Google has announced that it’s urging the US Government to extend the privacy rights afforded to US citizens to European countries with an extension of the US Privacy Act.
Announced today in a blog post, the company said European citizens should have the right to challenge misuse of personal data, as US citizens can already in the EU. This is an opinion already shared by President Obama.
“We understand that governments have a duty to protect their citizens. The emergence of ISIS and other new threats have reminded us all of the dangers we face. But the balance in the US and many other countries has tipped too far in favour of the state and away from the rights of the individual — rights that are enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” Google’s Chief Legal Officer David Drummond wrote.
Representatives of the European Commission are due to visit Washington DC tomorrow.
The proposed changes come following Edward Snowden‘s revelations of mass surveillance of foreign individuals and companies and would apply to personal data about European citizens being passed to US law enforcement organizations.
➤ It’s time to extend the US Privacy Act to EU citizens [Google]
Thumbnail image credit: Ken Wolter / Shutterstock.com
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