Will EU citizens visiting the United States now be forced to accept government snooping into their sex lives as part of the bargain?
According to an article that appeared yesterday Sept. 6 in the Amsterdam daily Het Parool, the new anti-terrorism treaty between the United States and the European Union requires EU countries to inform US authorities of the sexual preference of airline passengers flying to America.
"Why should the Americans be collecting data about people's sex lives in the name of combating terrorism?" asks Frank Van Dalen, chairman of the Dutch homophile rights organization COC. "Basic civil rights are being trampled on here." COC is urging the Tweede Kamer (the Dutch lower house of parliament) to reject the treaty.
Further information from the article (which is in Dutch) is provided in English below the fold.
The rest of article's content:
When Dutch government ministers briefed the Tweede Kamer about the treaty in early July, they failed to mention the sexual-preference data-collecting aspect. The treaty took effect provisionally at the end of July after having been approved by EU member governments. However, the agreement must now be ratified by each country's national parliament. The Tweede Kamer has yet to deliberate on the treaty.
European watchdog agencies for data privacy say the agreement is a bad one because it does not sufficiently safeguard people's privacy. The Dutch GroenLinks (= "GreenLeft") party wants the European Parliament to open a case before the European Court of Justice and obtain a judgment whether it is legal to be passing such data to the US.
The COC is disturbed that Dutch citizens have no recourse against unjustified American probing into their sex lives. Says Van Dalen: "The Americans are unilaterally singling out people whose information they think is relevant, based on undisclosed criteria." He points out that there are still many EU countries where equal rights for homosexuals exist only on paper. "The precise thing needed there would be legislation to protect their privacy. This treaty is at cross purposes with that."