LONDON — Europe’s top court on Thursday struck down a trans-Atlantic agreement that allows scores of companies to move data between the European Union and the United States, causing uncertainty for businesses that rely on moving digital information seamlessly around the world.
The decision is the latest twist in a long-running campaign by privacy-rights activists in Europe who want to prevent companies from moving their personal information to countries with looser data protection rules. The efforts stem from revelations in 2013 by Edward Snowden, the former US intelligence contractor, about how US government surveillance programs collected electronic communications from private businesses.
Remember him?
The programs have only grown since his time.
The overall effect of the court’s decision was not immediately clear beyond creating a dizzying amount of new work for corporate legal departments. Few expect a sudden disruption for moving data between Europe and the United States. Before the decision was announced, European officials played down the potential fallout, saying plans were in place to ensure commerce would not be interrupted.
US and European officials will now try to negotiate a new deal for transferring digital information.
The court said some alternative data-transfer contracts struck between organizations were acceptable, though it cautioned that companies must be sure that a government outside Europe — in the United States or elsewhere — meets European privacy standards. Some companies may respond by storing more data inside the EU.
The Five Eyes collects it all, then shares it with each other to get around such laws.
The ruling affects Big Tech companies like Facebook and Google, as well as thousands of other multinational businesses. Lawyers said the data subject to transfer rules could include communications like emails and social media posts, financial records, business files, human resources materials about employees, marketing databases, and customer records.
Business groups have called for a grace period that would allow companies to find new legal mechanisms to continue moving data.
“This decision cuts off legal means to transfer personal data to the United States and will demand immediate attention by policymakers and US companies doing business in Europe,” said Caitlin Fennessy, research director at the International Association of Privacy Professionals, an industry group based in New Hampshire.
Seven years after Snowden disclosed the existence of the bulk surveillance programs, the case is an example of the lingering conflict between European privacy rights and US surveillance laws. In the EU, the protection of personal data is enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights, alongside civil rights like freedom of expression.
What conflict?
If you have one, you can't have the other.
You either have freedom and privacy or you don't, and the shot will remove any pretense at privacy.
The protections are further supported by the EU’s landmark privacy law enacted in 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation.
The case started when an Austrian data-protection campaigner, Max Schrems, filed a complaint against Facebook, arguing that his privacy rights were violated once his data was transferred to the United States, where it be would be vulnerable to American snooping. The case became a broader referendum on the validity of data-transfer agreements when information leaves the EU.
Wilbur Ross, the US secretary of commerce, said in a statement that the United States was “deeply disappointed” by the ruling, but that it would work with European officials to “limit the negative consequences to the $7.1 trillion trans-Atlantic economic relationship that is so vital to our respective citizens, companies and governments.”
Looks like a globali$t to me.
US representatives participated in arguments for the case last year, an unusual step that signaled its importance. They argued that government surveillance programs were narrowly targeted and provided sufficient data-access protections, and that European privacy rights could not dictate the national security policy of a foreign government.
That's what they call militari$m.
European officials expressed optimism about finding a solution.....
Oh, I'm sure.
This is a fake fight, after all.
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Related:
Travel restrictions on Americans erode a sense of passport privilege
Who is going anywhere?
"EU to meet face-to-face at summit to carve up $2.1 trillion" by Raf Casert Associated Press, July 16, 2020
BRUSSELS — There are limits to videoconferencing: When there is a lot of money at stake, people like to look each other in the eye.
(BARF)
As long as you are masked, right?
So on Friday, leaders from 27 European Union nations will be meeting face-to-face for the first since February — despite the dangers of the coronavirus pandemic — to try to carve up a potential package of 1.85 trillion euros ($2.1 trillion) among themselves, and, just as importantly, see who will pay in the most.
(Blog editor simply shakes his head at this globali$t heist)
In perhaps the first such major meeting of leaders since the COVID-19 outbreak hit the world, the stakes were just too high to maintain extreme social distancing.
EXCUSE ME?
“You can feel the mood, as it were,’’ Germany’s Europe minister, Michael Roth, said of such flesh-and-blood summits. “I wouldn’t claim to be a psychologist, but I would say it really does help.’’
Oooh.
Meanwhile, the citizens of their union are under increasing lockdowns and distancing rules.
French President Emmanuel Macron is already sweeping into town late Thursday, eager to get as many encounters in as possible. German Chancellor Angela Merkel plans to hold out until the official kickoff time early Friday.
