US embassy cable - 03ROME1528

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 001528 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE PASS USTR 
STATE PASS FTC 
DEPT ALSO FOR EUR/WE, EUR/ERA, EB/CIP 
USDOC 4212/ITA/MAC/OEURA/CPD/DDEFALCO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECPS, ETRD, ETRD, IT, EUN, ITECPS, EUN 
SUBJECT: HEAD OF ITALIAN PRIVACY AUTHORITY CRITICAL OF 
PNR AGREEMENT AND CONCERNED ABOUT SAFE HARBOR APPLICATION 
 
 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
PAGE 02        ROME  01528  01 OF 02  100607Z 
THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  PLEASE PROTECT 
ACCORDINGLY.  NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. 
 
1. (U) THIS CABLE CONTAINS AN ACTION REQUEST - SEE 
PARAGRAPH 7. 
 
2. (SBU) SUMMARY: DURING A MARCH 26 CONFERENCE HOSTED BY 
THE ITALIAN PRIVACY AUTHORITY, CHAIRMAN STEFANO RODOTA 
AND SECRETARY GENERAL GIOVANNI BUTTARELLI EXPRESSED 
SERIOUS CONCERN REGARDING CONTINUED U.S.-EU DIVERGENCE IN 
PRIVACY PROTECTION. PASSENGER NAME RECORD (PNR) AND SAFE 
HARBOR WERE SINGLED OUT AS MATTERS OF PARTICULAR CONCERN. 
RODOTA AND BUTTARELLI ALSO CRITICIZED THE EU COMMISSION 
FOR APPROVING THE PNR AGREEMENT WITHOUT ADEQUATE 
CONSULTATION WITH EU PRIVACY AUTHORITIES AND POLITICAL 
LEVEL OFFICIALS.  IN A SEPARATE PRIVATE CONVERSATION WITH 
ECON, SECRETARY GENERAL BUTTARELLI ALSO EXPRESSED HIS 
DISAPPOINTMENT REGARDING THE PERCEIVED LACK OF FOLLOW-UP 
BY THE USG TO A MARCH 2002 EU PRIVACY VISIT (LED BY 
ITALY) TO THE U.S.  END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
EU-U.S. AT ODDS ON PRIVACY PROTECTION AFTER SEPTEMBER 11 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
3. (SBU) AT A MARCH 26 CONFERENCE HOSTED BY THE ITALIAN 
PRIVACY AUTHORITY, CHAIRMAN STEFANO RODOTA (WHO ALSO 
HEADS THE EU ARTICLE 29 PRIVACY AUTHORITIES' WORKING 
GROUP) UNDERSCORED THAT TRADITIONALLY THE EU AND THE U.S. 
HAVE TAKEN A DIFFERENT APPROACHES TOWARDS PRIVACY 
PROTECTION.  HOWEVER, FOLLOWING SEPTEMBER 11TH, U.S. 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
PAGE 03        ROME  01528  01 OF 02  100607Z 
"DEMANDS" TO ACCESS PERSONAL INFORMATION, "ALTHOUGH BASED 
ON UNDERSTANDABLE SECURITY CONCERNS", ARE NOW AT COMPLETE 
ODDS WITH ROOTED EU PRIVACY BELIEFS, HE ARGUED.  HE USED 
PNR AS THE CASE STUDY EXAMPLE IN WHICH U.S. AND EU 
POSITIONS DIVERGE COMPLETELY.  RODOTA BELIEVES THE PNR 
AGREEMENT NEEDS A THOROUGH REVIEW, AND EXPRESSED HOPE 
THAT A COMPROMISE SOLUTION MIGHT BE FOUND ON PNR IN ORDER 
TO AVOID A U.S.-EU "PRIVACY CRISIS." 
 
