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

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

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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