Whatever happens, it will make for an EU summit unlike any other at the urn-shaped Europa headquarters.
For starters, the cozy meeting room on the top floor, where the leaders have clashed at close quarters over everything from Brexit to migration issues, will be exchanged for the prosaically-named meeting room EBS-5. There will be no group photo of the leaders like at last December’s summit because of social-distancing requirements.
They don't want to look like hypocrites to the on-the-ball European population.
Often, the toughest of summits have so-called confessionals where the president of the proceedings takes one or more leaders to the side to see where they might budge. Other leaders can gather in minisessions to defend common regional or financial interests.
It’s bound to happen again, but this time, every room which will be used at the summit center will be deep-cleaned. The main summit room will only use filtered, nonrecycled air.
As soon as their vehicles pull up into the driveway outside the Europa building, the leaders will immediately experience the difference, officials said. Most of their delegations will be split off immediately and parked in an adjacent building, and instead of a warren of microphones and cameras seeking early comment, they will have the option to make a comment to a neutral outlet, no questions asked.
A f**king dictators dream!
I'm sure the pre$$ will be wailing, right?
The already-Byzantine map of the building has been redrawn to avoid unexpected crowds, and certain elevators for the leaders will be limited to a maximum capacity of two.
Will make for an awkward fart.
At the start of a session, leaders will be urged to mask themselves and respect at least 1.5 meters of distance for the informal greetings, often a moment when body language gives away how tough a summit will be, yet if Monday’s trial run of foreign ministers was anything to go by, discipline was often lacking.
Should the worst happen and a leader suddenly shows symptoms, doctors will be on site once he or she is taken out of the room. A nation can’t put in a replacement, and it can only ask a friendly colleague to vote or speak in its place.
If there were justice, COVID would run through the place and fell them all.
So, even if it will be a true face-to-face meeting, it will be one laden with provisos.....
I'll bet it gets cancelled due to COVID.
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"Brexit is back: UK aims to prepare public for Jan 1 EU break" by Danica Kirka and Jill Lawless Associated Press, July 13, 2020
LONDON — The British government told individuals and businesses Monday to get ready for new costs and red tape — but also an exciting “new start” — when the UK leaves the European Union’s economic embrace in less than six months.
They will just be getting back to normal, according to that fool BoJo.
The government unveiled details of new border arrangements and a major public information campaign to remind Britons that Brexit has not gone away, even though it has been knocked out of the headlines by the coronavirus pandemic.
Advertisements under the “The UK’s new start: let’s get going” campaign will warn British tourists that starting Jan. 1 they’ll need to buy health insurance, arrange paperwork for their pets, and check their telephone provider’s roaming policy when they travel to the EU.
Where else can I go?
Companies that do business with the 27-nation bloc — which accounts for about half of Britain’s trade — will have to fill in customs declarations and potentially pay tariffs, depending on the outcome of talks about a post-Brexit free-trade deal.
The British government has softened the blow for importers by saying they would not have to complete full customs declarations or pay tariffs for the first six months of next year.
Even with a deal, the UK will need a vast new customs and border infrastructure to deal with trade that has flowed unimpeded during the UK’s 47 years as a member of the European bloc. The government announced Monday that it plans to spend $890 million on new border posts, computer systems, and personnel.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government says the burdens of Brexit will be offset by new economic opportunities as the UK strikes fresh trade deals around the world, but negotiations have bogged down amid wide differences on major issues including fishing rights and competition. Even with a deal, the UK faces new barriers to business with the EU. Without one, it faces an abrupt, disruptive departure that would hammer many businesses, and with the UK economy already hammered by COVID-19.
These guys are acting like trade will be going back to prior levels and as if COVID never happened.
WTF?
One major change will be the end of Britons’ freedom to live and work anywhere in the EU, and of Europeans’ right to settle in the UK.
Already happened.
More than 3 million EU citizens currently living in the UK are entitled to stay, but from Jan. 1, 2021, new immigration rules will apply to EU and non-EU citizens alike.
Britain is introducing a “points based” immigration system that will assess prospective immigrants on criteria including English-language ability, having a job offer from an approved employer, and meeting a minimum salary threshold.
The system is designed to cut the number of low-skilled migrants entering Britain from the beginning of next year, but also aims to make it easier for higher-skilled workers to get UK visas.
Johnson said it would be “a humane and sensible system” that allows the UK to attract the best talent from around the globe.
Uh-huh.
