Police just rubber-stamping US data slurp

Members of the European Parliament have condemned the first six months of data sharing with US terror spooks as an abject failure of data protection. The SWIFT agreement gives US authorities access to Europeans' banking information, but MEPs were told that in the first six months of operation data requests were so abstract it …

[Miek]

Extra Information Orally

"Europol said it had received extra information orally from US spooks, which persuaded them to hand over the information."

It's probably best that way as it does not leave a paper trail for us pesky citizens to follow. Anyone care to speculate what was said ?

[The BigYin]

What was said?

USA: Jump!

Europe: Yes SIR! Jumping SIR! Jumping higher SIR!

USA: All your data are belong to us.

Europe: Of course SIR! No question SIR!

And here was me thinking it was just the UK that was the pathetic little lap-dog of Imperial America.

[Paranoid Consultant]

Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme (TFTP)

I was wondering why my NAS drive had an option to enable TFTP and now I know. It's to let the US spooks have a poke around my photo collection to see there is any terrorist withdrawing five pound notes.

[Sabine Miehlbradt]

Extra Information

"Europol said it had received extra information orally from US spooks, which persuaded them to hand over the information."

Probably on the lines of: we know where you live, we know where your kids go to school and we know about that 1000 quid. Is that enough extra information for you?

[Syntax Error]

This is a political decision

and Europol had no right to make it. It should be stopped immediately and referred to the European Parliament.

[Elmer Phud]

Lessons should have been learned

Under the guise of being 'Friends' the US has stolen all sorts of tech and information from us in the past. They have even used the excuse of 'National Security" to ride roughshod over other people's security, national laws, international laws etc. etc.

They are Facebook 'Friends' and nothing more.

[g e]

Facebook Friends?

More like Twitter Followers.

They contribute nothing back to anything.

Which muppet expected the U-Ass-A to even play according to the rules?

[Anonymous Coward]

@The BigYin

USA: Jump!

Europe: SIR yes SIR! SIR jumping SIR! SIR jumping higher SIR!

USA: All your data are belong to us.

Europe: SIR of course SIR! SIR no question SIR!

Your version would get us napalmed right away.

[Anonymous Coward]

Lying English Scum

"The MEPs said Europol's rubber stamping of data requests was a betrayal of promises made last year."

What? You really BELIEVE ANTHING an English politician says? If you do, you are an Ass.

The issue shouldn't be reffered anywhere. The persons responsible for sending this info wants hauled up and prosecuted, and the US told to piss off. Who the Fk do they think they are. Maybe a legal case is needed to be brought against ALL those involved in this, USA and UK.

USELESS ENGLISH TWATS will let the yanks have anything.

[Anonymous Coward]

If you can't tell

>These requests were so abstract it was not possible to tell if they complied with the agreement

It's very simple, if they couldn't tell whether a request complied or not then it didn't comply no matter how much verbal assurance was given.

[Anonymous Coward]

Anybody surprised?

Anybody at all?

Thought so.

[Fred Flintstone]

So, what about US data supplied to the EU?

AFAIK, the 9/11 guys actually lived in the US, so I think it would be reasonable to reciprocate.

But hat would make too much sense, wouldn't it?

[Anonymous Coward]

Who killed more Americans?

I wonder who has killed more Americans: foreign terrorists or domestic terrorists + the Bush family? It's probably not the option politicians would like to heard.

Given the US support for the IRA back in the day we should assume they continue to mess with on-shore terrorism in the UK and demand data to "eliminate their citizens from our enquiries"

[Trevor 7]

I know who killed more US citizens?

Other US citizens in their mobile terrorism spreaders (i.e. automobiles)

http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx

[Gene Cash]

No kidding

The way Americans drive, terrorists are WAY behind cars in killing Americans...

[Anonymous Coward]

al-Qaeda will never...

...catch up with McDonalds in the 'killing US citizens' contest.

[Graham Marsden]

Europe - Does this comply with data protection?

US - Yes.

Europe - Why?

US - Because we say so.

Europe - Ok, that's good enough for us!

[AJames]

Time to give up

I realized that the fight to keep private data out of the hands of U.S. security agencies was lost when I recently renewed by British passport from Canada. All British passport renewal forms from Canada now have to be sent to Washington DC. Yes, they are ostensibly sent to the British embassy in Washington, but do you really think that they are not all intercepted and copied?

[Fred Flintstone]

Why bother?

No need to laboriously copy them - they probably get that data in nice comfy files from british lack-of-intelligence anyway as part of the "special relation" (which translates as getting some crumbs from what ECHELON picks up in Menwith Hill).

Alternatively it'll be left on some USB stick in public transport..

[Anonymous Coward]

Makes a change

"Europol said it had received extra information orally from US spooks"

Makes a change from our lords and masters getting it rectally from the US.

[veti]

"Received extra information orally"?

Okay, so inform Europol that all their phone conversations will be recorded and all their offices bugged. Discussing work outside the office, or on a private cellphone, is of course grounds for instant dismissal and (optionally) prosecution.

Either that or tell the Americans that "extra information orally" will not be accepted under any circumstances. No paper trail = no information.

[Anonymous Coward]

title

"was a betrayal of promises" - good lord, whatever next? Police telling the truth?

[Sam Therapy]

Gee, really?

"...data requests were so abstract it was impossible to tell if they complied with data protection rules or not..."

Well there's a fucking huge surprise.