Brussels, 12/01/2014. The European Parliament makes grand claims to be the true home of European democracy. But as one part of the established Brussels press corps has found out, sometimes these claims are honoured more in the breach than in reality. The European Parliament’s Civil Liberties committee (LIBE) decided on […]

Brussels, 12/11/2013. An interesting LIBE committee hearing at the European Parliament yesterday, on Armistice Day. US Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner told MEPs that any abuses by the NSA had been carried out outside congressional authority, adding that, “I hope that we have learned our lesson and that oversight will be a […]

Speaking as one who is proud of my “la-di-dah, airy-fairy” views on online privacy, I feel that Primate Minister David Cameron’s veiled threat yesterday (that steps may have to be taken against newspapers that continue to publish stories based on NSA leaks) shows all too clearly how out of touch […]

Brussels, 25/10/2013. Nine members of the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties committee will visit Washington DC from 28th to 30th October 2013, to discuss with US authorities the issue of NSA surveillance of and spying on EU citizens. The European handbag will include topics such as the impact of surveillance programmes […]

The European Parliament has released a short slideshow – Ten tips to protecting your online privacy (activities while on the internet): http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/content/20131003STO21413/html/How-to-protect-your-privacy-online

I was asked today for my views on John Lanchester’s recent article in The Guardian (www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/03/edward-snowden-files-john-lanchester), in which he suggested that the intelligence agencies needed improved oversight and also proposed a digital bill of rights. I thought it an excellent piece, but I would go further, and say Britain needs […]

Edward Snowden’s speech (on paper) to the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties (LIBE) committee on 30th April 2013. I thank the European Parliament and the LIBE Committee for taking up the challenge of mass surveillance. The surveillance of whole populations, rather than individuals, threatens to be the greatest human rights challenge […]

Intelligence agencies including the US National Security Agency (NSA), GCHJQ and others are secretly undermining the very infrastructures that form the basis of secure communications on the internet, according to the latest documents leaked in the Edward Snowden case. The US Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) reports that the US National […]

German weekly Der Spiegel reports that documents from whistleblower Edward Snowden show Britain’s GCHQ intelligence service was behind a cyber-attack on Belgacom, the partly state-owned Belgian telecoms company. A “top secret” Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) presentation seen by the paper indicates that the goal of project, conducted under the codename […]

I write this with a heavy heart. Like many of my generation I was brought up with the idea of America as a friend to Europe. In two World Wars the United States has come down on the side of freedom and democracy as against power and ambition. And the […]