Mass Surveillance of Personal Data by EU Member States and Its Compatibility with EU Law

Liberty and Security in Europe Papers No. 61

65 Pages Posted: 28 Nov 2013

See all articles by Didier Bigo

Didier Bigo

Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) - Center for International Studies and Research (CERI)

Sergio Carrera

Centre for European Policy Studies

Nicholas Hernanz

Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)

Julien Jeandesboz

Independent

Joanna Parkin

Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)

Francesco Ragazzi

Leiden University; Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) - Center for International Studies and Research (CERI)

Amandine Scherrer

The Open University - Centre for Conflict Studies, Liberty and Security (CCLS)

Date Written: November 6, 2013

Abstract

In the wake of the disclosures surrounding PRISM and other US surveillance programmes, this paper assesses the large-scale surveillance practices by a selection of EU member states: the UK, Sweden, France, Germany and the Netherlands. Given the large-scale nature of these practices, which represent a reconfiguration of traditional intelligence gathering, the paper contends that an analysis of European surveillance programmes cannot be reduced to a question of the balance between data protection versus national security, but has to be framed in terms of collective freedoms and democracy. It finds that four of the five EU member states selected for in-depth examination are engaging in some form of large-scale interception and surveillance of communication data, and identifies parallels and discrepancies between these programmes and the NSA-run operations. The paper argues that these programmes do not stand outside the realm of EU intervention but can be analysed from an EU law perspective via i) an understanding of national security in a democratic rule of law framework where fundamental human rights and judicial oversight constitute key norms; ii) the risks posed to the internal security of the Union as a whole as well as the privacy of EU citizens as data owners and iii) the potential spillover into the activities and responsibilities of EU agencies. The paper then presents a set of policy recommendations to the European Parliament.

Keywords: NSA, PRISM, mass surveillance, personal data, EU Member States, EU Law

Suggested Citation

Bigo, Didier and Carrera, Sergio and Hernanz, Nicholas and Jeandesboz, Julien and Parkin, Joanna and Ragazzi, Francesco and Scherrer, Amandine, Mass Surveillance of Personal Data by EU Member States and Its Compatibility with EU Law (November 6, 2013). Liberty and Security in Europe Papers No. 61, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2360473

Didier Bigo (Contact Author)

Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) - Center for International Studies and Research (CERI) ( email )

56 Rue Jacob
75006 Paris
France

Sergio Carrera

Centre for European Policy Studies ( email )

1 Place du Congres
B-1000 Brussels, 1000
Belgium
+32 2 229 39 26 (Phone)

Nicholas Hernanz

Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) ( email )

1 Place du Congres, 1000
Brussels, 1000
Belgium

Julien Jeandesboz

Independent

Joanna Parkin

Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) ( email )

1 Place du Congres, 1000
Brussels, 1000
Belgium

Francesco Ragazzi

Leiden University ( email )

Postbus 9500
Leiden, Zuid Holland 2300 RA
Netherlands

Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) - Center for International Studies and Research (CERI) ( email )

56 rue Jacob
Paris, 75006
France

Amandine Scherrer

The Open University - Centre for Conflict Studies, Liberty and Security (CCLS) ( email )

United Kingdom

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