Merkel calls for EU legislation

Absrtact: Europe is mired in an Internet security debate sparked by a prism door as it remains in the Moscow Airport transit area. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for EU legislation to require Internet companies to take more responsibility for protecting users ' privacy. This is

As it remained in Moscow's airport transit, Europe was plunged into an Internet security debate triggered by the prism gate.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for EU legislation to require Internet companies to take more responsibility for protecting users ' privacy. This has been supported by EU Justice Commissioner Vivian Ann Redding, who says it hopes the EU's Internet data protection reform will be completed before the European Parliament elections next May.

Merkel calls for EU legislation

Despite the fact that more than half a month, the "Prism Gate" sparked by the European anger has not subsided.

Merkel 14th called on EU legislation to require Internet companies to disclose the information provided to the stored users.

In the Prism gate incident, Snowden disclosed that U.S. security agencies monitor European government agencies and monitor e-mail and other Internet account information through web giants such as Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Microsoft, Apple and Skype. The internet companies have denied secret services to the government and have begun aggressive lobbying to stop or downplay tougher privacy rules, claiming it would disrupt their business model, reduce profits and growth. The lobbying in Britain has been supported by countries worried that the new rules would hurt the economic recovery.

Merkel said she believes only a wider range of privacy protections will work. "We have strict regulations in Germany, but if Facebook is registered in Ireland, it is under Ireland's jurisdiction," she said, "so we need a common European agreement." She said she would meet with the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Justice on draft digital privacy rules, which would apply to the EU as a whole.

In fact, on January 25 last year, the European Commission issued a draft data protection framework code to make a comprehensive update on the "Personal Data Protection Directive 1995". The legislation in the draft requires companies to assume more responsibility for protecting users ' privacy, and violators will be fined 2% of annual revenue. The draft was met with many objections and attacks, with sources saying that lobbying by US companies hampered the progress of legislation.

Affect the German election?

European independent observers say the lessons of history have left Americans and Europeans in a different way of dealing with privacy, and that Americans who have experienced "events" will be the first to prevent terrorist attacks, and are relatively "tolerant" of issues such as privacy and government surveillance. Unlike Germans, the shadow of the Nazi regime's Gestapo has made Germans particularly sensitive to these issues. Until now, German privacy laws are the strictest within the EU.

EU Justice Commissioner Vivian Ann Redding expressed appreciation for Ms Merkel's speech, urging other European leaders to respond to Ms Merkel's call, hoping that Mrs Merkel's focus on the matter would create a political environment in which the proposals would soon be approved by the European Parliament. "Europe must unite on this issue, which is at the centre of European values," he said. Reading said the goal was to reach agreement on the issue at the EU level before the European parliamentary elections next spring.

The prism gate has added additional pressure to the face of the general election, and the opposition is trying to crack down on Ms Merkel's approval rating.

The opposition accused Merkel's government of being too deferential to the US over data privacy and government monitoring. Merkel, the biggest rival in the September election, said she had failed to honour her election promises and failed to fulfil her duty to protect the German people and their personal data. Even Philippe Albrecy, a German MP for the European Parliament that has been pushing the legislation, has questioned: "Is this part of the electoral strategy, or is there something really real?" "Albrecy that users must be aware of how their data will be used and must have the right to express consent or rejection."

remains a mystery

A former Russian Kremlin lawyer, Anatoli Cuzilina Anatoly Kucherena, said 16th that the US "PRISM" surveillance project, the whistle-blower Snowden, had applied for temporary refuge in Russia, AFP reported.

He said Snowden has submitted applications to the Russian government authorities. He had just met with Snowden earlier 16th.

At the same time, Russian President Vladimir Putin on the local time 15th to compare the Snowden to a "Christmas gift", and hinted that the "no way" of the "Prism Gate" protagonist is trying to meet the Russian asylum conditions proposed.

"Whenever there is a chance, he will go somewhere else." I hope he does. Mr Putin said so on Leningradskaya Obl. 's Grand Terre Island. This is the first time that Mr Putin has made a public comment on the 12th, when Snowden revived his hopes for political asylum in Russia.

"He went to our territory, and was uninvited. Russia is not its destination, he is only a transit tourist to other countries. But our American partners blocked his path. "Putin said the United States forced other countries to refuse the entry of Snowden, in fact, he was besieged in Russia."

12th, Snowden has filed for political asylum in Russia. "The first suggestion from Russia was that the premise was to stop all political activity and stop hurting the United States," he said. We do not want Snowden to damage our relationship with the United States. But he refused, saying that the United States had broken some of the rules of international law and interfered in private life, and he wanted to fight it. Putin also disclosed that, according to Snowden's latest action, he is changing his position. But the situation is not clear.