EU increases pressure on UK Gov over privacy law concerns

 

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Posted on 29 Oct 2009 at 14:39

The European Commission has announced that it has increased the pressure on the UK government and is now entering the second phase of its infringement proceeding because UK privacy and data protection laws don't line up with EU rules.

According to a statement released by the Commission, European laws state that EU countries must ensure the confidentiality of people's communications online by prohibiting unlawful interception and surveillance without the user's consent.

"People's privacy and the integrity of their personal data in the digital world is not only an important matter, it is a fundamental right, protected by European law," said EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding. "That is why the Commission is vigilant in ensuring that EU rules and rights are put in place."

Reding called on the UK government to change the law "to ensure that British citizens fully benefit from the safeguards set out in EU law concerning confidentiality of electronic communications."

The Commission launched its legal action following the UK government's response to the EU's original letter of formal notice sent in April this year. The original letter was sent after it received a number of complaints from British citizens regarding Internet Service Providers adopting behavioural advertising techniques.

EU Telecoms Commissioners say that there are three gaps in the current UK laws governing confidentiality of electronic communication:

• There is no independent national authority supervising interception of communications, despite being a requirement under the ePrivacy and Data Protection directives.
  
• The current UK law - the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) - authorises interception of communications not only if the persons concerned have consented to interception, but also when the person intercepting the communications has 'reasonable grounds for believing' that consent to do so has been given.
  
• The RIPA provisions prohibiting and providing sanctions in case of unlawful interception are limited to 'intentional' interception only, whereas EU law requires member states to prohibit and ensure sanctions against any unlawful interception, regardless of whether it was intentional or not.

The Commission said that the UK has two months to respond to the complaint and if there's either no response or the response is insufficient, the case may be referred to the European Court of Justice.

Author: Tim Smalley