American eavesdropping

Brussels warns US over European citizens’ data collection

Published on 26 November 2013 at 12:14

The American government has improperly forced US technology companies to hand over European consumers’ data and must stop the practice or be forced to comply with crippling new EU privacy regulations, according to a details of a new European Commission report revealed by the Financial Times.

The report, to be published on November 27, is a review of the current “safe habour” pact, which allows tech firms, such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft to operate in Europe without EU oversight, and suggests the EU would “move in [the] direction” of scrapping the deal unless Washington changes the way it handles EU citizens’ data, continues the daily. The FT adds –

A scrapping of the safe harbour deal is one of the most formidable weapons the EU has in its arsenal to punish the Obama administration after claims of snooping on Europeans by the National Security Agency. Such a move would wreak havoc for any US tech company doing business in Europe.

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