Not So Great Britain

Privacy chief warns EU on terror laws | Jun 14th 2007

Europe’s data protection chief has warned Portuguese ministers that fundamental rights to freedom are being abused in the name of security. Portugal takes over the rotating EU Presidency on 1st July.The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) has told the Portuguese ministers for justice and the interior that anti-terror laws proposed in Europe have shown a lack of understanding of human rights law and says that anti-terror laws could be written which would safeguard privacy rights.

“I fear that messages such as ‘no right to privacy until life and security are guaranteed’ are developing into a mantra suggesting that fundamental rights and freedoms are a luxury that security can not afford,” said EDPS’ Peter Hustinx. “I very much challenge that view and stress that there should be no doubt that effective anti-terror measures can be framed within the boundaries of data protection.”

The EDPS is the privacy advisor for the EU’s governing bodies and has been increasingly critical of some of the legal measures put in place and some of the activity of EU bodies in the name of anti-terrorism.

Posted in European Union

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