EU EU Data Protection Directive EU Law policy privacy
US NGOs Urge US Government To Support EU Privacy Proposals
EPIC has joined a coalition of leading US consumer and civil liberties organizations who have expressed concern about the role of US officials in the development of European privacy law. In a letter to the US Secretaries of State, Justice, and Commerce, the groups wrote to seek a meeting to ensure that US lobbying efforts in Europe "are not averse to the views expressed by the president." The letter states that "without exception," members of the European Parliament reported that US governmental agencies and businesses were "mounting an unprecedented lobbying campaign to limit the protections that European law would provide." The letter, endorsed by 18 US NGOss, emphasizes the President's commitment to protecting privacy, set out in the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights. Last fall, EPIC Executive Director Marc Rotenberg testified in support of a proposed EU privacy reform before the European Parliament, and a groups of transatlantic consumer organizations wrote a letter expressing their support for the EU effort to update and modernize privacy law. For more information, see EPIC: EU Data Protection Directive.