Privacy concerns are always a hot topic when it comes to the Internet and your government. If you live in the EU, your privacy is about to be imposed upon further if the EU gets its way. If Declartion 29 gets passed it will give the EU authority to monitor your searches to help stem child pornography.
According to Slashdot, “the substance of the declaration is to extend the EU data retention directive to search engines, so that all searches done on for example Google will be monitored”. If passed, all search data will be monitored and reviewed in hopes of stopping child pornography. While the intention is not unreasonable, the idea of retaining search data could lead to detrimental results if the information were leaked.
Unlike Google, who tracks your behavior anonymously, Declaration 29 would allow authorities to track back search results to the user. While tracking for child pornography is good, what will the discretion level be for other potential illegal activities? If the Police find this as a plausible means to arrest criminals, will searches for other illegal activities now be reviewed or will the EU implement filtering like China?
When a government acquires information from private firms who are only looking for illegal activities but not investigating them, users are facing an invasion of privacy. If you are concerned about this invasion, it is recommended that you e-mail to the MEPs for your country and explain your concern.
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