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                Date: 2001-09-21
                 
                 
                Terror: Offener Brief an EU-Ministerrat
                
                 
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      Dies ist ein  offener Brief von sieben europäischen  
Bürgerrechtsorganisationen [privacy international, CCC,  
quintessenz et al. siehe unten] an den Rat der EU Innen- und  
Justizminister, der heute in Brüssel tagt. 
 
Gewarnt wird vor der Konstruktion eines europäischen  
Polizeistaats im Namen der Terrorbekämpfung. Wir ersuchen die  
Multi-Kommunikator/inn/en auf dieser Liste höflich, die Message  
massiv zu verbreiten, da die öffentliche Diskussion über vor allem in  
der nächsten Woche losbrechen wird. 
 
Terror und Überwachung sind Geschwister. Es darf nicht sein,  
dass uns der Terror die Freiheit nimmt. 
 
Fragen beantwortet der quintessenzielle 0perator 
 
++43 699 110 463 26 
h@quintessenz.at 
 
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European privacy and civil liberties organisations urge European  
leaders to defend citizens' freedoms 
 
21 September 2001 
 
Seven European privacy and civil liberties organisations have urged  
European leaders to defend citizens' freedoms in the wake of the  
attack on the USA. In an open letter to the extraordinary informal  
meeting of the European Council scheduled for Friday evening in  
Brussels the organisations ask European leaders to refrain from  
new and extended communications interception and lawful access  
powers for police forces and intelligences services. 
 
The organisations from Austria, Denmark, Germany, the  
Netherlands and the United Kingdom question the effectiveness  
and proportionality of such capabilities and warn against the grave  
loss of privacy that those measures would lead to. 
 
The open letter also urges to defend and promote the right of  
private and secure communications through the use of encryption.  
"To restrict the use of cryptography will negatively affect the  
security of our communications infrastructure, further damage trust  
in our economy, and will restrict the rights of individuals, without  
affecting the capabilities of terrorists. We urge Europe's leaders to  
carefully take the recommendations of the European parliament  
regarding the Echelon report into account and stimulate the use of  
open-source encryption technology." 
 
 
The full text of the letter --------------------------- 
 
21 September 2001 
 
Open letter to the European Council 
 
 
European privacy and civil liberties organisations urge European  
leaders to defend citizens' freedoms 
 
 
The terrorist attacks on the U.S. did not only target human lives  
and property but also the essential values of freedom in open  
societies. Political leaders in Europe will now wish to enhance the  
security of their countries and protect the public from further  
wrongdoing. We urge them to take this opportunity to defend the  
freedom and the rights of Europe's citizens. 
 
European privacy and civil liberties organisations urge Europe's  
leaders to refrain from new and extended communications  
interception and lawful access powers for police forces and  
intelligences services. We question the effectiveness and  
proportionality of such capabilities and warn against the grave loss  
of privacy that those measures would lead to. 
 
We support the recommendations of the European Parliament  
regarding Echelon. The existence of the Echelon system did not  
provide intelligence services with information about the attacks in  
the U.S., and as a result we are concerned that Echelon and  
similar systems threaten the rights of all European citizens without  
achieving their stated goals. It is not likely that more legal  
possibilities and funding for signals intelligence would change the  
current situation. 
 
We urge Europe's leaders to defend and promote the right of private  
and secure communications through the use of encryption. To  
restrict the use of cryptography will negatively affect the security of  
our communications infrastructure, further damage trust in our  
economy, and will restrict the rights of individuals, without affecting  
the capabilities of terrorists. We urge Europe's leaders to carefully  
take the recommendations of the European parliament regarding  
the Echelon report into account and stimulate the use of open- 
source encryption technology. 
 
Also we urge European leaders not to implement legislation that  
mandates internet and telecommunication service providers to  
retain traffic data for law enforcement purposes. Retention of traffic  
data will in effect transform our communications infrastructure into  
a surveillance system that records intimate details of the personal  
life of all citizens. 
 
We, the undersigned European NGOs concerned with privacy and  
civil liberties, look forward to working with Europe's leaders on  
these issues. As we all deliberate on how to proceed and the  
lessons we may have learned from the sad events in the U.S., we  
must resist the political temptation to act hastily. 
 
Signed by,  
 
Bits of Freedom 
Netherlands 
http://www.bof.nl
                   
+31204686451 
info@bof.nl 
 
Chaos Computer Club 
Germany 
http://www.ccc.de
                   
+493030871715 
presse@ccc.de 
 
Digital Rights 
Denmark 
http://www.digitalrights.dk
                   
+4526227133 
phs@digitalrights.dk 
 
Fitug 
Germany 
http://www.fitug.de
                   
+498999637991 
info@fitug.de 
 
Foundation for Information Policy Research 
UK 
http://www.fipr.org
                   
+442073542333 
cb@fipr.org 
 
Privacy International 
UK 
http://www.privacyinternational.org
                   
+447958466552 
pi@privacy.org 
 
quintessenz 
Austria 
http://www.quintessenz.at
                   
+43 699 110 463 26 
h@quintessenz.at 
 
 
terror und ueberwachung sind geschwister 
http://www.bigbrotherawards.at
                   
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edited by Harkank 
published on: 2001-09-21 
comments to office@quintessenz.at
                   
                  
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