceptions each country has their own choice. Soon every country which has chosen to will keep their inter-Europe traffic within Europe. (exchanges with American banks obviously have to go to America.) For more information read: http://www.swift.com/solutions/industry_initiatives/distributed_architecture.page And: http://www.swift.com/solutions/industry_initiatives/image_doc/DA_Phase_1_white_paper_200907_1.4.pdf
al qaeda is an ethnocentric fundamentalist initiative, created by the middle east. you cannot possible hold the west responsible for chinese ultranationalism or russian ultranationalism. so why you would hold it responsible for arabic ethnocetrism?
Al Quaeda doesn't exist. But don't take my word for it. Just watch the linked documentary.
On a slightly unrelated note, if you carefully observe those cultural trends that you call 'ultranationalism' in context, you would notice that those emerged from a state of complete paralysis under a foreign and/or domestic tyrant.
Every harsh word you utter has the right address. It only sounds harsh because the one on the envelope is the wrong one.
They would need approvals of each and every one of EU's member states. Or at least the one that has the servers physically located.
In the latter case, most EU's banks would not be allowed to transfer any personal information to that country, until explicitly permitted by the person. Europeans are very careful about legal protection of their personal information.
I personally, had to sign a release for my employer, allowing my name and last name to be entered in the central employee database in US.