Brussels, 22/02/2010 (Agence Europe) - In an opinion published on Monday 22 February, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) flagged up potential incompatibility between the international Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), under secret negotiation since 2007 between Australia, Canada, Japan, Jordan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and the EU, and the European data protection regime, in that ACTA could include widespread surveillance of internet users and could require internet service providers to adopt “three strikes and you're out” internet disconnection policies (also referred to as “graduated response” schemes). “While intellectual property … must be protected, it should not be placed above individuals' fundamental rights to privacy and data protection. A right balance … should be ensured. It is also particularly crucial that data protection requirements are taken into account from the very beginning of the negotiations so as not, later on, to have to find alternative privacy compliant solutions,” the EDPS said. He said that the European Commission, which is negotiating on behalf of the EU, must ensure that ACTA uses less intrusive means than graduated response schemes to tackle internet piracy and applies appropriate safeguards to all data transfers - safeguards which should take the form of binding agreements between the EU senders and third country recipients. The EDPS also calls for a public and transparent dialogue, perhaps by means of a public consultation exercise, in order to ensure that the measures which are to be adopted comply with EU privacy and data protection requirements. (E.H./transl.rt)