Some European Parliament members, angered by U.S. monitoring of bank data in the European Union, called for a suspension of a U.S.-EU pact on sharing bank data.
Jan Philipp Albrecht, a Green Party member in the European Parliament, has demanded suspension of the SWIFT agreement, which governs the transfer of some bank data from the European Union to U.S. anti-terror agencies, Spiegel Online reported Wednesday.
"Now that we know that which we had long been suspected, we have to protest loudly and clearly," Albrecht said.
Der Spiegel, based on documents whistle-blower Edward Snowden allowed the publication to see, reported Monday the U.S. National Security Agency monitors a significant number of international money transfers, including bank and credit card transactions. Information obtained goes into a financial database known as Tracfin.
Data from the SWIFT network, which is based in Brussels, also winds up in the Tracfin database. SWIFT, which handles international transfers among thousands of banks, is identified by the NSA as a "target" the Snowden documents indicated.
European Parliament President Martin Schulz also demanded the United States honor its obligation for openness with Europe.
Note EU-Digest: Presently European border authorities give US Citizens "Carte Blanche preferable treatment". In normal language this translates to "very friendly treatment". Unfortunately, in comparison, EU citizen's visiting the US are asked personal questions, finger printed and photographed. This by itself is not a problem if at least the EU would give US visitors to Europe a similar "welcome".
Read more: European Parliament member: Body must protest spying 'loudly' [UPDATE] - UPI.com
Jan Philipp Albrecht, a Green Party member in the European Parliament, has demanded suspension of the SWIFT agreement, which governs the transfer of some bank data from the European Union to U.S. anti-terror agencies, Spiegel Online reported Wednesday.
"Now that we know that which we had long been suspected, we have to protest loudly and clearly," Albrecht said.
Der Spiegel, based on documents whistle-blower Edward Snowden allowed the publication to see, reported Monday the U.S. National Security Agency monitors a significant number of international money transfers, including bank and credit card transactions. Information obtained goes into a financial database known as Tracfin.
Data from the SWIFT network, which is based in Brussels, also winds up in the Tracfin database. SWIFT, which handles international transfers among thousands of banks, is identified by the NSA as a "target" the Snowden documents indicated.
European Parliament President Martin Schulz also demanded the United States honor its obligation for openness with Europe.
Note EU-Digest: Presently European border authorities give US Citizens "Carte Blanche preferable treatment". In normal language this translates to "very friendly treatment". Unfortunately, in comparison, EU citizen's visiting the US are asked personal questions, finger printed and photographed. This by itself is not a problem if at least the EU would give US visitors to Europe a similar "welcome".
Read more: European Parliament member: Body must protest spying 'loudly' [UPDATE] - UPI.com
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