News online - current lead stories      Follow us on and    Top 20 stories - for full contents see: Statewatch News online or What's New: lists all items on the website. "reading people's email before/as they do": GCHQ intercepted foreign politicians' communications at G20 summits: Exclusive: phones were monitored and fake internet cafes set up to gather information from allies in London in 2009 (Guardian, link) "One document refers to a tactic which was "used a lot in recent UK conference, eg G20". The tactic, which is identified by an internal codeword which the Guardian is not revealing, is defined in an internal glossary as "active collection against an email account that acquires mail messages without removing them from the remote server". A PowerPoint slide explains that this means "reading people's email before/as they do".[emphasis added] Tony Bunyan, Statewatch Director, comments: "These revelations come as no surprise to those who have tracked US-UK intelligence-gathering since the 1946 UKUSA agreement setting up global cooperation between the NSA and GCHQ. Intercepts by GCHQ are routinely forwarded to the Cabinet Office and then onto Ministries like the Foreign Office and have always given UK Ministers and officials the inside track in EU and international negotiations. Secondly, this confirms that a technological capacity of "reading people's email before/as they do" can be used not only to spy on other governments but also on organisations and individuals in civil society." Background: UK-USA: National Archive publishes details of the 1946 UKUSA agreement for first time (Statewatch database) US-UK: DATA SURVEILLANCE: MoD serves news outlets with D notice over surveillance leaks - BBC and other media groups issued with D notice to limit publication of information that could 'jeopardise national security' (Guardian, link) EU: Article 29 Working Party on data protection: Scheme does not meet the tests of necessity and proportionality: Serious concerns regarding proposed Entry Exit System (Press release, pdf) and Opinion (pdf) EU: CYBER SECURITY v. PRIVACY: Credible cyber security strategy in the EU needs to be built on privacy and trust: Cyber security is not an excuse for the unlimited monitoring and analysis of the personal information of individuals, said the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS): Press release (pdf) and Opinion (pdf): Peter Hustinx (EDPS) said: "if the EU wants to cooperate with other countries, including the USA, on cyber security, it must necessarily be on the basis of mutual trust and respect for fundamental rights, a foundation which currently appears compromised." EU websites track users without warning, against own rules (euractiv, link): "The European Data Protection Supervisor, Peter Hustinx, said that institutions were aware of the problem, that new guidelines are being drawn up to deal with the issue, and that his own office avoided using EU institutional software last year because he realised they were “inappropriate”. The EDPS is referring to the inappropriate use of cookies by EU institutions and commercially. In our own backyard the EU's Directive on mandatory data retention (2006) requires service providers to hold records of all communication data (who contacted who and when) for e-mails, faxes, landline and mobile phone calls (including the location) and to give law enforcement agencies access to this data. Tony Bunyan, Statewatch Director, comments: "However, the Directive also requires records to be kept of all internet usage across the EU. Access to a person's internet usage also reveals its content, the pages looked at." GREECE-EU: Council of the European Union: Greece's National Action Plan on Asylum Reform and Migration Management: Information by Greece (pdf) The plans include "Pre-removal centres" run by the police: "Five (5) pre-removal centres are operating in Amygdaleza, Corinth, Paranesti, Xanthi and Komotini, with total capacity of 5000 places. The establishment of four (4) additional preremoval facilities at Lesvos, Western Macedonia, Ritsona and Karoti- Evros, will increase the total capacity to 10.000 places by the end of 2014." and for border controls the: "extension of the existing integrated border surveillance system, in progress in the area of Evros (i.e. thermal cameras), focuses on the improvement of border management, the reduction of the deployed human resources (i.e. police officers) and, consequently, the limitation of the respective costs. The project of the Orestiada P.D., covering 35km of the river border, will be completed by the end of 2013, whereas the study for the project of the Alexadroupolis P.D. (i.e. 90 km borderline surveillance), is expected to be ready by the end of June. The establishment of five (5) Regional Operational Centres at the Eastern Aegean Islands (Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Kos and Rhodes) will be completed by the end of July." EU-USA: DATA SURVEILLANCE: How the USA changed the Commission's draft proposal for the new Regulation on EU data protection before it was formally adopted in January 2012 so as not to stand in the way of FISA/PRISM surveillance of the EU: The Financial Times reported on 12 June 2013, that due to US pressure and high-level lobbying, the Commission's draft proposal for the new Regulation on data protection (pdf), sent out for inter-service consultation in December 2011, was amended by deleting Article 42. Article 42 would have been effectively an "anti-FISA clause" (the USA's Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) and was deleted, after lobbying, by the full college of Commissioners as this would have led to major conflicts with the USA because most data servers of internet companies holding data on EU citizens are based in the