14 DAY TRIAL // The United States is promising European Union citizens that they’re going to extend the data protection laws to provide them with more privacy rights within the country.
Following the revelations based on Edward Snowden’s leaked documents from the National Security Agency, the United States has finally figured out that it’s not just the privacy of Americans that matters, but also that of other people.
“The Obama administration is committed to seeking legislation that would ensure that EU citizens would have the same right to seek judicial redress for intentional or willful disclosures of protected information and for refusal to grant access or to rectify any errors in that information, as would a US citizen,” said US Attorney General Eric Holder.
This is a commitment that the European Union has been pestering the United States with for months. Basically, the US Privacy Act would be extended to include EU citizens, not only Americans, which allows citizens to check out and correct records about themselves, as well as to challenge any misuse of information.
Citizens within the European Union would be allowed to sue parties over the improper use of their private data right in the US courts.
Viviane Redding, EU Justice Commissioner, has already acknowledged the announcement, saying that this is an important step in the right direction to rebuild trust between the European Union and the United States. She hopes that these intentions will swiftly translate into a piece of legislation to turn things into reality.
“Words only matter if put into law. We are waiting for the legislative step,” said Redding in a statement. The commissioner mentioned that a bill would fill the gap between the rights of the American citizens in the EU and the rights of European citizens in the United States.
While the issue is not exactly a new one or even one that has appeared in the past year since the Snowden revelations, the media reports on the topic have seriously put a strain on the diplomatic relationships between the two partners. Trust continues to be an issue, even though it doesn’t exactly seem like the European Union is in any hurry to make the US responsible for all the spying it does on countries in the region.
The US seems to be extending an olive branch, offering the European Union something that it has wanted for a long time. However, more important issues regarding online privacy remain unchanged as there has been very little reform of the National Security Agency.
Although some changes are indeed being planned right now, they don’t really protect citizens outside the US.