(German) Telecoms Boss: US 'Should Abide by European Privacy Rules'

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http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/deutsche-telekom-ceo-calls-for-eu-to-set-international-privacy-standard-a-938003.html



The head of German Internet giant Deutsche Telekom has criticized European reaction to the NSA spying scandal and demanded the EU set international privacy standards. US technology players also published an open letter calling for major changes to spying laws.

Telecoms Boss: US 'Should Abide by European Privacy Rules'
December 09, 2013 – 03:24 PM

The head of German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom has called for Europe to do more to protect privacy and combat international spying. Rene Obermann's words come as eight of the world's largest technology companies appealed to President Barack Obama and the US Congress to enact sweeping changes to spying laws and put a stop to mass collection of data.

Obermann, who became chairman of the Deutsche Telekom board in 2006, told German business daily Handelsblatt that politicians in the European Union are not doing enough in response to the spying scandal uncovered by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden earlier this year. The documents from his archive include allegations that the NSA and the British intelligence agency GCHQ hacked into internal connections between data centers belonging to Google and Yahoo, while millions of pieces of data were gathered. It was also revealed that the NSA was keeping track of mobile phones across the world -- and had even eavesdropped on German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Obermann pulled no punches in criticizing the data gathering carried out by intelligence agencies in the US and beyond, and said: "I was angered most of all because confidence in two pillars of our society, free communication and privacy, has been shaken to such an extent. I think what is happening is in the long term even dangerous to democracy."

What is needed, Obermann said, is for the European Commission to fundamentally alter the relationship between Europe and the US, or at least its footing. For example, he called for a renegotiation of the Safe Harbor agreement allowing American companies doing business in the EU to transfer personal data like birthplace, telephone numbers and email addresses back to the US. "It's negligent that so little is happening here," he said.