USA. The Financial Times quotes a EU official as saying: "White House officials were making the rounds here and especially targeting Commissioners who have close relationships to the US to get them to remove Article 42" (in the draft proposal). This volte-face by the Commission followed overt lobbying by the US officials including the submission of an Informal Note on Draft EU General Data Protection Regulation (December 2011) (pdf) from the USA and (put online at the time by Statewatch) which led to negative opinions being expressed by a number of Commission DGs. The US Note says that Article 42 would impede and hinder law enforcement cooperation because "provision should be made to prohibit a controller or processor to directly dispose personal data to requesting third countries, unless authorised to do so by a supervisory authority [eg: a member state data protection authority... the draft regulation would effectively undermine international cooperation" - the "international cooperation" referred to is, of course, a one-way street whereby the USA reserves to itself to right to put under surveillance anyone in the EU or the world. The final, adopted an published, version: Proposal for a Regulation on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (General Data Protection Regulation) (25 January 2012, pdf) EU-USA: DATA SURVEILLANCE: Spies Without Borders I: Using Domestic Networks to Spy on the World (EFFI, link) and International Customers: It's Time to Call on US Internet Companies to Demand Accountability and Transparency (EFFI, link) EU: Committee asked to reconsider passenger data plan (European Voice, link): The Civil Liberties Committee of the European Parliament (LIBE) opposed the idea of extending the EU-PNR proposal to also cover tracking passengers' movements inside the EU (recording all travel between Member States). This extension of the proposals scope was initiated by the UK government and other governments in the Justice and Home Affairs Council. The original proposal from the European Commission concerned only monitoring air travel from outside the EU (those coming into the EU from third countries on visas or visa-free countries). The Committee's report was due to be discussed at the Strasbourg plenary session this week but the Conference of Presidents (the party leaders in the EP) stepped in and sent it back to the Committee. EU: Data protection authorities condemn Commission's Europol proposal The data protection provisions of the European Commission's most recent law enforcement proposal have been condemned by European data protection authorities, with the Joint Supervisory Board of Europol saying that they are a "a clear retrograde step" that "would result in a much weaker Europol data protection regime." At the end of March, the Commission published a proposal for a Regulation that would establish a European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation and Training, merging Europol (whose name the new agency would retain) and the European Police College, CEPOL. At the beginning of May both agencies rejected the proposal, arguing that their "core mandates do not overlap though they co-operate on some training issues relevant to serious crime." EU: ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS: Access to documents: Parliament calls for immediate action to break the deadlock (Press release, pdf): "The Commission should engage fully in the amending and ‘Lisbonising’ of the 2001 regulation on access to documents, or take "any appropriate measures to break the deadlock", and Council should immediately restart debates to adopt its first-reading position and to continue negotiations, ask MEPs." The resolution was adopted by 333 votes in favour, 128 against and 50 abstentions. EU-USA: DATA SURVEILLANCE: EU Commissioner Reding's letter to the US Attorney-General (full-text, pdf) See below for background. Poses seven questions and opens with: "I have serious concerns about recent media reports that United States authorities are accessing and processing, on a large scale, the data of European Union citizens using major US online service providers. Programmes such as PRISM and the laws on the basis of which such programmes are authorised could have grave adverse consequences for the fundamental rights of EU citizens." EU-USA: DATA SURVEILLANCE: Council of Europe statement: Declaration of the Committee of Ministers on Risks to Fundamental Rights stemming from Digital Tracking and other Surveillance Technologies (pdf) OPens with the following: "Data processing in the information society which is carried out without the necessary safeguards and security can raise major human rights related concerns. Legislation allowing broad surveillance of citizens can be found contrary to the right to respect of private life. These capabilities and practices can have a chilling effect on citizen participation in social, cultural and political life and, in the longer term, could have damaging effects on democracy. They can also undermine the confidentiality rights associated to certain professions, such as the protection of journalists’ sources, and even threaten the safety of the persons concerned. More generally, they can endanger the exercise of freedom of expression and the right to receive and impart information protected under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights" and among its Recommendations it: "encourages member States to bear these risks in mind in their bilateral discussions with third countries, and, where necessary, consider the introduction of suitable export controls to prevent the misuse of technology to undermine those standards" UN-UK: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai: Mission to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (pdf): See