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Intrusion of privacy on a massive scale

As if it weren't bad enough that many inroads are made into our privacy and that, for instance, travelling to the US, involves much information being provided to the authorities before getting there, now the latest move in what the Americans will require from intended travellers is so far-reaching as to be almost unbelievable.....and scary!

The Times reports in a piece "Brussels to sign your away your private details to US":

"American authorities will be able to obtain greater access to private information such as credit card transactions, internet browsing habits and travel histories of people in Britain under a deal being finalised by European Union officials.

An internal report leaked to The New York Times yesterday said the EU was on the verge of agreeing to give US law enforcement and security agencies information about all EU citizens.

Talks on the new data-sharing deal have been going on since last year. Negotiators are trying to agree on minimum standards to protect privacy rights. This would include limiting access to information to “authorised individuals with an identified purpose” for their search. The Americans want to secure final agreement before President Bush leaves office in January.

This weekend, privacy campaigners said the move would allow the Americans to carry out “fishing” expeditions against anyone they deemed to be of interest and would further undermine individual privacy."

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