In a statement on Tuesday 7 July, the agency Europol firmly denied allegations by several investigative media outlets concerning the existence of “secret” databases operated without any regulatory oversight on data protection.
The journalistic investigation, published at the beginning of May, claimed that Europol had been covertly using the Computer Forensic Network to store around 2,000 terabytes of ultra-sensitive data, including on citizens not under suspicion (see EUROPE B1386222). It also pointed to a tool called “Pressure Cooker”, described by an internal source as a parallel data-processing system designed to circumvent European rules.
Denouncing claims that were “incorrect” and based on a “misunderstanding” of its organisational setup, Europol retorted that these systems “have existed for many years” and “have neither been newly discovered nor concealed”.
The agency states that ‘Pressure Cooker’ is merely an internal project management term and that the associated tool is used to identify public information online “in accordance with the principles of necessity and proportionality”.
It also says that it opened a dialogue with the European Data Protection Supervisor as early as 2019 and set up “a dedicated working group” on this issue. (Original version in French by Justine Manaud)