EU Privacy is at a Crossroads

Wednesday May 28, 2003 13:29

by winston smith

''In a secret ballot of the Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs of the EP on May 20, Joaquín Bayo Delgado was selected as primary candidate for the post of "Data Protection Supervisor" for Europe.''

MEDIA RELEASE

PRIVACY WATCHDOG CONDEMNS "SHAMEFUL" DEAL
OVER NOMINATION FOR TOP EU POST

EUROPEAN PRIVACY IS AT A CROSSROADS

http://www.privacy.org/

27th May 2003
The global civil liberties watchdog Privacy International has strongly criticised the European Parliament over its decision to recommend the appointment of an "unknown" Spanish magistrate for the influential post of European Data Protection chief.

In a secret ballot of the Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs of the EP on May 20, Joaquín Bayo Delgado was selected as primary candidate for the post of "Data Protection Supervisor" for Europe. The post carries extensive responsibilities, including oversight of the controversial Schengen Information System. Nearly all aspects of data protection will be under the aegis of the Supervisor.

The vote followed more than three months' intensive lobbying by Bayo, the Spanish government and Spanish MEP's. His nomination was accelerated by a series of back-room deals amongst major EP parties, most of which were anxious to ensure that the "hard line" data protection lobby did not succeed in securing a candidate.

Privacy International's Director, Simon Davies, said Joaquín Bayo Delgado was completely unknown to any privacy or data protection advocate in Europe. "To the best of our knowledge he has never written about the subject, nor spoken about it in any public presentation", said Mr Davies.

"Privacy and Data Protection are complex issues requiring a high degree of sensitivity and wisdom. This deplorable deal has occurred at a moment when these rights are under unprecedented stress. The protection of privacy in Europe is at a crossroads, and this decision may well result in the loss of rights for all Europeans", he added.

While Bayo's appointment is likely to be a "done deal" there is still a slim opportunity for it to be overturned. The Committee's chairman, Jorge Hernandez Mollar (Christian Democrats), will negotiate on his list of four finalists (Joaquín Bayo Delgado and the three runners-up) with the Council. Interestingly, the Council has drawn up its own list of finalists, which does not include Bayo but which does include the names of the other three candidates. The list will then be reduced to two names (one for Supervisor and one for Assistant Supervisor), to be put to the vote by the Citizens' Rights Committee on 2 June. Finally, the election of the two candidates must be endorsed by Parliament's Conference of Presidents.

The "group of four" being presented to the Council contains individuals with the background, skills and motivation necessary for this important post. Privacy International urges the Council and the Committee on Citizens' Rights to overturn the nomination and to vote for a candidate who is capable of representing the rights and interests of European citizens.

NOTES TO EDITORS

References:

EU Legislative Observatory

http://wwwdb.europarl.eu.int/oeil/oeil_ViewDNL.ProcedureView?lang=2&procid=5467
http://tinyurl.com/cujf

EP News report - May 20

http://www2.europarl.eu.int/omk/sipade2?SAME_LEVEL=1&LEVEL=3&NAV=X&PUBREF=-//EP//TEXT+PRESS+NR-20030520-1+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN#SECTION5
http://tinyurl.com/cujc

- Privacy International (PI) is a human rights group formed in 1990 as a watchdog on surveillance by governments and corporations. PI is based in London, and has an office in Washington, D.C. Together with members in 40 countries, PI has conducted campaigns throughout the world on issues ranging from wiretapping and national security activities, to ID cards, video surveillance, data matching, police information systems, and medical privacy, and works with a wide range of parliamentary and inter-governmental organisations such as the European Parliament, the House of Lords and UNESCO.

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Post moved by R Isible to become comment

Thu May 29, 2003 15:06

More on Irish Govt's 'Data Retention' & 'Electronic Voting'
by winston smith Thu, May 29 2003, 1:25pm

track this story

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/finance/2003/0526/367070558BZPRIVACY.html

Court threat for State over data privacy

Karlin Lillington
26/05/2003

Data Protection Commissioner Mr Joe Meade has twice threatened to begin High Court proceedings against the Government for using an "invalid" Ministerial Direction to unconstitutionally store citizens' phone, fax and mobile call data, it has emerged.

The Direction, issued secretly under Cabinet instruction in April 2002, requires the major telecommunications operators to retain information about all calls for three years.

According to correspondence obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, Mr Meade obtained legal advice which said the Direction was "in breach of Article 15.2.1 of the Constitution", lacked "the character of law", and was "in breach of the principles of \ Community law".

more at
http://radio.weblogs.com/0103966/2003/05/26.html#a2327

more comments at
http://www.politechbot.com/p-04787.html

Elections have already taken place using this equipment in some
constituencies in Ireland, and our Government has made it clear that they
intend implenting it across the board at our next major election, which
takes place next year. Just like most other countries, public services in
Ireland tend to plod along, and changes can take years, even decades, to
take hold. Needless to say, the speed with which this has been implemented
is raising eyebrows.

The Irish Government passed a data retention directive last year*, in a
Cabinet meeting with no oversight from even the members of their own
parties. This happened before European legislation was fully drafted, and
has raised objections and even threats of legal proceedings from our own
Data Protection Commissioner. In light of this, you don't need to be a
conspiracy theorist to start drawing ugly conclusions.

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EU Privacy is at a Crossroads

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