Surveillance, privacy and security: Europe’s confused response to Snowden

The reaction to the recent Paris attacks has shown that digital communications are at the centre of debates about security and human rights. There have been calls to give European governments greater surveillance powers against terrorism, but any policy decisions must also address unresolved questions about the legitimacy and democratic oversight of large-scale data collection. The EU’s lack of clarity and consensus on the subject of surveillance has been displayed in its reaction to Edward Snowden’s revelations about data-gathering by the US and other states, a new ECFR policy memo argues.
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