Europese bewakingsstaat

Enige weken geleden was kort in het nieuws dat er een nieuwe privacy inbreuk op handen zou zijn. Europa was voornemens om heel veel gegevens uit te wisselen met de Verenigde Staten onder de noemer “terrorismebestrijding”. Mijn initiële aandacht ging dan ook uit naar dat aspect. En toen behanger van Retecool het stuk vond en beschreef, werd dat ook bevestigd.

Echter, uiteindelijk moet je de zaken toch zelf lezen om ze goed te vatten. En wat blijkt, het Europese voorstel gaat maar voor een heel klein deel over die uitwisseling. De grote lijn is echter veel enger. In het stuk beschrijft men hoe Europa naar een, zeg maar gerust totalitaire, informatiebewakingsstaat moet gaan. Alle gegevens moeten uitgewisseld worden, alles moet in de gaten gehouden worden en nieuwe technieken (bv onbemande spionagevliegtuigjes in te zetten tegen burgers) moeten worden ontwikkeld. Dit alles in een taal die zo uit het boek 1984 zou kunnen komen. En nergens is er sprake van een weging van belangen. Nee, terrorisme (en criminaliteit en immigratie) zijn een grote ramp en zoveel mogelijk maatregelen moeten genomen worden om dit te bestrijden. Ook al gaat dat ten koste van de burgerrechten van diezelfde mensen die je wilt beschermen.

Ik stel voor dat u het zelf leest. Maar om het iets makkelijker te maken heb ik een aantal belangrijke passages er uit gehaald. Sommige daarna voorzien van een kort commentaar uit mijn hand. Lees en huiver.

15. Regarding external relations, better political, technical and operational cooperation should be reached with third countries, especially with countries most affected by the menace of terror as well as the Union’s major strategic partners – the United States and Russia.

(Dit punt kwam in de media. Het komt neer op het vrijelijk uitwisselen van alle gegevens die “noodzakelijk” geacht worden in het bestrijden van terrorisme. Alles dus)

17. From a political standpoint, the Group recommends focusing on mid- and longterm prevention, especially as regards recruitment and radicalisation, by reinforcing the cooperation already started in this field at European Union level, and by continuing the fight against the use of Internet for terrorist purposes. As terrorism is often accompanied by political propaganda, the Union must develop a positive counter-system based on its values: the rule of law, fundamental rights, peace and liberty. The European Union has to improve communication with civil society, using every communication mode, including Internet.

(Als die waarden al goed zijn, waarom moet je daar nog actief een systeembenadering voor maken?)

41. The importance of prevention has been stressed in the Group, which considers this aspect of civil protection as something that need to be developed in order to create a safer environment.

(1984, het is voor uw bestwil)

42. The Group proposes improving information management, developing common training and exercises in this area and setting up a network between schools. Better interoperability of operational techniques and systems must be sought. Similarly, the capacity of the Monitoring and Information Centre should be strengthened so as to turn it into a central coordination point and to develop its monitoring functions.

44. In a space where people and goods move freely, information exchange is a key component of European security. The Hague-Programme established the Principle of Availability. The Group estimates that European information networks should now be developed from a legal as well as from a technical standpoint, with a global and coherent approach taking fully into account operational needs. It therefore recommends implementing a European Union Information Management Strategy (EU IMS) promoting a coherent approach to the development of information technology and exchange of information.

(Hier hadden we de EU toch niet voor opgericht?)

45. The Group proposes putting forward a “top ten” of data categories where exchange should be developed between Member States within the scope of the Union’s global information exchange strategy.

(En u dacht dat het biometrische paspoort op zich stond. Nee, straks overal vingerafdrukscanners om te zien of u niet per ongeluk een terrorist bent die een zwembad wilt opblazen)

51. Indeed, beyond the technical aspects of pooling files, security technologies can offer significant possibilities in the area of police cooperation. As is wellknown, the entire area of security technology has undergone major developments in the past few years. Efforts must be made to standardise new materials in order to obtain better interoperability, especially in the areas of video surveillance, Internet telephony, and police use of unpiloted aircraft.
Sharing certain state-of-the-art materials requiring large investments should be considered when they do not need to be in continuous use. It appears that this sector cannot be managed politically by individual Member States or industrially only by the companies working in this field.

(Nog meer camera’s en andere gadgets. Ook al is nog steeds niet aangetoond dat het significant helpt. Maar voor de zekerheid toch maar doen. Voelt iedereen zich veilig)

58. The Internet is increasingly misused by terrorists in various ways, namely for incitement, recruitment purposes or for practical support for potential terrorists.
It thereby has become a decisive vector for radicalisation. Checking the Internet is therefore a paramount task. The Group therefore considers that further reflection on possible measures directed against terrorist use of the Internet is indispensable.

