EU May Allow US To Keep Snooping On European Bank Data

zaphod2 alerts us to a storm brewing in Europe over access by US intelligence agencies to EU banking data. There is considerable opposition in Europe to extending this access. The submitter adds, "I wonder how long it takes until gambling, online games, or non-RIAA-approved music shops are considered supporters of terrorism." "US anti-terror officials want to be able to continue examining Europeans' financial transactions, and it appears likely that the European Union is going to comply. ... The US has been examining transactions handled by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Transactions (SWIFT) since the 9/11 attacks... However, SWIFT, which is located in Belgium, is planning to move its servers and database — which is currently located in the US — to Europe. With data privacy laws far stricter in Europe, the US would then need permission from the EU before it could gain access to this sensitive information."

Re:RIAA? Eh?

[Corporate Troll]

No, the RIAA doesn't exist in Europe... (Guess what the last A in RIAA means) However, pretty much every Nation has its own equivalent institution. I don't know them all, but in Belgium it's SABAM, in France it's SACEM. I'm sure there are others.

Re:RIAA? Eh?

[Anonymous Coward]

while RIAA doesn't exist as such, each nation pretty much has an equivalent (or multiple equivalents even). they are also all private corporations that redistribute their earnings to their 'members'. of course, most of the money disappears along the way.

the equivalent in Belgium (SABAM) is currently getting sued for that very reason.

Re:RIAA? Eh?

[I cant believe its n]

IFPI - International Federation of the Phonographic Industry [wikipedia.org]

It's not Europe's, but the choice of each country.

[JamesR404]

The matter is more specific than the article leads to believe. SWIFT is not actually 'moving' it's servers, rather it is adding new servers in Europe. Creating one TransAtlantic zone for messages allowed to reach the US and one Europe zone for messages not allowed to reach the US. The 'National Member Group Chairperson' of each country has specified in which of these zones their traffic should be traveling in, so with some exceptions each country has their own choice. Soon every country which has chosen to will keep their inter-Europe traffic within Europe. (exchanges with American banks obviously have to go to America.) For more information read: http://www.swift.com/solutions/industry_initiatives/distributed_architecture.page [swift.com] And: http://www.swift.com/solutions/industry_initiatives/image_doc/DA_Phase_1_white_paper_200907_1.4.pdf [swift.com]

Re:wrong

[nagnamer]

al qaeda is an ethnocentric fundamentalist initiative, created by the middle east. you cannot possible hold the west responsible for chinese ultranationalism or russian ultranationalism. so why you would hold it responsible for arabic ethnocetrism?

Al Quaeda doesn't exist. [google.com] But don't take my word for it. Just watch the linked documentary.

On a slightly unrelated note, if you carefully observe those cultural trends that you call 'ultranationalism' in context, you would notice that those emerged from a state of complete paralysis under a foreign and/or domestic tyrant.

Fuck no!

[JAlexoi]

They would need approvals of each and every one of EU's member states. Or at least the one that has the servers physically located.
In the latter case, most EU's banks would not be allowed to transfer any personal information to that country, until explicitly permitted by the person. Europeans are very careful about legal protection of their personal information.
I personally, had to sign a release for my employer, allowing my name and last name to be entered in the central employee database in US.