IP: EU committee votes on spam, requirements for data retention

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

>
>EP / PRIVACY IN ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS
>EP CIVIL LIBERTIES COMMITTEE APPROVES CAPPATO REPORT
>
>Brussels, 11 July 2001 ­ The EP Civil Liberties Committee approved today
>the report by Marco Cappato (Radical MEP of the Lista Bonino) on the
>draft EU Commission proposal for a directive on privacy in electronic
>communications, with 22 votes in favour, 12 against and 5 abstentions,
>under the co-decision procedure.
>
>Declaration by Marco Cappato:
>"The Civil liberties committee expressed itself in favour of a strict
>regulation of law enforcement authorities' access to personal data of
>citizens, such as communication traffic and location data. This decision
>is fundamental because in this way the EP blocks EU States' efforts
>underway in the Council to put their citizens under generalised and
>pervasive surveillance, following the Echelon model. The decision of
>leaving to Member States the choice between opt-in and opt-out systems
>on electronic commercial communications is a liberal approach that
>respects subsidiarity, and that takes into consideration freedom of
>expression (prohibiting "hidden" spamming) and the different experiences
>of the Member States".
>===================================
>Annex: relevant draft Cappato report text as it came out of the vote of
>today
>
>Article 15: Member States may adopt legislative measures to restrict the
>scope of the rights and obligations provided for in Article 5, Article
>6, Article 8(1) to (4), and Article 9 (confidentiality of communication
>traffic data and location data)  of this Directive when such restriction
>constitutes a necessary, appropriate, proportionate and limited in time
>measure within a democratic society to safeguard national security,
>defence, public security, the prevention, investigation, detection and
>prosecution of criminal offences or of unauthorised use of the
>electronic communication system, as referred to in Article 13(1) of
>Directive 95/46/EC. These measures must be entirely exceptional, based
>on a specific law which is comprehensible to the general public and be
>authorised by the judicial or competent authorities for individual
>cases. Under the European Convention on Human Rights and pursuant to
>rulings issued by the Court of Human Rights, any form of wide-scale
>general or exploratory electronic surveillance is prohibited.
>
>Art.13 (...) Member States shall take appropriate measures to ensure
>that, free of charge and in an easy and clear manner, unsolicited
>communications for purposes of direct marketing, by means other than
>those referred to in paragraph 2 (fax, automated calling machines;
>electronic email has been deleted) are not allowed either without the
>consent of the subscribers concerned or in respect of subscribers who do
>not wish to receive these communications, the choice between these
>options to be determined by national legislation.
>The practice of sending electronic messages  for the purpose of direct
>marketing disguising or concealing the identity of the sender on whose
>behalf the communication is made shall be prohibited.
>Senders of unsolicited electronic mail shall supply with their messages
>an address to which the recipient may send a request that such
>communications cease.
>
>Infos:  tel 0032 2 2847496; Email: mcappato@europarl.eu.int
>
>
>
>
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