On Friday 29 November the E.U. Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting in Brussels will be discussing an agreement between Europol and United States authorities for the exchange of personal data which lacks fundamental data protection principles including the individual's right to know and challenge information held on them.
Way back on 18 October 2001 the E.U. negotiators presented the U.S. authorities with details of "the data protection principles applicable to the processing of law enforcement" in the E.U., the U.S. side said they would respond by providing a similar brief - but this never arrived and the negotiators simply set about drawing up a new sets of rules. The reason the brief from the U.S. never arrived is simply because the U.S. does not have data protection laws – U.S. citizens, but only U.S. citizens, have some rights under its 1974 Privacy Act.
Way back on 18 October 2001 the E.U. negotiators presented the U.S. authorities with details of "the data protection principles applicable to the processing of law enforcement" in the E.U., the U.S. side said they would respond by providing a similar brief - but this never arrived and the negotiators simply set about drawing up a new sets of rules. The reason the brief from the U.S. never arrived is simply because the U.S. does not have data protection laws – U.S. citizens, but only U.S. citizens, have some rights under its 1974 Privacy Act.