MEPs hear US privacy experts, whistleblowers and Snowden statement

The possibility of suspending EU-US trade talks, the idea of creating international standards of privacy protection and the need for genuine parliamentary oversight of surveillance activities were among the issues discussed on Monday at the fourth hearing of the Civil Liberties Committee inquiry into US and EU countries’ spying on EU citizens.

“You should not go forward with the new trade agreement [with the US] unless you have adequate assurance for the protection of privacy”, suggested Marc Rotenberg of the Electronic Privacy Information Centre, a US-based civil rights organisation. Some MEPs took note of his suggestion, but others rejected it. Members of the inquiry also discussed the possibility of establishing international standards for the protection of privacy.

SOURCE: net-security.org