The European Parliament overwhelmingly approved a package of bills and amendments today, to end mass surveillance in Europe and revamp the rules to protect the privacy rights of its citizens. The biggest surprise of the session was the Parliament’s rejection of an amendment that called on:
“ the EU Member States to drop criminal charges, if any, against Edward Snowden and to grant him protection and prevent extradition or by third parties, in recognition of his status as whistleblower and international human rights defender.” |
When the vote total flashed on the giant screen over the chamber, the shocking news was that the Alliance of Socialists and Democrats voted 87 to 76 against the amendment. Otherwise, the voting was along party lines with a clear left / right split on the issue.
For |
Against |
Abstain |
239 |
399 |
31 |
Members are seated left to right according to their political alignment.
|
The bill calling for an end to blanket mass surveillance by the NSA as well as agencies of the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Poland, Denmark, Belgium, Italy, and Spain passed by a wide margin. |
For |
Against |
Abstain |
544 |
78 |
60 |
The measure calls for:
- The Terrorist Finance Tracking Program (TFTP) to be suspended.
- US access to banking and finance data pertaining to Europeans to be suspended.
- The “Safe Harbor agreement,” a privacy privacy for non-EU companies transferring EU citizens’ personal data to the US to be suspended.
- Removal of data transfer provisions from the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) free-trade deal with the US.
- Approval of TTIP conditioned upon the US fully respecting EU fundamental rights.
- Development of European IT solutions, including cybersecurity and encryption technologies, to ensure a high level of data protection.
|
A major overhaul of the EU’s data protection laws was passed separately. |
For |
Against |
Abstain |
621 |
10 |
22 |
Of the 10 MEPs who voted against the measure, 8 were from the UK. The bill establishes a Digital Habeas Corpus and puts citizens in charge of their personal data:
- Internet companies such as search engines, social networks or cloud storage service providers, etc will be required to obtain the freely given, well-informed and explicit consent of consumers before collecting or processing any of their data.
- Third country requests for any EU citizen’s personal data will need the prior authorization of a EU data protection authority in the EU as well as notification to the person(s) whose data is concerned.
- Uniform rules across all member states.
- Penalties up to €100 million ($137 million) or 5% of global revenue, whichever is greater for privacy rights violations.
- Clear and plain language to explain privacy policies to consumers.
|
After the votes, there was a press conference. A US News and World reporter asked what interactions the MEPs had with the US while they were drafting this legislation. He said that he heard the Parliament was still still waiting for a response from the US Attorney General.
Claude Moraes, the very soft-spoken MEP from London who did most of the work over the last 8 months on the bills answered:
"This is our deal. This is our Digital Bill of Rights."