5 ms·

This will hopefully signal a trend of newspapers other than The Guardian standing up against privacy issues (I've no doubt it's already happening outside the UK

This will hopefully signal a trend of newspapers other than The Guardian standing up against privacy issues (I've no doubt it's already happening outside the UK, but there's a language barrier for me in reading them). In the UK we're pretty much stuffed: most of our papers are owned by powerful people (i.e. Rupert Murdoch) who pretty much control who stays in power, and they're likely avoiding talking about it so as to gain favours later on. As far as I've seen all the other papers are either ignoring the NSA/GCHQ story or actively attacking The Guardian. I've no doubt that the government will completely ignore this message, but I'm really grateful to see the issue being raised outside the UK. I'm starting to wonder if our only way out of this mess is via EU intervention. The tories and their supporters will cry foul, but the EU is supposed to stand for a lot of freedoms and it'd be nice to see it being enforced. Whether the EU as an entity would stand up to the USA though, remains to be seen.

jacquesm 13y ago
Most EU governments have lots of egg on their face. I don't think the EU as a whole will do anything. Maybe a couple of individual states but the EU as a whole? It would surprise me. They should, after all there is the EU DPD which is violated in just about every way imaginable here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Protection_Directive http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Protection_Directive But I don't think it'll happen.
- 14113 13y ago
  The germans are the economic titans of the EU, and from the coverage I've seen the population (both young and old) have seemed pretty outraged by the NSA stuff. I don't think this'll translate into EU policy, or even German policy very quickly, but I do think it'll turn into a lot more support for more liberal parties, and more anti-American parties, which could swing Germany, and possibly the EU.
  - c1sc0 13y ago
    Don't forget that it's election season over here in Germany. Privacy is a talking point that resonates well with the population given Germany's not-so-distant past. It's good to see it on the table, but I'm very skeptical anything will come of it post-election ...

jacquesm 13y ago

Most EU governments have lots of egg on their face. I don't think the EU as a whole will do anything. Maybe a couple of individual states but the EU as a whole? It would surprise me. They should, after all there is the EU DPD which is violated in just about every way imaginable here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Protection_Directive http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Protection_Directive But I don't think it'll happen.

14113 13y ago
The germans are the economic titans of the EU, and from the coverage I've seen the population (both young and old) have seemed pretty outraged by the NSA stuff. I don't think this'll translate into EU policy, or even German policy very quickly, but I do think it'll turn into a lot more support for more liberal parties, and more anti-American parties, which could swing Germany, and possibly the EU.
- c1sc0 13y ago
  Don't forget that it's election season over here in Germany. Privacy is a talking point that resonates well with the population given Germany's not-so-distant past. It's good to see it on the table, but I'm very skeptical anything will come of it post-election ...