[…] As we reported over a year ago, Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding of the European Commission proposed a “comprehensive reform” to existing data protection law, which would regulate how online service companies are allowed to keep information on their customers. […]
“We are outraged, because we, the citizens, are now kept in hundreds of databases, mostly without our knowledge or consent,” the petition thunders. […] Signatories to the petition include groups like Bits of Freedom (Netherlands), Electronic Privacy and Information Center (USA), European Digital Rights, Privacy International (UK), the Chaos Computer Club (Germany), La Quadrature du Net (France), and well-known European activists, including Smári McCarthy (Iceland), and Max Schrems (Austria), whom Ars profiled last year. […]
“Nothing, not even ACTA, caused the US to lobby on this scale in Brussels,” said Joe McNamee, of European Digital Rights (EDRI), in an e-mail to Ars. “What is even more surprising is that demonstrably false arguments are sometimes being used, undermining the excellent reputation for professionalism that the US representatives have always had. This is damage that won’t easily be undone.” […]
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/01/proposed-eu-data-protection-reform-could-start-a-trade-war-us-official-says/