| 
          
         | 
        
          
            <<  
             ^ 
              >>
          
          
            
              
                Date: 2001-09-25
                 
                 
                Terror: Offener Brief der NGOs in CNN
                
                 
-.-. --.- -.-. --.- -.-. --.- -.-. --.- -.-. --.- -.-. --.- 
                 
                
      Ein offener Brief, in zwei Nächten der letzten Woche relativ hastig  
zwischen sieben europäischen NGOs akkordiert, zieht weite  
Kreise. Inzwischen ist er bereits bei CNN-Site angelangt 
 
Background 
http://www.quintessenz.at/archiv/msg01639.html
                   
 
Etwas weniger international, nämlich AT-weit: Am Nachmittag  
gastiert die quintessenzielle Doris bei Radio FM 4 [Connected ab  
14.00]. Um 21.00 beschäftigt sich der "Report" mit dem  
Überwachungsthema [21.00 ORF 2]  
-.-. --.-  -.-. --.-  -.-. --.-  -.-. --.-  -.-. --.-  -.-. --.-   
Euro civil liberty campaigners urge restraint 
 
By Joris Evers 
 
(IDG) -- Police and intelligence services should not get new or  
extended communication interception powers or increased access  
to information, say seven European privacy and civil liberties  
organizations in an open letter to the European Council. 
 
In the letter, sent Friday, the organizations from Austria, Denmark,  
Germany, the Netherlands and the U.K. urge the European Council  
to defend citizens' freedom and rights in the wake of the terrorist  
attacks on the U.S. 
 
"There is a climate now where it is possible to get measures into  
place fast. Measures that would otherwise not be allowed," said  
Maurice Wessling of Bits of Freedom in Amsterdam. 
 
"Privacy and civil liberties must be part of the debate. They are very  
important subjects that can't be shoved aside. Privacy and civil  
liberties are always on the agenda in the U.S. In Europe, that's  
much less the case," he said. 
 
The European Council, convening Friday in Brussels, is made up of  
the heads of state or government of the 15 member states of the  
European Union and the president of the European Commission.  
The groups in their letter acknowledge that European leaders wish  
to enhance the security of their countries, but question the  
effectiveness and proportionality of extended powers for law  
enforcement and warn against the "grave loss of privacy" that would  
lead to. 
 
"The existence of the Echelon system did not provide intelligence  
services with information about the attacks in the U.S. We are  
concerned that Echelon and similar systems threaten the rights of  
all European citizens without achieving their stated goals," the  
letter states. 
 
Echelon is the code name for a global electronic-surveillance  
network believed to be run in part by the U.S. National Security  
Agency (NSA). U.S. officials have never officially confirmed the  
existence of Echelon, but an investigative committee of the  
European Parliament recently concluded that the spy network is  
real. 
 
In addition, the civil liberty and privacy groups ask the European  
leaders to promote encryption as a way to guarantee privacy of  
electronic communications and not to implement legislation that  
would force Internet and telecommunication service providers to  
retain traffic data for use by law enforcement. 
 
"Retention of traffic data will in effect transform our communications  
infrastructure into a surveillance system that records intimate  
details of the personal life of all citizens," the groups state in the  
letter. 
 
The European Justice and Home Affairs ministers met on Thursday  
to discuss which measures to take to maintain "the highest level of  
security" and to combat terrorism. Issues such as wiretapping  
were discussed, according to the meeting conclusions. However,  
No concrete plans to extend the powers of law enforcement are in  
place, according to Wessling. 
 
The organizations that signed the open letter are Bits of Freedom  
in the Netherlands; Chaos Computer Club and Fitug in Germany;  
Digital Rights, Denmark; Foundation for Information Policy  
Research and Privacy International, both in the U.K., and  
Quintessenz in Austria. 
  
-.-. --.-  -.-. --.-  -.-. --.-  -.-. --.-  -.-. --.-  -.-. --.-   
Source 
http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/industry/09/24/civil.liberties.idg/index.html
    
                 
- -.-. --.- -.-. --.- -.-. --.- -.-. --.- -.-. --.- -.-. --.- 
                
edited by Harkank 
published on: 2001-09-25 
comments to office@quintessenz.at
                   
                  
                    subscribe Newsletter
                  
                   
                
- -.-. --.- -.-. --.- -.-. --.- -.-. --.- -.-. --.- -.-. --.- 
                
                  <<  
                   ^ 
                    >> 
                
                
               | 
             
           
         | 
         | 
        
          
         |