“Although of course we are going to be taking back control and we are controlling our immigration system we’re not going to be simply slamming the gates and stopping anybody anywhere coming into this country,’’ he said.
Home Secretary Priti Patel announced new details of the system on Monday, including a special fast-track visa for health care workers.
Hundreds of thousands of people who work in Britain’s publicly funded National Health Service come from abroad, and many in the sector fear post-Brexit staff shortages.
The government said social care workers will not be eligible for the special health care visa. Johnson’s spokesman, James Slack, said “immigration is not the sole answer here’’ and that care homes should “invest more in training and development” to recruit more staff.
Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, accused the government of treating social care workers “as second-class citizens.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan, a member of the main opposition Labour Party, accused the government of “pulling up the drawbridge to much of the talent we continue to need as a city and a country.’’
“Rushing through these proposals during the middle of a global pandemic is particularly irresponsible,” he said.
The new border rules announced Monday do not apply to trade between the EU and Northern Ireland, the only part of the UK that shares a land border with the bloc. Britain and the EU have agreed that Northern Ireland’s currently invisible border with the Republic of Ireland must be kept free of customs posts and other obstacles to the movement of people and goods to maintain peace on the Emerald Isle.
The UK has promised to set out exactly how it will do that later this month.....
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{@@##$$%%^^&&}
Let's say we exit jolly old England and move on to her former empire:
"South Africa on Tuesday surpassed Britain in its number of confirmed coronavirus cases as the country’s president warns of ‘‘the gravest crisis in the history of our democracy.” South Africa now has the world’s eighth-highest number of cases at 298,292, which represents nearly half of all the confirmed cases on the African continent, according to a Health Ministry statement and data compiled by Johns Hopkins University researchers, which showed the UK with 292,931 confirmed cases. The pandemic is now spreading swiftly in parts of the African continent of 1.3 billion people as the world’s most poorly funded health systems begin to face what specialists have warned all along: They would be rapidly overwhelmed. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa this week said many more virus infections have gone undetected despite the country conducting more than 2.2 million tests, by far the most of any African nation."
All that takes place after South Africans burned their masks and told Bill Gates to f**k off.
"Central African Republic’s health minister is blasting the “big inequality crisis” in coronavirus testing as he sees rich countries like Britain conduct scores of thousands of tests daily while his own struggles to obtain supplies for a couple hundred at most. Pierre Somse told a World Health Organization briefing Thursday that “we are in a scarcity, a misery of tests’’ — a blunt assessment of the scrambling by African nations and rising fears as the pandemic’s first wave hits the continent of 1.3 billion people. The minister said his country of more than 4 million people is still waiting for testing supplies ordered via the WHO. Central African Republic has more than 4,300 confirmed virus cases — a small fraction of the more than 645,000 across Africa — but the true number is unknown. Confirmed virus cases across Africa have jumped by 23 percent in the past week, and South Africa makes up more than half of them. South Africa on Thursday night surpassed Mexico and Chile with 324,221 cases and now has the world’s sixth-highest reported caseload."
Believe me, you don't want the tests and you should to talk to the president of Tanzania about it, and Africa is going to be clobbered by what is coming up.
BLM, WhereTF are you when needed?
"Israel’s prime minister said Thursday he is meeting with senior officials to discuss “interim steps” to try and contain a coronavirus surge without having the country return to a general lockdown as the number of new cases reaches record levels. Large demonstrations have erupted in recent days over Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the pandemic. Adding to his troubles, a new economic bailout plan announced by the premier came under criticism from some of the government’s top economic specialists. Netanyahu garnered widespread praise after Israel appeared to have largely contained its outbreak by late May, following a two-month lockdown, but within weeks of most restrictions being lifted, the number of new cases began to soar, marking a dramatic turnaround for the leader. The Health Ministry on Thursday reported 1,898 new cases of the virus. The country has registered more than 44,500 total cases. At least 380 Israelis have died of COVID-19."
This comes after the Israeli Knesset basically voted itself out of existence.
What is the death rate over there anyway?
What is 380 divided by 6 million, and is it worthy of a tyrannical lockdown?
Me and the Orthodox Jew actually have something in common!
