NSA Scandal (Pt. 3): Spying Threatens Continued US Commercial Operation of the World-Wide Web
In a decision today banning a 2004 EU-U.S. passenger data sharing agreement, the EU Court of Justice held that it is illegal for European aviation concerns to knowingly provide DHS and U.S. contractors with personal information that is protected by EU privacy laws. See, http://go.reuters.com/...
Expect to see more rulings from EU and other international courts that forbid transfer of personal data to U.S. intelligence agencies and stricter limits on information sharing with private sector concerns that allow their databases to be harvested, such as U.S.-based telecom networks. This may have blown up in the face of US companies that have enthusiastically pursued contracts to operate the Bush Administration's warrantless surveillance program.
MORE Below . . .
The Other Blowback: NSA Spying Sparks Commercial and Legal Reaction Against U.S. World-Wide Web Operators
The European Court of Justice held that EU privacy laws trump security-related data sharing agreements with the U.S. That is a major precedent decision, and it may spell the end of Olde Europe's tolerance of the Bush Administration's push toward Global Information Dominance. See, http://www.theregister.co.uk/...
The ECJ struck down a European Union-Dept. of Homeland Security information sharing agreement. The Court held that the EU Charter does not allow for personal data collected for commercial or service purposes to then be used for public security purposes, since public security "falls outside the scope of community law".
This decision comes at a time that a deepening NSA spying scandal imperils a wider range of international information sharing agreements that involve privacy concerns. This threatens the leading position that the U.S. has had until now enjoyed over access and control of World Wide Web operations and the rules that govern how it operates. The consequences could be a huge commercial loss to American IT firms, as well as a breakdown in a single, uniform system of protocols that govern Internet communications, arrangements that currently benefit U.S. firms.
The illegal warrentless interception of global information flows threatens previous information sharing agreements, such as the Internet domain registry and global cell phone protocols that are currently run by U.S. firms. The two top Internet and global cell phone domain registrars, VeriSign and NeuStar, have been recently revealed to be main providers of warrantless surveillance to the NSA. The biggest U.S.-based telecoms and Internet registrars have benefited from huge federal contracts for sale of data on network users. See, Parts 1 and 2, http://www.dailykos.com/... ; http://www.dailykos.com/... .
American firms such as AT&T, VeriSign and NeuStar that operate as common carriers or network registries have been cooperating with the Bush Administration's vacuum cleaner approach to data mining. In so doing, they have violated U.S. and foreign laws, as well the terms of agreement with customers and other telecom concerns that use the same data networks. These companies face severe commercial and legal consequences if they continue to fail to protect the privacy interests of their customers and other network users.
U.S. telecom companies are just beginning to see the downside to the rush to cash in on Bush Administration spying contracts. The cost may be the loss of American dominance over Internet operations, one of the last sectoral advantages enjoyed by U.S. firms.
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2006, Mark G. Levey