European MEP’s urge governments to set up surveillance register

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted by a huge majority to adopt a recommendation to the European Council on strengthening security and fundamental freedoms on the Internet.

The Council should

h)      ensure that the work undertaken in the framework of the “Check the Web” project and the recent initiatives aimed at improving the circulation of information on cybercrime, including by the setting-up of national alert platforms and a European alert platform for reporting offences committed on the Internet (creation of a European platform for cybercrime by Europol) are necessary, proportionate and appropriate and accompanied by all the necessary safeguards;

o)      consider that “digital identity” is increasingly becoming an integral part of our “self” and in this respect deserves to be protected adequately and effectively from intrusions by both private and public actors – thus, the particular set of data that is organically linked to the “digital identity” of an individual should be defined and protected, and all its elements should be considered inalienable personal, non-economic and non-tradable rights; take due account of the importance of anonymity, pseudonymity and control of information flows for privacy and the fact that users should be provided with, and educated about, the means to protect it efficiently, for instance through various available Privacy-Enhancing Technologies (PETs);

       p)     ensure that Member States that intercept and monitor data traffic, regardless of whether that applies to their own citizens or to data traffic from abroad, do so under the strict conditions and safeguards provided for by law; call on Member States to ensure that remote searches, if provided for by national law, are conducted on the basis of a valid search warrant issued by the competent judicial authorities; note that simplified procedures for conducting remote searches in comparison with direct searches are unacceptable, as they infringe the rule of law and the right to privacy;

       q)     recognise the danger of certain forms of Internet surveillance and control aimed also at tracking every “digital” step of an individual, with the aim of providing a profile of the user and of assigning ‘scores’; make clear the fact that such techniques should always be assessed in terms of their necessity and their proportionality in the light of the objectives they aim to achieve; emphasise also the need for an enhanced awareness and informed consent of users with respect to their e-activities involving the sharing of personal data (for instance in the case of social networks);

       r)     urge the Member States to identify all entities which use Net Surveillance and to draw up publicly accessible annual reports on Net Surveillance ensuring legality, proportionality and transparency;

       s)     examine and prescribe limits to the “consent” that can be requested of and extracted from users, whether by governments or by private companies, to relinquish part of their privacy, as there is a clear imbalance of negotiating power and of knowledge between individual users and such institutions;

       t)     strictly limit, define and regulate the cases in which a private Internet company may be required to disclose data to government authorities, and further ensure that the use of that data by governments is subject to the strictest data protection standards; establish effective control and evaluation of that process;

       u)     stress the importance of Internet users being able to enhance their right to obtain the permanent deletion of their personal data located on Internet websites or on any third party data storage medium; ensure that such a decision by users is respected by Internet service providers, e-commerce providers and information society services; ensure that Member States provide for the effective enforcement of citizens’ right of access to their personal data, including, as appropriate, the erasure of such data or its removal from web sites;

       v)     condemn government-imposed censorship of the content that may be searched on Internet sites, especially when such restrictions can have a ‘chilling effect’ on political speech;

       w)     call on the Member States to ensure that freedom of expression is not subject to arbitrary restrictions from the public and/or private sphere and to avoid all legislative or administrative measures that could have a “chilling effect” on all aspects of freedom of speech;

       x)     recall that transfer of personal data to third countries must take place in accordance with the provisions laid down in, inter alia, Directive 95/46/EC and in Framework Decision 2008/977/JHA;

       y)     draw attention to the fact that the development of the ‘Internet of things’ and the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems should not sidestep the protection of data and of citizens’ rights;

       z)     call on the Member States to apply Directive 95/46/EC on personal data in relation to the Internet correctly; remind the Member States that this Directive, especially Article 8, applies regardless of the technology used for the processing of personal data and that its provisions call for Member States to provide the right to a judicial remedy and compensation for their infringement (Articles 22, 23, and 24);

       aa)     encourage the incorporation of fundamental principles of the “Internet Bill of Rights” into the research and development process of Internet-related instruments and applications and the promotion of the “privacy by design” principle according to which privacy and data protection requirements should be introduced as soon as possible in the life cycle of new technological developments, assuring citizens a user-friendly environment;

       ab)     support and request the active involvement of the European Data Protection Supervisor and of the Article 29 Working Party in the development of European legislation dealing with Internet activities with a potential impact on data protection;