The European Parliament is considering a measure that would try to provide more protection for users of the Internet, including the right to permanently delete personal data on websites, which comes in the aftermath of a decision by the leading networking site, Facebook that could allow them to keep a user’s information even if the account is removed. A report being prepared by Greek MEP Stavros Lambrinidis calls for better and more efficient protection of user data, following a hearing which debated the extent to which freedom is under threat through the Internet. “The police, private companies, criminals - want to have as wide as possible access to our personal information - be it for legal or illegal purposes.
The monitoring of individuals could turn our societies stealthily into a Big Brother society,” he warned. A key issue is the limits of consent of the user for the use of his or her data on the web - by “ticking a box to opt-in or optout... or an Internet company just stating its terms” he said. Lambrinidis told the hearing that: “Internet companies and governments clearly have a lot more power and knowledge than individual users.” In addition, he said companies often offer more attractive terms for their services in exchange for lower privacy protection.

Due to this imbalance of power, limits of consent will be the “biggest battle line” in coming years in the Internet security and privacy debate, he said, adding that it is clear that nothing less than “unambiguous consent by the user” is going to be needed. The Lambrinidis report calls for better and more efficient protection of user data, such as the “right to obtain the permanent deletion of personal data located on internet websites.” He said he was moved to do so by what he said was the growing invasion of privacy because of so much information being stored in cyberspace, increasingly being accessed by more people, including those users might not want to see it.

“Twenty to 30 years ago no one knew which books or magazines I read, apart from the family, today this information is out there in the Internet,” Lambrinidis said, referring to social networks that contain considerable amounts of private data accessible to everyone. European Data Protection Supervisor Peter Hustinx raised the issue of increasing awareness by young people, in particular, on sharing personal data. The web is not a “free playground,” Hustinx said. His rule of thumb is that the rules and values we apply in the real world, apply to the web, too. Developing a bill of rights for the Internet would however be a “useful tool to highlight existing rights in this framework.”

The Internet is a source of danger, but we should not get hung up on the “schizophrenia” of security, speakers said. While Internet criminality (such as identity theft) needs to be fought effectively, the right to access information must be maintained. Given the growing risk of e-illiteracy - “the new illiteracy of 21st-Century”- cutting somebody’s Internet access would not be a proportionate measure, he said.

“Freedom needs to be regulated, yet we want to let the internet thrive,” said Professor Stefano Rodota from the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency, who said he was concerned about the “digital divide.” The report, is due to be discussed by the whole parliament the week of March 23 during a plenary session in Strasbourg, France. As the debate was going on in Brussels, one of the world’s top anti-malware developers at the CeBIT computing trade fair in Germany called for all online users to have a sort of “identity card.” Eugene Kaspersky said tougher regulation was needed to at least reduce online crime, even if the crime could not be wiped out. That would mean cyber-police and all Internet users making themselves identifiable.

Kaspersky founded Kaspersky Labs, a respected Russian maker of anti-virus software. “I’m conscious that that most Internet users don’t agree with me,” he told reporters, predicting it would not be until after a ‘serious incident’ online that authorities would be willing to act. “The internet is like a country which needs a government,” he said at CeBIT. Criminals could defraud people online easily “and without even leaving the room,” he said, because communication over the Internet was anonymous and criminals could base themselves in nations with weak justice systems. He said it was vital that every Internet user disclose their true identity while online.

BUT SOME BEG TO DIFFER

In September of 2008, the parliament debated a telecoms package that will directly affect millions of European Internet users and proposed reforms to strengthen consumer rights and privacy protection. However, for some bloggers and internet users around Europe it has been contentious, with claims that parts of the package could threaten online privacy. British Conservative Malcolm Harbour – who was steering the proposals through Parliament - said the interpretation put on some amendments was “alarmist and scare-mongering.” It is estimated that almost half of the EU’s residents use the Internet every day, most with broadband connections allowing the opportunity to download huge amounts of films, music and books for free. A crucial part of the package is the report on Internet users´ rights. Online groups fear that this new legislation will lead to increased surveillance by Internet Service Providers (ISPs), state authorities and interested parties, such as the music and film industries. Some presented the issue as a head-on collision between copyright rules on one side and on-line anonymity on the other. However, negotiation between the political groups has led to a compromise, which says that in the absence of relevant EU rules, content, applications and services are deemed lawful or harmful in accordance with national law.

IT ACCESS GROWING

As computer usage rises, so does the potential for criminals to hack into users files, and the EU is one of the most advanced regions in the world when it comes to being online. Sweden leads an index of countries’ information and communication technology development, followed by South Korea, a UNranking said. The ICT Development Index (IDI) produced by the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) compared developments in 154 countries from 2002 to 2007, using indicators such as households with a computer, the number of internet users and computer literacy levels, the UN said.

Northern Europe has been an advanced region in information and communication technology, led Sweden, ITU said. But this year, South Korea emerged as a serious contender taking second place, followed by Denmark, the Netherlands, Iceland and Norway. ITU said high-income countries from Europe, Asia and North America all fared well in the index, with western and northern Europe and North America among the top 20 highest ranked in the index.