A few months before its next mandate, which includes a significant extension of its powers (see EUROPE 13832/7), Europol has been accused of serious shortcomings in its handling of personal data. An investigation published by the investigative media CORRECTIV, Solomon and Computer Weekly on Tuesday 5 May reveals that the agency set up and operated its own database system outside any regulatory control.
Called the Computer Forensic Network, the system would include ultra-sensitive information - identity documents, telephone records, geolocation - even on individuals not suspected of any crime. According to former officials, by 2019 it was storing around 2,000 terabytes of data, i.e. “almost 420 times bigger than Europol’s official criminal databases”.
The investigation also reveals the existence of a clandestine processing tool designed to “bypass EU laws”, in the absence of appropriate IT controls.
Despite several internal alerts sent in 2019, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) closed its monitoring of the agency last February, despite the fact that 15 crucial security recommendations had still not been implemented.
In a press release, Belgian MEP Saskia Bricmont (Greens/EFA) described the revelations as “shocking” and condemned the failure of European surveillance. “It is thanks to the work of investigative journalists that we are discovering a problem within Europol, which only increases mistrust”, she asserted.
She is calling for an urgent exchange of views with the European Commission and Europol before the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, deploring the fact that the Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group (JPSG) has not been informed of these shortcomings.
Read the full story: https://aeur.eu/f/lt8 (Original version in French by Justine Manaud)