-------------------------------- 
COMMISSION LACKS PRIVACY CULTURE 
------------------------------- 
 
4. (SBU) RODOTA AND BUTTARELLI WERE ALSO CRITICAL OF THE 
EU "BUREAUCRATS" WHO SIGNED THE ORIGINAL PNR AGREEMENT 
WITH THE U.S. RODOTA MAINTAINED THAT SUCH "BUREAUCRATS" 
STILL DO NOT APPRECIATE PRIVACY CONCERNS SUFFICIENTLY. 
BUTTARELLI SEPARATELY TOLD US THAT COMMISSION OFFICIALS 
PROCEEDED WITHOUT ADEQUATE CONSULTATIONS WITH PRIVACY 
AUTHORITIES, NOR DID THEY COORDINATE AT THE POLITICAL 
LEVEL. HE INDICATED THAT EU COMMISSION OFFICIALS MADE A 
HUGE MISTAKE.  "SOME OF THOSE RESPONSIBLE HAVE ALREADY 
BEEN REASSIGNED," HE SAID, SINCE THE AGREEMENT VIOLATES 
NATIONAL PRIVACY LAWS AND IS ILLEGAL AND INAPPLICABLE. 
PROOF, PER BUTTARELLI, IS THE RECENT OVERWHELMING 
MAJORITY VOTE IN THE EU PARLIAMENT CALLING FOR REVISION 
OF THE PNR AGREEMENT. "WE ARE NEGOTIATING NOW WHAT SHOULD 
HAVE BEEN NEGOTIATED SIX MONTHS AGO" BUTTARELLI SAID. 
 
------------------------------------ 
SAFE HARBOR - "WE WANT INFORMATION" 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
PAGE 04        ROME  01528  01 OF 02  100607Z 
------------------------------------ 
 
5. (SBU) REGARDING SAFE HARBOR, WHILE EXPRESSING SOME 
SATISFACTION WITH HOW IT IS FUNCTIONING, RODOTA AND 
BUTTARELLI ALSO ARGUED THAT SAFE HARBOR NEEDS TO BE 
COMPLEMENTED BY CONTRACTUAL PROTECTION AGREEMENTS. RODOTA 
INDICATED THAT THE UPCOMING SAFE HARBOR REVIEW WILL BE 
KEY IN ASSESSING ITS SUCCESS AND CONTINUATION. 
 
6. (SBU) IN OUR SEPARATE CONVERSATION, BUTTARELLI ALSO 
EXPRESSED HIS DISAPPOINTMENT REGARDING LACK OF FOLLOW-UP 
TO A MARCH 2002 RODOTA-LED EU PRIVACY DELEGATION TO THE 
U.S.  HE DESCRIBED THE VISIT AS VERY PROMISING AND NOTED 
THAT OPEN DIALOGUE HAD BEEN ESTABLISHED.  HOWEVER, 
ACCORDING TO BUTTARELLI, NOTWITHSTANDING TWO LETTERS SENT 
BY RODOTA (ONE IN JULY 2002 AND A SECOND IN EARLY 2003) 
REQUESTING FOLLOW-UP INFORMATION, U.S. AGENCIES SUCH AS 
FTC, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, DEPARTMENT OF 
COMMERCE, AND PRIVATE BB-ONLINE HAVE YET TO RESPOND. 
 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
                           UNCLASSIFIED     PTQ3478 
 
PAGE 01        ROME  01528  02 OF 02  100607Z 
ACTION EUR-00 
 
INFO  LOG-00   CIP-00   EB-00    UTED-00  FTC-01   TEDE-00  STR-00 
      TEST-00  USPS-01  SAS-00     /002W 
                  ------------------53665A  100608Z /32 
R 100540Z APR 03 
FM AMEMBASSY ROME 
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 9190 
INFO DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC 
DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHDC 
EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE 
AMCONSUL MILAN 
AMCONSUL FLORENCE 
AMCONSUL NAPLES 
 
UNCLAS SECTION 02 OF 02 ROME 001528 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE PASS USTR 
STATE PASS FTC 
DEPT ALSO FOR EUR/WE, EUR/ERA, EB/CIP 
USDOC 4212/ITA/MAC/OEURA/CPD/DDEFALCO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECPS, ETRD, EUN, IT 
SUBJECT: HEAD OF ITALIAN PRIVACY AUTHORITY CRITICAL OF 
PNR AGREEMENT AND CONCERNED ABOUT SAFE HARBOR APPLICATION 
 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
PAGE 02        ROME  01528  02 OF 02  100607Z 
BUTTARELLI MAINTAINS THAT SUCH FOLLOW-UP INFORMATION IS 
KEY TO THE ASSESSMENT AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE SAFE HARBOR 
AGREEMENT. WHILE ACKNOWLEDGING THAT MORE AND MORE 
COMPANIES ARE ADHERING TO SAFE HARBOR, BUTTARELLI SEES 
THIS SYSTEM AS STILL THIN AND NEEDING 
IMPROVEMENT/REVISION.  HE INDICATED THAT COMMERCE UNDER 
SECRETARY GRANT ALDONAS HAS PROPOSED A VIDEO CONFERENCE 
 
