"Data protection, go home," announces Tageszeitung in the wake of the 28 June signature of a controversial deal to grant US anti-terrorist authorities access to records of financial transfers in the European SWIFT transaction database. The new agreement will come into force on 1 August if the European Parliament, which rejected a previous version of the accord last February, votes to approve it in early July. According to the Berlin daily, several political formations which were opposed to the agreement have now opted to waive their objections, citing increased provisions for the protection of personal privacy in the new version. *TAZ*, which describes these improvements as "cosmetic", is not convinced.
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