strong Recommendations on page 21. USA-EU: DATA SURVEILLANCE: Europe warns US: you must respect the privacy of our citizens: EU officials demand answers on what data snooping programmes entail and whether they breach human rights (Guardian, link), US spy scandal widens as MEPs and MPs seek answers (euobserver, link) and Parliament expresses anger over US data scandal (euractiv, link) BULGARIA: Statewatch Analysis: The use and misuse of telephone taps and communications data by Bulgarian intelligence (pdf) by Alexander Kashumov (Access to Information Program, AIP): Tzvetan Tzvetanov, Minister of Interior in the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) government from 2009-2013, was criticised for widespread unauthorised wiretapping after information was published in the media in 2013. Concerns surfaced following an anonymous complaint registered with the Public Prosecutor’s Office and a former minister’s outspoken allegation, in a television interview, that all GERB cabinet ministers were subject to permenant phone-tapping throughout their time in office. On 15 April 2013, the Prosecutor General told a press conference that his investigation had revealed a lack of oversight within the Internal Ministry Directorate responsible for the technical performance of phone tapping. The investigation’s report was only partly classified as secret, but neither the open nor the secret part of the report was made available to the public. UK: G8 protests: 57 people arrested in London after clashes between police and anti-capitalist demonstrators: Major operation launched to clear central London HQ of anti-G8 movement in former police station (Independent, link) and see: Police violence at Stopg8 protest (Netpol, link) USA: DATA SURVEILLANCE: ACLU Files Lawsuit Challenging NSA's Patriot Act Phone Surveillance (ACLU, link): The ACLU are taking a court action against the PRISM surveillance system which is authorised under the Patriot Act Section 215 using a FISA Order (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act). PRISM collects personal information from users of Skype, Facebook, Google, Microsoft etc from inside and outside the USA (described as "customers" of US-based internet services). See also: ; What's in the rest of the top-secret NSA PowerPoint deck? (Wired): refers to fact that only 5 of the 41 pages handed over to the press by Edward Snowden have so far been published. and Spy court urged to unmask legal basis for NSA dragnet phone surveillance (Wired) EU-USA: DATA SURVEILLANCE: Edward Snowden: saving us from the United Stasi of America: Snowden's whistleblowing gives us a chance to roll back what is tantamount to an 'executive coup' against the US constitution (Guardian, link): Daniel Ellsberg: "In my estimation, there has not been in American history a more important leak than Edward Snowden's release of NSA material – and that definitely includes the Pentagon Papers 40 years ago. Snowden's whistleblowing gives us the possibility to roll back a key part of what has amounted to an "executive coup" against the US constitution." World leaders seek answers on US collection of communication data - Data protection chiefs and analysts in EU, Pakistan, South Africa and Canada express concerns at revelations in leaks (Guardian, link) The European Parliament plenary session this morning (11 June) is discussing: "US Internet surveillance of EU citizens (NSA PRISM programme): Commission statement": EU to seek privacy guarantees from US after intel scandal (link) EU: Handbook on European law relating to asylum, borders and immigration (link) by the Fundamental Rights Agency and European Court of Human Rights Justice and Home Affairs Council, 6-7 June 2013: Press release (pdf) "B" Points agenda for discussion (pdf), "A" Points agenda: legislative (adopted without discussion, pdf), "A" Points agenda: non-legislative (adopted without discussion, pdf) EU: NEW DATA PROTECTION REGULATION:Council of the European Union: Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (General Data Protection Regulation) - Key issues of Chapters I-IV (pdf): This Council document says, in a change to the Commission draft Regulation, that it is intending to have different rules for EU institutions, bodies and agencies: "14a) (…) Regulation (EC) No 45/20014 (…) applies to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies. Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and other Union legal instruments applicable to such processing of personal data should be adapted to the principles and rules of this Regulation (…). See coverage below. NEW DATA PROTECTION REGULATION: EU institutions seek exclusion, extra time on data protection (euractiv, link): "EU justice ministers meeting in Luxembourg today (6 June) are expected to consider giving EU institutions a sweeping exemption from new data protection rules....The Commission and other EU bodies would apply the new data protection measures after the adoption of the new regulation, using a special internal rule that has been criticised by the EU’s own data protection watchdog, according to a proposal seen by EurActiv. In a January 2011 opinion, the EDPS described such a method of regulating the institutions as "inferior," adding: “It would be highly undesirable for the EDPS to supervise compliance of EU institutions and bodies with substantive rules which would be inferior to the rules supervised by his counterparts at national level.”" UK: ANTI-SURVEILLANCE CAMPAIGNERS TO MARK ORWELL'S '1984 'PUBLICATION - and reject government's Orwellian 'surveillance by consent' Press release (link) Home Office: Surveillance Camera Code of Practice Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 – Government response to statutory consultation over