Ethics Newsline®

Deal would allow trading information for law enforcement and security operations; legal liability issues still remain to be worked out

WASHINGTON
The United States and the European Union are close to an agreement on the complex legal and ethical issues surrounding sharing personal information for law enforcement and security.

According to a report from the New York Times, the expected agreement will allow law enforcement agencies to trade information such as credit card transactions, travel histories, and Internet browsing habits both ways across the Atlantic.

But UPI reports that a few points remain to be negotiated, including whether citizens on either continent should be able to sue other governments for misusing data.

The United States previously had sealed several bilateral deals with individual European nations, including a deal with Germany to facilitate the automatic exchange of information about suspected terrorists, reports the Berlin-based news service Deutsche Welle.

Europe generally has much more stringent restrictions on the handling of personal data than does the United States, reports the San Jose Mercury News.

Sources: Deutsche Welle, June 27 — San Jose Mercury News, June 27 — New York Times, June 27 — UPI, June 27.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, June 9 — Related Newsline story, June 2 — Related Newsline story, May 19 — Related Newsline story, May 5 — Related Newsline story, Apr. 28.