26. August 2022
In July 2022, after an investigation related to a data breach was carried out by the Danish Data Protection Authority (Datailsynet), Google Chromebooks and Google Workspace were banned in schools in the municipality of Helsingor. The DPA ruled that the risk assessment carried out by city officials shows that the processing of personal data by Google does not meet GDPR requirements. In particular, data transfers have been targeted by the Authority: the Data Processing Agreement allows data transfer to third countries for analytical and statistical support, though the data are primarily stored in Google’s European facilities.
This decision comes in a moment of tension in the world of personal data between Europe and the United States of America: other notorious cases (some still ongoing) are the case of the Irish Data Protection Authority vs. Facebook (now part of Meta Inc.), and the case of the German Federal Cartel Office vs. Facebook. European watchdogs have found that in many cases the American tech giants’ policies do not meet the requirements established by the GDPR. This could be traced back to a lack of legal framework in the field of privacy and personal data protection in the United States, were these companies are based.
This decision was taken in the aftermath of the Schrems II ruling by the European Court of Justice, which stated that the pre-existing agreement on data transfers between Europe and the US (so-called Privacy Shield)was not compatible with the GDPR. A new deal is on the table, but not yet approved nor effective.
Google is becoming the target of various investigations by European data watchdogs, above all because of its tool Google Analytics. In January the Austrian Data Protection Authority published an opinion in which it stated that companies using Google Analytics inadvertently transferred customers’ personal data such as IP addresses to the United States, in breach of the GDPR. Italy’s Garante per la Protezione dei Dati Personali published a similar opinion a few weeks later, stating that “the current methods adopted by Google do not guarantee an adequate level of protection of personal data”.
18. June 2021
It has been known for years that the US National Security Agency (NSA) had been targeting leading politicians. But now new details of the spying operation are coming to light. Several European media investigated the case and found out that the NSA had been using Danish underwater internet cables from 2012 to 2014 to eavesdrop on leading European politicians. It was only through the research that the members of the governments learned of the spying. With regard to this, questions arose, whether Denmark was involved and knew about the operation. Now various European countries demand answers to the allegations.
The media reports revealed that the Danish Defence Intelligence Service (DDIS) had helped the NSA to wiretap European politicians (in German) by allowing the NSA to use the secret Sandagergårdan listening post near Copenhagen. An important internet hub for various underwater cables was then tapped there. The NSA apparently got access to text messages, telephone calls and internet traffic including searches, chats and messaging services.
Following the revelations by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and a subsequent investigation by a secret internal working group at DDIS, the Danish-US cooperation in the surveillance of European neighboring countries was documented in an internal report of DDIS in 2015. However, the findings have not been disclosed until today. Nevertheless, the Danish government has probably known about the spying operation since 2015 at the latest. More than that, the surveillance apparently also targeted Denmark itself (in German), including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance.
Danish Defence Minister Trine Bramsen was informed about the spying in August 2020. In the wake of that, some DDIS employees were fired, without a full explanation being released. The government said at the time that an audit had raised suspicions of illegal surveillance by DDIS. In October 2020, the Danish Ministry of Justice ordered a commission of inquiry into the operations at DDIS. Its conclusions are due at the end of 2021.
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, being among those affected by the espionage, made clear that such tactics were not acceptable between allies. Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Swedish Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist agreed with the statements. While emphasizing the value of relations between Europeans and Americans, they insisted on explaining the case by the two accused countries. Neither of the intelligence services would comment on the allegations. The Danish Defence Minister only stated in general terms that systematic wiretapping of close allies was unacceptable.