Drept & Internet - noutati si opinii

Dupa ce am rezolvat problema cu pastrarea datelor de trafic informational trezindu-ne tarziu si plingind (dar asteptam sa vedem ce zice CEJ pe 10.02.2009), imi fac masochista datorie (ca oricum nu se va intampla nimic, nu?) sa anunt ca se poate si mai rau.

Daca ati fost atenti la dezbaterile pe seama pachetului telecom (adica modificarea cadrului de reglementare al comunicatiilor electronice din Uniunea Europeana), ati vazut ca nu sunt lipsite de probleme (dincolo de controvesele legate strict de telecom - am scris despre Proprietate Intelectuala si Raspunsul Gradual)

Ultima gaselnita ce starneste rumoare printre experti este conceputul de “pastrare voluntara a datelor de trafic", ce a fost inclusa in directiva ePrivacy (ce modifica directva 2002/58/EC)

Articolul 6(6a) propus ar permite operatorilor de comunicatii electronice (deci telecom si ISP) sa mearga peste ceea ce abia s-a reglementat prin pastrarea datelor de trafic si pentru o perioada de timp nedefinita sub pretextul “securitatii retelei". Tin sa subliniez ca nu vorbim de continut (ce este tot ilegal de pastrat) si tot de date de trafic (dar mai multe si in conditii mai slabe decit cele prevazute de directiva privind pastrarea datelor de trafic implementata in Romania de deja-hulita lege 298/2008)

Pentru o analiza fundamentata si profunda a fenomenului si a parcurge cele 3 variante ale articolului 6 (6a) propuse (de Parlament, Comisie si Consiliu) va recomand un articol de ieri al Grupului German de Lucru importiva pastrarii datelor de trafic.

De altfel un avertisment public lansat azi (chiar de Ziua Pastrarii Datelor cu Caracter Personal in Europa) semnat de Grupul de lucru mai sus amintit, EDRi, La Quadrature du Net si Netzpolitik.org atrage atentia asupra pericolelor legate de viata privata ce pot fi legiferate prin noua propunere.

In conditiile in care Parlamentul European se pregateste de noua citire a Pachetului Telecom (si ultima), aceasta reprezinta un moment excelent si direct de influentare in bine a actului normativ prin Membrii Parlamentului European. De fapt, ar trebui sa fie evident atita vreme cit si taticul lor in Europa in materia de protectia datelor personale - e vorba de European Data Protection Supervisor atrage atentia recent printr-un comunicat public cu privire la problemele create de acest articol.

Mai jos aveti si comunicatul original:

Follow up:

EU proposal puts confidential communications data at risk

Civil liberties groups La Quadrature du Net, European Digital Rights (EDRi), AK Vorrat, and Netzpolitik.org are urging the European Parliament to heed advice given by the European Data Protection Supervisor Peter Hustinx and scrap plans dubbed “voluntary data retention”.

“A proposal currently discussed in the European Parliament as part of the ‘telecom package’ would allow providers to collect a potentially unlimited amount of sensitive, confidential communications data including our telephone and e-mail contacts, the geographic position of our mobile phones and the websites we visit on the Internet”, warns Patrick Breyer of German privacy watchdog AK Vorrat. “Apart from the creation of vast data pools that could go far beyond what is being collected under the directive on data retention, the proposal would also permit the passing on of traffic data to other companies for ’security purposes’. We must not let a potentially unlimited amount of confidential data be exposed to risks of disclosure or abuse in this way.”

“This proposal is lobbied for under the guise of ’security’, but what it really means is that users and citizens would have no expectation of privacy on the Internet anymore,” adds Ralf Bendrath from EDRi. “This is a clear breach of the European tradition of considering privacy a fundamental human right.”

In a paper published earlier this month, European Data Protection Supervisor Peter Hustinx joined the critics, warning the proposal would constitute a “risk of abuse” and “may be interpreted as enabling the collection and processing of traffic data for security purposes for an unspecified period of time.” Hustinx reached “the conclusion that the best outcome would be for the proposed Article 6.6(a) to be deleted altogether” - a view firmly shared by La Quadrature du Net, EDRi, netzpolitik.org and AK Vorrat.

“A few months before the elections, citizens will have the opportunity to see if the Members of European Parliament are willing to protect their privacy”, declares Jérémie Zimmermann, co-founder of the citizen’s initiative La Quadrature du Net. “Every citizen should inform their MEPs and ask them to massively reject this article 6 (6a) of the ePrivacy directive. Other crucial issues about content and network neutrality are at stake as well. We must remind MEPs that they were elected to protect Europeans’ fundamental rights and freedom rather than abolishing them in favour of particular interests.”

In a letter of September last year, 11 German civil liberties, journalists, lawyers and consumer protection organisations “urgently” asked the Commission, the Council and Parliament to scrap the proposed article 6 (6a) and “maintain the successful regulation of traffic data” which they say has “proven to constitute the best guarantee for our safety in information society.”

Background paper by Working Group on Data Retention:
http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/images/wg_esecurity_position.pdf

About us:

La Quadrature du Net (Squaring the Net) is a France-based citizen group informing about legislative projects menacing civil liberties as well as economic and social development in the digital age. It became well known in the summer of 2008 for putting the spotlight on draft provisions in the EU telecom package that would allow a private, unaccountable regime for cutting citizens off the internet for alleged copyright infringements.
Home page: http://www.laquadrature.net

EDRi is an association of 29 privacy and civil rights organisations from 18 different countries in Europe, who have joined forces to defend civil rights in the information society. Among other activites, EDRi is well known for its bi-weekly EDRi-Gram newsletter with world-wide readership.
Home page: http://www.edri.org

Netzpolitik.org is the most-linked political blog in German and a political plattform for digital rights. It has received several national and international awards.
Home page: http://www.netzpolitik.org

The Working Group on Data Retention (AK Vorrat) is a German association of civil rights and privacy activists and Internet users. Among other activities, it organized the biggest privacy protest in German history in October 2008 with more than 50,000 participants.
Home page: http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de