EU Panel to Report on US Surveillance of SWIFT Data

The formerly secret surveillance by US authorities of international financial data via SWIFT (the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) exemplifies the potential for conflict between privacy regulation and anti-terrorism initiatives. In the latest development, an EU Panel (also referred to as the Article 29 Data Protection Working Party) is on the verge of reporting on its investigations, and media reports indicate that the Panel is likely to conclude that the US surveillance program may violate European law. The head of the Panel, Peter Schaar, is quoted as saying, "We don't see the legal basis [for the US monitoring program] under the European law, and we see the need for some changes". While the Panel has been reviewing legal and policy issues, a parallel review by banking officials in Belgium is examining more closely the technical operations of the banking systems that SWIFT supports. As reported in an earlier news item in E-TIPS® ("Federal Privacy Commissioner to Investigate Use of Canadians' Personal Financial Information by SWIFT", Vol 5, No 4, August 16, 2006), Canada's Privacy Commissioner has launched an investigation to determine whether the US surveillance was in breach of Canadian law. For a current news article from The New York Times, see: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/26/us/26swift.html?th&emc=th For several recent articles from the European perspective, visit: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/15/swift_stall/: and the links noted at the bottom of the page. Summary by: The Editor