(Die telecomwet waarin alle mobiele- en internetverkeersgegevens een jaar bewaard moeten worden is dus nog maar het begin)

64. Special investigative techniques should be placed higher on the agenda of the European Union. As regards video surveillance, further measures should be discussed in the light of pending analyses.
Cooperation between Financial Intelligence Units should be enhanced, while a possible future measure could be the systematic monitoring of financial transactions in the Union.

(Hoeven we de Amerikanen niet meer de schuld te geven dat ze op onze bankrekening kijken, doen we het gewoon zelf)

71. The European Union will inevitably need strong partners to succeed in the fight against terrorism on a global scale. In the same way as Europe, the United States is especially confronted with these threats. Therefore the Group considers close and continuous cooperation with the United States to be indispensable. First of all, this requires a greater understanding of the de lege lata situation on both sides. In the medium term, this cooperation should lead to greater convergence, including in the different legal frameworks of data protection. By 2014 the European Union should also make up its mind with regard to the political objective of achieving a Euro-Atlantic area of cooperation with the United States in the field of Freedom, Security and Justice.

(Wrang)

78. A closer link between European police, external and defence policy and consequently a closer correlation between the different policy areas within the European Foreign and Security Policy needs to be established. This would allow for a better use of the expertise and experience of the police in the planning and evaluation of civilian crisis missions. To this end, closer cooperation between different Council structures (General and External Affairs, Justice and Home Affairs) involving a prior consultation as well as a post-evaluation of missions is indispensable. In financial terms we could pool European Union resources for third-country missions to enable the European Union to provide them faster.

(Grens tussen politie en leger vervaagt.)

80. In addition, a maximum degree of transparency, coordination and information flow between all actors and structures should be achieved. An even closer correlation and increased mutual use of external, military, security, police, civil protection and development aid expertise could inter alia be established through:
o enhanced and more coherent cooperation between the civilian and military elements through stronger political support for the Civilian Operations Commander – one commander for all missions – and his Civilian Planning and Conduct Capability;
o missions’ situation centres bringing together all entities participating in the mission – e.g. military, police, rule of law, civil protection entities – on an equal footing;
o fully integrating civil protection assets and capabilities identified by the Member States for civilian crisis management operations into European Security and Defence Policy missions, with setting up infrastructure an important condition for peace and stability.

128. The Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC) functions as both an information platform and a service provider, and should be further developed. The MIC should reinforce its analytical capacities and competence for gathering, selecting, analysing and weighing the appropriate information to be transmitted to the participating States. To do so, it would be necessary to upgrade the existing MIC which could become a central coordination point, having had a more operational role.

(Ah, het ministerie van Waarheid)

132. Balancing citizens’ expectations of privacy against their expectations of proactive protection is not a new dilemma for public security organisations, but it is taking on an ever more acute form. In the “digital tsunami” environment the traditional measures to protect privacy will become less and less effective unless appropriate technological measures are used as an essential complement to legal means. In order to achieve a sufficient level of protection, “privacy-enhancing technologies” are absolutely essential to guarantee civil and political rights in the age of cyberspace.

(We gaan alles in de gaten houden, maar gieten er een juridisch sausje overheen zodat iedereen het gevoel heeft dat het “netjes” gaat)

133. Information is the key to protecting the public and in an increasingly connected world in which public security organisations will have access to almost limitless amounts of potentially useful information. This is a challenge as well as an opportunity – public security organisations will need to transform the way they work if they are to master this data tsunami and turn it into intelligence that produces safe, open and resilient communities. The key to effectiveness will be using technology to connect the capabilities of a multitude of stakeholders and ensure the right information gets to the right person in the form they are best able to use.

(Er is dus geen discussie meer óf er meer informatie gebruikt/gedeeld moet gaan worden, maar alleen nog over hoe dat “netjes” en goed kan.)

134. Member States should prioritise investment in innovative technologies that enable automated data analysis and improve real-time collaboration.

(Poeha taal voor maximale uitwisselbaarheid van alle gegevens)

154. Ensuring greater public understanding of the benefits of data sharing between Member States should be a priority. The strategy should include a commitment to make clear to European Union citizens how information will be processed and protected, on the basis of proportionality and necessity.

(Door de strot duwen. Geen discussie over noodzaak, alleen uitleggen waarom het toch al gebeurt)

Dossier Privacy