"Israel has reimposed sweeping restrictions in response to a new surge in coronavirus cases, including weekend closures of many businesses and the limiting of all restaurants to takeout and delivery. The government announced the restrictions early Friday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “interim steps” were needed to avoid another general lockdown. All gyms and exercise studios will be closed except for use by competitive athletes. Restaurants will no longer be allowed to have on-site seating and beaches will be closed on weekends beginning later this month. Stores, malls, barber shops, beauty salons, and tourist sites will also be closed on weekends. Public gatherings will be limited to 10 people indoors or 20 outside. By late May, Israel had largely contained its outbreak following a two-month lockdown, but cases have soared in the weeks since restrictions were lifted, with Israel reporting around 1,900 new cases on Thursday alone. At least 384 people have died since the outbreak began."
Before the weekend(?) you may want to head east:
"Pakistani authorities are banning open-air livestock markets in cities for the upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, or “Feast of Sacrifice,” to contain the spread of the coronavirus; however, people will be allowed to buy and sell sacrificial animals at the designated 700 markets, which will be set up on the outskirts of cities across the country. Monday’s move comes as Pakistan reported 69 more COVID-19 deaths, taking total fatalities to 5,266. Pakistan now has 251,625 confirmed cases, and the decision to ban open-air cattle markets within the cities was announced at a meeting of National Command and Control Center, which supervises the country’s response to the virus. Eid-al Adha will be celebrated in Pakistan on July 31, subject to the sighting of the moon. During the three-day holiday, Muslims across the world slaughter livestock and distribute part of the meat to the poor."
Time to cross the border:
"India’s coronavirus cases jumped by another 28,000 on Tuesday and are fast approaching 1 million. The 28,498 cases reported in the past 24 hours took the national total to 906,752. Cases have jumped by 100,000 in four days. The Health Ministry also reported another 553 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking total fatalities up to 23,727. India has largely lifted its nationwide lockdown, and the virus has been spreading at a significant rate, prompting several big cities to reimpose partial lockdowns. India is the third-worst affected country in terms of infections, behind the United States and Brazil."
"As India’s confirmed coronavirus cases approach 1 million, lockdowns are being reimposed in parts of the country as local governments try to shield the health system from being overwhelmed. India on Wednesday reported nearly 30,000 new cases and 582 more deaths, raising its totals to more than 936,000 cases and 24,000 fatalities. A two-week lockdown that starts Thursday has been imposed in Bihar, an eastern state with a population of 128 million and a fragile health system. Since Saturday, Bihar has recorded more than 1,000 cases a day despite limited testing."
I've seen this script before, like four months ago.
"India hit a milestone Friday morning that it had made great sacrifices to avoid: recording more than 1 million coronavirus infections. The virus has been gnawing its way across this country of 1.3 billion people and gaining speed, fueled by high population density, an already beleaguered health care system and a calculation by the central government to lift a nationwide lockdown in hopes of getting the economy up and running, come what may, but as India’s number of confirmed new infections keeps hitting record highs, many states and cities have been locking down again. In some areas, long lines of bodies snake out of cremation grounds. India is racking up about 30,000 new reported infections each day — more than any other country except the United States and Brazil, and it is catching up to Brazil. India now has the third-highest total cases — 1,003,832 cases and 25,602 deaths — after the United States and Brazil. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology estimate that by the end of next year, India will be the worst-hit country in the world. “We have paid a price for laxity,” said K. Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health Foundation of India, a nonprofit organization of public health experts and academics. About 25,000 deaths have been officially attributed to COVID-19, but testing remains sparse, so the real figure could be significantly higher."
The largest populations will receive the bigger culls.
"Bangladeshi authorities have arrested the owner of a hospital who they said had sold migrant workers thousands of certificates showing a negative result on coronavirus tests, when in fact many tests were never performed. Authorities said they caught the hospital owner Wednesday trying to sneak across the border into India disguised as a woman. Police officers said that when they arrested the owner — a man they identified as Mohammad Shahed, with a long criminal record — he was wearing a black burqa that covered him head to toe. Over the past week and a half, Bangladeshi investigators pieced together what happened: Shahed’s hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital, had been selling fake coronavirus certificates — thousands of them, at $59 apiece — indicating that a patient had tested negative, authorities said. There is a huge market for these certificates among migrant workers from Bangladesh hungry to get back to work in Europe. Many Bangladeshi workers have recently flown to Italy, where they said that employers required such certificates before allowing them to go back to work."
Better than getting a false positive like the test here.
Time to go down under:
"Australia’s Queensland state is toughening the punishment for those who break coronavirus quarantine rules. Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles said the current fines for breaking a mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine for some visitors or lying about their whereabouts may not be a sufficient penalty. The maximum penalty will now be a higher fine or up to six months’ imprisonment. Queensland reopened its borders to all but Victoria state residents two weeks ago. Victoria is the center of Australia’s recent outbreak, adding 270 new infections overnight to its more than 4,000 cases. The Victorian city of Melbourne is under a six-week lockdown."
