Civil liberties watchdog
Statewatch has slammed the EU's post-9/11 security strategy as
a "frightening" grab for individual information.
In a
60-page report, published on the seventh anniversary of the
terrorist attacks on the US, Statewatch said the EU saw data
privacy and the judicial scrutiny of police surveillance tactics as
obstacles to efficient law enforcement, rather than rights to be
safeguarded.
The report, The Shape Of Things To Come, described as "shadowy"
the so-called
EU Future Group, which is preparing a new five-year security
strategy. The group wants closer EU links with the US when it comes
to using "extremely controversial" techniques for surveillance.
The Statewatch report quotes an EU Council of Ministers document
on justice and security, which declares, "Every object the
individual uses, every transaction they make, and almost everywhere
they go will create a detailed digital record.
"This will generate a wealth of information for public security
organisations, and create huge opportunities for more effective and
productive public security efforts."
Statewatch said, "The implications of this statement are
breath-taking. Across the EU, governments have adopted, or are
adopting, national laws for the mandatory retention of everyone's
communications data, even though few citizens are aware this is
happening.
"This allows law enforcement and security agencies to get access
to all traffic data. In the UK, access is already automated."
Statewatch claims that ever since 9/11, the US government has
"got its way" on security policy, to the detriment of the privacy
and protection of EU citizens' data.
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