Brussels, 12/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - Is it possible that the US justice system is in possession of certain private data on Europeans using Twitter in an effort to find about the activities of the founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, and his close collaborators? This question is of particular concern to the ALDE Group at the European Parliament. Sophie In t' Veld MEP intends to address an oral question to the Commission on the subject, probably in February if the chairs of the EP groups agree.
What is the problem? An injunction was served on 14 December by the US judiciary. It was revealed just a few days ago that this injunction requested the micro-blogging Twitter company to provide it with details about the accounts of Julian Assange and a series of people linked to the Wikileaks site. According to a number of media reports, this injunction also involves other companies such as Google and Facebook and could potentially have an impact on all internet users, especially those in Europe. MEPs from ALDE want to formally request the European Commission to present this issue to the Council and is also urging it to provide elements related to the scope of this injunction. ALDE is effectively asking whether there is a legal basis to the US justice system having access to data on European internet users and would therefore like to have “further information about the jurisdiction and legality of the extra-territorial competency” and establish whether this injunction potentially violates existing European data protection laws. (S.P./transl.fl)