Post v.9

Recalling the flap when the New York Times ran the story on "BushCo" surveilling the financial records without judicial writs, one wonders where Peter Schaar, Chairman of the EU's Working Party on Data Protection, is today and what he might be saying about Liechtenstein:

A European Union panel has serious doubts about the legality of a Bush administration program that monitors international financial transactions, the group’s leader said Monday, and plans to recommend tighter controls to prevent privacy abuses.

"We don’t see the legal basis under the European law, and we see the need for some changes," said Peter Schaar, a German official who leads the panel, in a telephone interview. The group is to deliver a final report this week in Brussels, and Mr. Schaar said he expected it to conclude that the program might violate European law restricting government access to confidential banking records.

(Nosferateux note, please recall this article pertains to survelliance of banking records since 2001 by the Bush administration.)

But legal experts say banking privacy restrictions imposed by the European Union and others in Europe impose tight restrictions on how private banking data can be shared, even in the course of law enforcement and intelligence-gathering investigations.

"The main item from my point of view is that the fundamental civil rights of the European citizens have to be safeguarded," said Mr. Schaar, who also serves as the federal data protection commissioner for Germany. "There are doubts about the legality of this program."

Herr Schaar, where are you? Surely you have an opinion on Germany's current use of governmental powers to "obtain" personal financial information by the use of bribery. Something about safeguarding the fundamental civil rights of European citizens per chance?