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European Commission Outlines Steps To Restore Trust In EU-US Data Flows
hypnosec writes "The European Commission has outlined steps it believes will pave the way for restoring faith in EU-U.S. data flows following revelations about NSA spying activities under its PRISM program. The EC notes that spying on its citizens, companies, and leaders is unacceptable; and that citizens of U.S. and EU need to be reassured about protection of their data, while companies need to be reassured that the existing agreements between the two regions are respected and enforced. The Commission outlined a total of six areas that it believes require action including swift adoption of the EU's data protection reforms; making Safe Harbor safer; strengthening data protection safeguards in the law enforcement area; commitment from the U.S. for making use of a legal framework; addressing European concerns in the on-going U.S. reform process; and promoting privacy standards internationally."
>> addressing European concerns in the on-going U.S. reform process
Really, we have an active privacy reform process in the US? I haven't heard much about that since Obamacare finally went off the rails.
lol Euro-weenies always finding an excuse to lick boot
More lies! This will work this time. We're sure of it!
You'd be a fool to trust the US anywhere near your data these days. All the stuff revealed lately is just *some* of what's what.
What we don't yet know.......
Justice has been severely folded, bent, mutilated, and trampled. It's going to take DECADES to restore even a small percentage of the trust erased lately.
Difficult to *restore* a faith that was never there.
Every bloody emperor has his hand up history's skirt [Peter Hammill/VdGG]
Heh, that's a good one. How do you restore trust in a system that is corrupt by design, not by defect? You cannot ever trust any system to works on concentrated authority. It is impossible to acquire adequate oversight.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
That's the more concise headline today at Reuters -- http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/27/us-eu-us-security-idUSBRE9AQ0F120131127
The European Union backed down on Wednesday from threats to suspend agreements granting the United States access to European data, rejecting calls for a tougher stance over alleged U.S. spying.
The move marks an abrupt about-turn for the European Commission, the EU executive, after warnings it issued in July to U.S. officials following revelations that Washington had spied on European citizens and EU institutions.
Cecilia Malmstrom, the EU's commissioner for home affairs, said she had found no proof of U.S. wrongdoing, either in the sharing of flight passenger records or in the tracking of international payments...
Sophie in 't Veld, a Dutch Liberal member of the European Parliament, criticized the Commission's move.
"They are putting diplomatic relations ahead of citizens rights. The Commission is being extremely timid to the Americans," she told Reuters.
"They have done an investigation and concluded that everything is hunky dory. This is not serious," she said, adding that taking the United States at its word was naive.
We know where leadership by an anti-intellectual "strongman" who scapegoats minorities and likes boisterous rallies goes
The EC notes that spying on its citizens, companies, and leaders is unacceptable; and that citizens of U.S. and EU need to be reassured about protection of their data
Either you don't spy on everybody or don't even bother making a statement. Humans are humans whether citizens of your country or not. As long as you make a distinction between your own citizens and others you generate ill will towards yourselves, which creates enemies, which forces you to get defensive.
Your forefathers made proclomations about Human Rights, not citizen rights. Listen to them, they had the right idea, do the right thing and treat all humans equally.
When the NSA offers to sell the EU the technology at reduced prices. :)
When we have flaps like this that occur, you know, something will change, and I expect we'll get some sort of announcement that will - that the Europeans can point to as a curtailment and as a change. But as time goes by, flaps blow over, and the permanent interests of ourselves and our allies reassert themselves.
Paul Pillar, 28-year veteran of the CIA
Who in their right mind could trust USA? Unicorns are more real than trust in USA. Spying, 2 wars based on lies and deceit, lots of profiteering at everyone's expense, patent trolling and other IP based litigation nonsense, shoving harmful legislation down everyones throats- all of that is coming from US.
Well, unless it's "trust" as in "I trust US to screw everyone at every opportunity".
--Coder
If the EU had at least the same size balls as Brazil, they would demand reciprocity.
Let's see how long the Americans would tolerate their data being "safely shared" with Europe's governments.
