EU clears Swift to continue giving banking data to US
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(InfoWorld) - Financial data transfer company Swift can continue to pass details of European citizens' transactions to U.S. authorities provided the firm signs a formal get-out clause granting it immunity from European data protection laws, the European Commission said Thursday. The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication SCRL (Swift) has been at the center of aÂ transatlantic dispute over data protectionÂ since being ordered to share millions of pieces of information about people and companies from around the world with U.S. agencies after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The information was deemed essential in tracing the financing of terrorism and Swift complied with the order. However, European data protection laws forbid transfers of European citizens' personal data outside the European Union, if the country receiving the data has a weaker data protection regime than Europe's. The U.S. is considered such a country under European laws. In June 2006, The New York Times revealed that Swift had been sharing the data with U.S. authorities for years, sparkingÂ investigations in EuropeÂ into how the European laws could so easily have been breached. In an agreement reached between the European Commission, the German government, which currently holds the E.U.'s presidency, and the U.S. Treasury department, Swift can continue to share the information if it signs the safe harbor agreement, and as long as individuals are informed by their banks that the information will be passed over to U.S. authorities, the Commission said. If these conditions are met, then U.S. authorities are free to keep the data for up to five years, said European Commission spokesman Friso Roscam Abbing. The safe harbor agreement has been signed by many large multinationals including Microsoft. By signing it, companies agree to respect Europeans' private data once it leaves the E.U. "The E.U. will have now the necessary guarantees that the U.S. Treasury processes data it receives from Swift's mirror server in USA in a way which takes account of E.U. data protection principles," said Commission Vice President Franco Frattini, the commissioner responsible for justice, freedom and security. "I welcome the United States Treasury Department's unilateral representations and the opportunity the Treasury has given the European Union to have its views and concerns duly reflected in the representations," Frattini added. "As well as Swift joining the Safe Harbor and its compliance with the Safe Harbor privacy principles, we now look to Swift and to the financial institutions which use its services to ensure that they fully comply with their information obligations under European data protection law. We urge them to take all the necessary steps to ensure their quick compliance with European data protection law." Swift has promised to sign the safe harbor agreement in the coming days, while banks that use Swift to transfer funds have agreed to set up systems that will alert their customers of data transfers to the U.S. by Sept. 1, Roscam Abbing said. However, it remains unclear what happens if customers decide that they don't want their information shared, the Commission spokesman added. Â
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The latest agreement allows many more U.S. government agencies to access data about passengers flying to the U.S. from Europe, including details such as a passenger's name, address and credit card information.
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The transfer of confidential banking records by a Belgium-based company to U.S. authorities for use in anti-terrorism investigations breached Belgian and likely European Union data privacy rules, top government ...Comment
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The European Union yesterday approved a European visa data system which will store biometric information like fingerprints and photos on 70 million visa-holders who pass through the EU's borderless travel zone each year.
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U.S. and European Union officials have tentatively agreed to a new deal that would enable the U.S. to continue collecting personal information about the passengers on incoming flights from EU countries.
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Albeit several days after an official deadline had already passed, negotiators for law enforcement officials in the US and Europe have agreed to resume a controversial program in which the personal data of European airline passengers traveling into the US may now be shared with US officials.
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The transfer of confidential banking records by a Belgium-based company to U.S. authorities for use in anti-terrorism investigations breached Belgian and likely European Union data privacy rules, top government officials said Thursday.
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A ruling from the European Court of Justice will keep ISPs from being required to reveal subscriber data for use in civil cases. But individual nations, the ruling indicated, can decide to do otherwise.
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The agreement will allow the U.S. to continue a once secret program to obtain banking records from a consortium for use in counterterrorism investigations.
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European data protection officials agreed Tuesday to investigate further allegations that a Belgian-based company's sharing of confidential banking records with U.S. authorities for anti-terror probes could have violated EU laws.
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A ban on liquids in hand luggage on US-bound flights from the UK will remain despite Americans easing restrictions.
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An independent panel has alleged that the bank data-clearing agency SWIFT broke European privacy laws by giving the U.S. records of financial transfers to help anti-terrorism investigations, according to a news report Wednesday.
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The United States has reassured the European Union that it will continue to apply restrictions on the way it uses air passenger data until the two sides conclude a new agreement, an EU spokesman said on Wednesday.
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The European Union&#039;s top court scrapped a controversial EU decision approving the transfer of personal data about European air passengers to US authorities.
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The European Union approved a deal on Wednesday setting conditions for the U.S. Treasury Department to consult records of the international banking network SWIFT in anti-terror probes, EU diplomats said.
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EU and US negotiators strike a deal on sharing passenger information for transatlantic flights.
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PNR and Swift finally put to bed - but still restless The US has capitulated to EU demands that its use of European data in counter-terrorism operations should be subject to foreign scrutiny.â¦