Obama Should Respond to Europe's Malaise

Following revelations on the magnitude of wiretapping and espionage of Internet data, Europe finds itself dangerously exposed to America’s “big ears.” It is not the first time.

The Washington Post and The Guardian’s disclosures on the PRISM program could not have happened at a worse moment for the image of the United States and the defense of its interests in Europe. The National Security Agency’s ability to spy on any stroke of a computer keyboard just adds to the malaise of those who — especially in France — suspect America of wanting to do battle with the Old Continent on the cultural terrain in favor of a future free trade agreement.

The shortcut is far from being acrobatic: It guided the hand of European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Viviane Reding in the threatening letter she has just addressed to her American colleague, Attorney General Eric Holder. Does PRISM target Americans or mainly foreign citizens? What are the extents of the net it has cast? What are the criteria for capture, asks the commissioner, demanding answers — both fast and concrete — before adding absolutely and finally:

“The respect for fundamental rights and the rule of law are the foundations of the EU-U.S. relationship.”

In her letter, Reding stressed that she “is accountable before the European Parliament, which is likely to assess the overall trans-Atlantic relationship also in the light of your responses.”

Without a doubt these will be fascinating.

Without a doubt, only the most naïve Internet users will have been surprised that the search engines, servers and email programs of Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, Facebook, YouTube, Skype, AOL and Apple have been connected to the NSA’s wiretapping and espionage programs. This is not even the first time that Europe discovers itself to be dangerously exposed to America’s “big ears.” The acceleration of technology simply renders the presence of this “Big Brother” more invasive every day. As for fishing— just as is the case with the strength of analytics — it is even easier because the online servers of American industry giants are located, for the most part, in the U.S.

Since the 1990s, Europe and its parliament have been alarmed by the existence of Echelon, a network of global eavesdropping. It already allowed the NSA and “services” of other Anglophone countries to intercept telephone calls and faxes, as well as the very first emails. The case caused a stir in France until France recognized — a little embarrassed — that it also benefited from information collected by Echelon.

The ambiguity is not over between the indignation of the European public and the well-understood interests of those who keep watch in the shadows, among other things, against terrorism. Since 2010 and against the initial wishes of European delegates, the U.S. Treasury has been able to access the bank information of EU citizens through the Swift database, based in Brussels. In 2012, the EU finally approved the transfer of Passenger Name Record data on trans-Atlantic flight passengers to U.S. authorities.

Ironically this year, deeming it too intrusive, the European Parliament refused the creation of a PNR file specific to Europe. To finish, the Financial Times just revealed that last year the Obama administration got the EU to discreetly remove legislation protecting personal data, a technical arrangement that would have perhaps limited America’s wiretapping of Europeans.