EU to sue Britain over internet privacy

EU to sue Brtiain over internet privacy

BRUSSELS - The European Union started legal action against Britain on Tuesday for not applying EU data privacy rules that would restrict an Internet advertising tracker, called Phorm, from watching how users surf the web. They also warned that they could force social networking sites like Facebook or MySpace to hide minors' profiles from search engines. The European Commission said Britain should outlaw Internet traffic interception and monitoring unless users give explicit consent that their behavior can be tracked and analyzed.

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"No European should carry a chip in one of their possessions without being informed precisely what they are used for, with the choice to remove or switch it off at any time."

So, this isn't just about internet privacy...it seems like they are targetting RFID tags also. I like the statement about how commercial publications use photos of from facebook and myspace all the time. I personally work at a local news station in the midwest, and when a family refuses to provide a photo of someone in the news, we search for them on facebook and myspace and upload those pictures to edit into our news stories.

For you NWO believers out there...
If the EU is controlled by the NWO (or the bankers...or the aliens), then how would they allow this to happen? Or is this lawsuit destined to fail setting an anti-privacy precedent in Europe?

The UK will never conform to the EU wholly; much akin to the US conforming to the UN and NATO... it just doesn't happen.

This lawsuit will be dragged out - at taxpayers expense - and there will be no conclusion satisfactory to either party and will end up being swept under the carpet.

Now with the news leaking that all email communication is to be monitored, do you really think the government care one ounce about our privacy and freedoms? Absolutely not.. and don't for one second believe that organised cyber crime cannot be traced all the way to the very top of the corporate ladder. It's not just Nigerians making money out of us - businesses have been stealing and selling our data for years, it's such common practice.

The UK government will never give up their position of Big Brother power, especially not because the EU threatens to sue over it. And this, as with any argument to give us Britons back our freedoms, will go unheard and recede into the background giving way for more political scandals costing the taxpayer nothing in comparison to their freedom.

There's more extensive coverage of this over at The Register. The Register have been covering the Phorm story since last year and I think they were pretty much responsible for breaking the story in the first place.

The EU have been pursuing this line since last Summer at least so it's not as if BT and the Government haven't had time to sort this out. I'm really glad that the EU are doing this. I really don't understand how either BT or the government thought they'd get away with this, other than they're both just used to taking what they want; BT's position as a monopoly is untenable, in my opinion.

However, as is always the case, the customer or the taxpayer will be the one that gets shafted. Doubly so in this case if any punitive measures are going to be in the shape of fines. First, the BT customer is subjected to Phorm in the first place and then the paying-off of any fines will be built in to BT's price schemes. #ing fantastic.

I almost started a new thread on this! (embarrassment avoided ):

I found this brief article on the subject:

New Technologies Violate EU Privacy Rules, Says Commissioner

Which referenced a Video Clip where the commissioner extols the value of privacy to Europeans.

Too bad no American authorities seem to think this way.

reply to post by Merriman Weir


BT isn't a monopoly.

If you are worried about being "phormed" by them, go to one of the many other providers. Money talks!

BT are losing subscribers on a daily basis, both residential and commercial. Mainly down to pricing and porr service. The company I work for is the UK's second largest telco and we have been kicking BT's arse for over two years now.