What? A storm during thanksgiving? Snow at Christmas! Playoffs? The superbowl !!!!! (5, for insanity)
What was the topic again, Obamacare?
"The USA isn't always like that, only when I do something wrong. I love the USA, I could never stop being it's partner." - EU
Be seeing you...
1. Trust No One
That's it. Cryptography has always and will always run on jungle rules.
Either you break it and get the cleartext, or you can't break it and you don't get the cleartext.
There is no middle ground. They can read your messages and spy on you or they can't.
If your "allies" can read your messages, they will. Full stop.
Of course there are surveillance plans running in EU also, but not necessarily anything as massive and intrusive that NSA is conducting.
Seriously? We just don't need to share that much information. There's no "reform" unless the US stops breaking ITS OWN LAWS. That's where reform starts.
As much as I would hate an even "worse" US life, I think it'd be for the best that the way government here is doing business ceases to be profitable.
Preferably by a drone strike. US can't collect data if it has nowhere to store it.
So the EU rolls overs and is a good bitch for the US again? Pathetic! I don't know what is worse, the fact the US has no morals, or the fact the EU has no balls?
Who knows? At least CGHQ has been doing some pretty heavy surveillance and spying on an international level too in recent years. Never underestimate the capacity of a government hellbent on eavesdropping everything that is being sent down the wire.
cpghost at Cordula's Web.
The EU tried going the trust route and it got burned. This situation is indicative of the scorpion and the frog.
Step 1 : Dismantle the NSA, and file criminal charges against their leadership.
Step 2 : There is no step 2.
This signature is false.
Alleged? What part of the official U.S. policy and actions they have admitted to, apologized for but vowed to continue, is alleged?
That is not a neutral story. I wouldn't trust it.
Remember how undersea cables kept getting broken by anchors? Was the NSA behind this? It could happen in at least 2 ways:
1. Break the cable, the repairer installs interception device.
2. Break the cable, tell the operator that breaks will keep happening unless the operator allows access to its network.
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
I for one would never trust EU-US data flows - the US side will always ignore any treaties about privacy and steal the personal information of EU citizens.
Always.
Without question.
This is why the US is 31st in download speeds - we reward insanity.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Here we're talking about the EU and they have two branches of government, the commission that backed down and the parliament that wants stronger action.
The EU commission is made up of lackeys of the member countries, the EU parliament is very much 'of the people' and they have to share power.
Give it some time and we'll see who wins, the establishment in the countries or the people of the EU.
This is one of the reasons I am very much pro-EU unity.
"The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
Can operate with secrecy: i assume your definition of "secrecy" include being front page of every decent newspaper?
I can't understand why the Senator is shocked that our spies lied to him. They are SPIES, after all! Do you really expect that spies are going to tell you the truth about anything?
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
We have some equipment at work, with factory and maintenance access codes. Those codes change, seemingly at random, until you know the secret. Date and time determines the proper access codes. I suppose that it would be a fairly simple matter to only allow access within certain time frames - that is, simply to null xx% of the now-valid codes.
This isn't a new system, by any means. The machinery runs SysV dated late 1990's.
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
Restore the (mistaken) /belief/ that you can trust the US.
I.o.w.get some sense of naievete back.
I fear that's gonna be a cinch. Apathy has been a high
demand US export item for longer than just the past year.
But following that up by saying you want to protect existing agreements seems to imply to me: We're going to keep spying on you and blackmailing you, but we're going to hide it better, promise!
Same shit, different day.
It's great they're talking about reforms to prevent this happening again, but there's one critical element no one is talking about: prosecuting people for the crimes they already committed. The NSA has been breaking laws on a massive scale all over the world, but there hasn't been one single prosecution of anyone for any of them. Until they see the law applies to them too, they'll have no reason to not just keep ignoring it. And then all the reforms in the world will be nothing but paper, things to ignore just like everything else they find inconvenient.
"I'm too busy to research this and form an educated opinion, but I do have time to tell everyone my uninformed opinion."
"will be" ? Already is.