US, Lobbyists Face Off with EU on Data Privacy Proposal

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/us-government-and-internet-giants-battle-eu-over-data-privacy-proposal-a-861773.html



The US government, together with Google and Facebook, have launched a lobbying offensive against a proposed EU data privacy law that would strengthen users' rights to have information deleted. The issue has divided Germany's government, and privacy advocates think it still doesn't go far enough.

US Lobbyists Face Off with EU on Data Privacy Proposal
10/17/2012

The US government, together with Google and Facebook, have launched a lobbying offensive against a proposed EU data privacy law that would strengthen users' rights to have information deleted. The issue has divided Germany's government, and privacy advocates think it still doesn't go far enough.
Info

The US government delegation that paid a visit to the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs last week didn't waste much time on pleasantries. After briefly invoking common trans-Atlantic values and declaring it a great honor to be visiting Brussels, the American representatives switched directly into attack mode.

The source of the representatives' displeasure lies in an EU plan to establish more effective and standardized data privacy laws across Europe. The officials from Washington criticized the plans laid out by the European Commission, deeming them unacceptable. Bruce Swartz, from the US Department of Justice, claimed the Commission's plan would make it more difficult to fight crime and pose a threat to security. Cameron Kerry, from the US Department of Commerce, warned that the regulations would hurt the economy and cost jobs.

Criticism has been pouring in ever since January, when EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding presented her plans for new, EU-wide data privacy standards. Meanwhile, the US government has been unabashed in supporting the interests of American Internet giants, such as Facebook and Google.

In the wake of recent data privacy scandals, Reding is looking to implement stricter laws and tough penalties for violations. The determined politician from Luxembourg promises, among other things, that EU citizens will have the "right to be forgotten" online. In the case of data they put online themselves, users would have the right to insist that the companies processing the data delete it. This proposal, sure to be popular among the general public, is just one among a long list of data privacy measures the EU wants to use to give Internet users more control over their own data.