SIPDIS 
IN MAY BUT, THAT WHILE THIS IS WELCOME, HE VIEWS IT AS 
INSUFFICIENT.  BUTTARELLI ALSO UNDERSCORED RODOTA'S 
PERSONAL DISAPPOINTMENT THAT THE LETTERS HE HAD SIGNED 
PERSONALLY HAD RECEIVED NO RESPONSE. 
 
7. (SBU) ACTION REQUESTED: WE WOULD APPRECIATE DEPARTMENT 
UPDATING EMBASSY REGARDING REVIEW AND POSSIBLE RESPONSE 
TO RODOTA'S LETTERS.  RODOTA IS HIGHLY INFLUENTIAL WITHIN 
THE GOI AND AMONG PRIVACY OFFICIALS EU-WIDE.  HE IS ALSO 
A CLOSE CONTACT OF THE EMBASSY.  RODOTA IS EXPECTED TO 
PLAY AN INFLUENTIAL ROLE ON PRIVACY-RELATED ISSUES DURING 
ITALY'S UPCOMING EU PRESIDENCY. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
EU "WHITE LIST" GROWING BUT SOME CONCERN IN-HOUSE 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
8. (SBU) RODOTA AND BUTTARELLI EXPRESSED SATISFACTION 
THAT THE COUNTRIES ON THE EU'S PRIVACY WHITE LIST (I.E., 
THOSE COUNTRIES WHICH ARE MOVING TOWARDS A EUROPEAN 
STANDARD OF REGULATED PRIVACY PROTECTION) IS RAPIDLY 
EXPANDING "TO ALSO INCLUDE CANADA AND SOME AFRICAN 
STATES."  ON THE OTHER HAND, SOME CONCERN EXISTS WITH THE 
"SOMEWHAT LESS THAN SATISFACTORY" COORDINATION/ATTENTION 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
PAGE 03        ROME  01528  02 OF 02  100607Z 
WITHIN THE EU AND WITH THE EU COMMISSION ON PRIVACY 
ISSUES.  NATIONAL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EU PRIVACY 
DIRECTIVE VARIES CONSIDERABLY AMONG MEMBER STATES.  SOME 
NATIONAL LAWS, RODOTA ARGUED, ARE TOO PERMISSIVE AND 
POTENTIALLY COULD DRIVE EU PRIVACY PROTECTION STANDARDS 
DOWNWARDS. (NOTE: THE LATTER POINT REGARDING PRIVACY 
COORDINATION AND PROTECTION LEVELS AMONG MEMBER STATES 
WAS LARGELY PLAYED DOWN BY BUTTARELLI IN OUR PRIVATE 
CONVERSATION.  HOWEVER, HE DID CONFIRM THAT PRIVACY LAWS 
VARY - AND WITH THEM LEVELS OF PRIVACY PROTECTION - AMONG 
EU COUNTRIES). 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
9. (SBU) WHILE ITALIAN PRIVACY COMMISSION AUTHORITIES 
HAVE FREQUENTLY CRITICIZED U.S. STANDARDS OF PRIVACY 
PROTECTION, THEIR DIRECT CRITICISM OF EU COMMISSION 
"BUREAUCRATS" WHO DO NOT HAVE A "PRIVACY CULTURE" IS 
UNUSUAL. THEY CLEARLY VIEW THE DIFFERENT APPROACH TAKEN 
BY MEMBER STATES REGARDING PRIVACY PROTECTION AS A THREAT 
TO THE HIGH LEVEL OF PRIVACY PROTECTION TO WHICH RODOTA 
AND BUTTARELLI ASPIRE.  WE CAN EXPECT THAT THE PRIVACY 
COMMISSION WILL TRY TO USE ITALY'S UPCOMING EU PRESIDENCY 
TO PRESS OTHER MEMBER STATES TO GET ON BOARD WITH THE 
HIGHEST LEVELS OF PRIVACY PROTECTION. 
 
SEMBLER 
 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
PAGE 04        ROME  01528  02 OF 02  100607Z 
 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
> 
 2003ROME01528 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED