Success of TTIP Said Dependent on Resolution of Strong Disagreements on EU-U.S. Umbrella Privacy Pact

EU lawmakers clarified that Europeans aren’t happy about what the U.S. National Security Agency has done, Brok said. Parliament believes it would be helpful if talks on the umbrella data protection agreement could be completed as soon as possible, he said. That agreement is more or less ready with the exception of the provisions on the rights of Europeans, he said. Europe wants to cooperate with the U.S. against terrorism, but security must be balanced with privacy and freedom, he said. Once the umbrella agreement is in place, it should be easier to negotiate the TTIP, he said. Brok said it’s unlikely Parliament will come to “dangerous answers” such as canceling safe harbor, he said.

Moraes’ draft report on spying will recommend reforms aimed at national parliaments, the EU and the trans-Atlantic relationship, he said. It will call for swift agreement on the EU-U.S. data protection umbrella agreement, but will say lawmakers are “very discontented” with safe harbor, which should be suspended, he said. He agreed with Rogers that European citizens benefit from safe harbor, but the report says the agreement doesn’t work and needs a revamp, he said.

Rogers had a “spirited and pointed conversation” with European Parliament members, he said. Legislators have now identified their differences, he said. His team brought the national security perspective to the talks, he said. Terms such as mass surveillance may have different meanings to Europeans, and the U.S. doesn’t think there has been such surveillance, he said. For every terrorist plot security services have disrupted in the U.S., they've foiled three in Europe, he said. Tuesday’s talks homed in on the “very sharp” disagreements over the data protection agreement so the parties can get on with the TTIP, he said.

Rogers criticized media reports on the spying, saying much of what’s written “is not exactly accurate.” Just because an intelligence service has a phone number doesn’t mean it listens to the phone number, he said. The U.S. engages in activities it believes have national security interests for the U.S. and its allies, he said. Rogers defended U.S. oversight of its security services, saying it’s better than anywhere in Europe.

LIBE is scheduled to hear Wednesday from ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Asked his reaction, Rogers said he doesn’t think it rises to the dignity of the European Parliament to listen to someone who’s stolen information from the U.S. and endangered the lives of American soldiers in Afghanistan. Reaction in the U.S. to Snowden’s appearance might not be helpful to constructive dialogue, he said. It’s “not a great idea,” he said.

TTIP, now being negotiated in Washington, meanwhile was the subject of a Communications Workers of America symposium Tuesday. Even before Snowden’s revelations, the U.S. and EU had trouble reconciling their views on privacy, said Consumer Federation of America (CFA) Consumer Protection Director Susan Grant. Privacy is a fundamental right in Europe, while the U.S. has no overarching law. To paper over some of the gaps, safe harbor was created, she said. But the agreement was getting “pretty tattered” when the spying revelations emerged, she said.

This era of big data is all about amassing a lot of information for marketing purposes, Grant said. Government agencies are also interested in the data, she said. U.S. companies view the TTIP as a way to get around potential data protection regulations, she said. With governmental and commercial snooping on the rise, consumers need stronger protections to create trust in a vibrant transnational market, she said. CFA wants the issue of data flows kept out of the TTIP, she said.

The U.S. has created an online data collection industry and exported it to the world, said Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) Executive Director Jeffrey Chester. It’s a massive surveillance system that seeks to directly change people’s attitudes and behavior, he said at the symposium. CDD also issued a paper on whether the TTIP will expand NSA and other surveillance on citizens (http://xrl.us/bqa7m7).

Companies such as AOL, Google and Yahoo “refuse to take responsibility” for their role in establishing global commercial surveillance and instead blame governments, the CDD paper said. The U.S. data collection industry proudly proclaims that commercial data targeting can be labeled “Made in America,” said CDD. Now, these same companies want the Obama administration to help them grow their ability to sweep up Europeans’ data through the TTIP, it said. Their main goals include removing any barriers to trans-Atlantic e-commerce data flows and curtailing the EU’s approach to privacy, it said. The paper said the NSA and U.S. commercial data industry share the “same fundamental disregard for our privacy rights” by spying on other countries; monitoring phone communications, tracking individual Internet users, using big data analytics and acting covertly. For the NSA and U.S. online businesses, the ultimate goal is “to collect all information,” it said.

TTIP would remove European data protection and further empower intelligence services, Chester said at the symposium. There will be no further privacy protections in the U.S., because the administration’s concept of Internet freedom is allowing online companies to shape users’ experiences, he said.