BushCo to EU: Just Trust Us

A Saturday morning quickie. Just read this article in the International Herald Tribune: U.S. and EU near deal on sharing data and thought in light of the FISA news here, it might be of particular interest.

The United States and the European Union are nearing completion of an agreement that would allow law enforcement and security agencies to obtain private information - including credit card transactions, travel histories and Internet browsing habits - about people on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

It's a longish article and I encourage you to read it, but I'll just present a couple of highlights (lowlights?) here.

The negotiations have been ongoing and hushhush:

The Bush administration and the European Commission, the EU's executive body, have not publicized the talks. But in a little-noticed paragraph deep in a joint statement following a summit meeting between President George W. Bush and European leaders in Slovenia this month, the leaders hailed their progress.

Furthermore, it seems that both sides are trying to jam through an agreement before more responsible government agencies get involved. Indeed, BushCo, per usual, is trying to do the whole thing without congressional approval or input of any kind.

One of the major sticking points is whether or not EU citizens will be able to sue the US government for mishandling or improperly taking or using their personal data:

The Bush administration is trying to persuade the Europeans that other options for correcting problems - including asking an agency to correct any misinformation through administrative procedures - are satisfactory. For now, the EU is holding to the position that its citizens "require the ability to bring suit in U.S. courts specifically under the Privacy Act for an agreement to be reached on redress," the report said.

But the Bush administration does not want to make such a concession, in part because it would require new legislation. The administration does not want to have to request congressional approval of the final agreement, several officials said.

BushCo is basically saying to the EU: "Trust us. We've got protections and safeguards in place." Yeah, right. Some of the EU negotiators seem to be falling for it. Here's a quotation straight from the "bwahahahahahahaha-are-you-shitting-me?" file:

But in a concession, the Europeans have agreed that the American government's internal oversight system may be good enough to provide accountability for how Europeans' data are being used.

David Sobel, legal counsel at the EFF, says that the Europeans opposed are unlikely to drop their requests for the rights of EU citizens to have recourse to suing the US government. Although others in the article say it's nearly a done deal.

In any event, let's bring some daylight to the issue of these secretive negotiations and make some noise, too.

While you are contacting your congresspeople on their district work July 4th holiday and expressing your views on the FISA bill, please let them know you don't think this kind of so-called "binding international agreement" should be negotiated and finalized without any congressional input. Let's not let BushCo accomplish this deal. Let's work on it with Obama in the WH and bigger congressional majorities, at which time there will have also been

internal [European] reforms that would give the European Parliament - which has been skeptical about security measures that could infringe on civil liberties - greater authority to block it.

With more responsible government institutions in place on both sides of the Atlantic, there is a far greater chance of an agreement that truly safeguards our privacy.

Here endeth our Saturday morning quickie. Have a great day!