the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice (pdf) and Amended Code (pdf) USA: NSA collecting phone records of millions daily, court order reveals Guardian (link) Exclusive: Top secret court order requiring Verizon to hand over all call data shows scale of domestic surveillance under Obama. And Verizon court order (link) Top reports and services 2004-2012 See: Resources for researchers: Statewatch Analyses: 1999-ongoing EU: Borderline: The EU's New Border Surveillance Initiatives: Assessing the Costs and Fundamental Rights Implications of EUROSUR and the "Smart Borders" Proposals (pdf) A study by the Heinrich Böll Foundation. Written by Dr. Ben Hayes and Mathias Vermeulen: "Unable to tackle the root of the problem, the member states are upgrading the Union’s external borders. Such a highly parochial approach taken to a massive scale threatens some of the EU’s fundamental values - under the pretence that one’s own interests are at stake. Such an approach borders on the inhumane." Statewatch's 20th Anniversary Conference, June 2011: Statewatch conference speeches TNI - Statewatch: Counter-terrorism, 'policy laundering' and the FATF - legalising surveillance, regulating civil society Statewatch publication: Guide to EU decision-making and justice and home affairs after the Lisbon Treaty (pdf) by Steve Peers, Professor of Law, University of Essex, with additional material by Tony Bunyan EU: Major report from Statewatch and the Transnational Institute: NeoConOpticon - The EU Security-Industrial Complex by Ben Hayes (pdf): 235,180+ copies downloaded. Executive Summary (pdf) and NeoConOpticon blog SPECIAL STATEWATCH REPORT: The Shape of Things to Come - the EU Future Group (Version.1.3) by Tony Bunyan: 67,134+ copies downloaded. The report calls for a “meaningful and wide-ranging debate” before it is “too late” for privacy and civil liberties. In the words of the EU Council presidency: "Every object the individual uses, every transaction they make and almost everywhere they go will create a detailed digital record. This will generate a wealth of information for public security organisations, and create huge opportunities for more effective and productive public security efforts." See also ongoing: Statewatch Observatory: The Stockhom Programme See: Tony Bunyan's column in the Guardian: View from the EU Statewatch publication: Border wars and asylum crimes by Frances Webber (38 pages, pdf): "When the pamphlet ‘Crimes of Arrival’ was written, in 1995, the title was a metaphor for the way the British government, in common with other European governments, treated migrants and especially, asylum seekers. Now, a decade on, that title describes a literal truth.... There is a frightening continuity between the treatment of asylum claimants and that of terrorist suspects. In the name of the defence of our way of life and our enlightenment values from attack by terrorists or by poor migrants, that way of life is being destroyed by creeping authoritarianism, and those values – amongst which the most important is the universality of human rights – betrayed." See also: Crimes of arrival: immigrants and asylum-seekers in the new Europe (12 pages, 1995, pdf). To order hard-copy see: Statewatch Publications EU: Statewatch Report: Arming Big Brother: new research reveals the true costs of Europe's security-industrial complex by Ben Hayes (pdf, April 2006). The European Union is preparing to spend hundreds of million on new research into surveillance and control technologies, according to Arming Big Brother, a new report by the Transnational Institute (TNI) and Statewatch. Press release (English) Press release (Spanish, link) Copy of full report (English, pdf) Copy of full report (Spanish, pdf) Hard copies of Arming Big Brother can be obtained from: The Transnational Institute, please send an e-mail to: wilbert@tni.org with your request. Europe: A collection of "Essays in defence of civil liberties and democracy" was published in 2005 Global surveillance: Global coalition launch report and international surveillance campaign: Statewatch, with partner organisations the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Focus on the Global South, Friends Committee (US) and the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (Canada) today publishes an in-depth report: "The emergence of a global infrastructure for registration and surveillance" (20 April, 2005). Statewatch report: Journalism, civil liberties and the war on terrorism (full-report/request printed copy) - Special report by the International Federation of Journalists and Statewatch including an analysis of current policy developments as well as a survey of 20 selected countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin Amercia, the Middle East and the USA (published World press freedom day, 1 May 2005) Statewatch "Scoreboard" on EU counter-terrorism plans (pdf) agreed in the wake of the Madrid bombings. Our analysis shows that 27 out of the 57 EU proposals have little or nothing to do with tackling terrorism - they deal with crime in general and surveillance: Analysis in Spanish (March 2004) The Statewatch website Since its launch this website has had 13,194,119 user sessions and 89,411,150 "hits" (December 2012) In the year 2012 there were 959,237 user sessions and 17,138,956 "hits" Join Statewatch regular e-mail list for new stories: Join Statewatch news e-mail list Statewatch is registered under the Data Protection Act. Information supplied will be not be passed to third parties The Statewatch searchable database now holds more than 29,000 records (news, features, analyses and documentation): Search database If you use this site regularly, you are encouraged to make a donation to Statewatch to support future research. 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