So much for tourism there.
Australia wants Google and Facebook to share revenue with news publishers
They have $ome nerve, mate!
"Apple won a major legal victory Wednesday against European antitrust regulators as a European court overruled a 2016 decision that ordered the company to pay $14.9 billion in unpaid taxes to Ireland. The decision, which can be appealed to the European Union’s top court, is a setback for the region’s efforts to clamp down on what the authorities there believe is anti-competitive behavior by the world’s largest technology companies. Google and Amazon have other court appeals pending as they seek to overturn decisions that they broke European competition laws......"
There are higher authorities and you ju$t $aw them in action.
{@@##$$%%^^&&}
Back in the E.U.S.S.R:
"Countries around the world are reimposing lockdowns and implementing new health checks at their borders in an effort to curb a resurgence of the coronavirus before it spins even further out of control. Starting Wednesday, all travelers arriving in Greece from a land border with Bulgaria were required to carry negative coronavirus test results issued in the previous 72 hours. The new rules, which follow an increase in tourism-related COVID-19 cases, triggered an immediate drop in arrivals compared with recent days. Romania, citing the rising number of infections, announced a 30-day extension for a nationwide state of alert. Measures include mandatory face masks on public transportation and in shops, while restaurants may only serve customers in outdoor locations. Residents of Australia’s second-largest city, Melbourne, were warned on Wednesday to comply with lockdown regulations or face tougher restrictions. Melbourne’s 5 million people and part of the city’s semirural surroundings are a week into a new, six-week lockdown to contain a new outbreak there. In Serbia, which has been hit hard by a spike in infections and antigovernment protests, a government crisis team expanded a ban on gatherings of more than 10 people from Belgrade to encompass the entire country. Masks were also made mandatory in many public spaces. Renewed restrictions also took effect in Hong Kong, with public gatherings limited to four people, restaurants restricted to takeout after 6 p.m., and a one-week closure for gyms, karaoke bars, and selected other businesses. Masks were mandated on public transit for the first time, with the noncompliant being fined. The developments come with more than 13 million cases of coronavirus cases confirmed worldwide, and with 578,000 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University."
The Serbs meekly accepted that this time?
Only one sanctuary left in Europe:
"After tight race for Polish president, Andrzej Duda wins second term" by Monika Pronczuk and Marc Santora New York Times, July 13, 2020
WARSAW — President Andrzej Duda of Poland was narrowly elected to a second term after the votes were counted Monday following the country’s closest presidential election since the end of communist rule in 1989, clearing a potential obstacle for the conservative nationalist government.
He must have really won by double digits because they couldn't steal it from him.
Duda and the governing party have fought to control the courts and media, while stoking fear of gay people, the European Union, and foreigners. For many in the opposition, the race was not only a contest between competing visions for Poland, but also a last chance to save institutions that form the bedrock of a healthy democracy.
While the tight vote underscored the extent to which the deep divisions in Poland have only intensified after five years governed by the Law and Justice party, there was no suggestion the government would now change course.
Duda’s promise to protect “traditional families” resonated with older voters and churchgoers, especially in the eastern half of the country, helping him fend off a fierce challenge from Rafal Trzaskowski, the liberal mayor of Warsaw.
The opposition was fueled by support from young people around the country, securing a majority of votes from people under 50, and turnout was among the highest since the country turned away from communism.
Poland’s major cities, from Gdansk in the north to Krakow in the south, were bastions of resistance, but the governing party rallied its faithful in rural communities, many left behind in the rapid transition from communism to capitalism.
Trzaskowski conceded defeat Monday afternoon after the country’s electoral commission said that with 99.9 percent of the vote counted, Duda had secured 51.21 percent of the vote. Trzaskowski won 48.79 percent.
Writing on Twitter, Trzaskowski thanked the roughly 10 million people who voted for him, but conceded the contest. It was a bitter defeat for opponents of the government.
With the next parliamentary elections not scheduled until 2023, Duda’s reelection ensured that the governing party, which also controls the parliament, will be able to continue to reshape the nation in ways that critics contend undermine open political debate and the rule of law, and put it at odds with the European Union, which has accused Poland of damaging democratic values and institutions.
Time for the Poles to Polexit like the Brits.
They used to be allies, you know.
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