As Snowden’s revelations have had little impact on our online habits, expecting national governments or the EU to stand up against electronic surveillance misses the point.
A discussion of European surveillance programmes cannot be reduced to the question of a balance between data protection versus national security. It has to be framed in terms of collective freedoms and democracy.
Over the years, Sweden has become the biggest collaborating partner of GCHQ outside the English-speaking countries, and a key member of the Five Eyes network.
Germany has been engaging in large-scale surveillance and exchange of communications data with international partners, despite the existence of a strong constitutional and legal framework for the protection of privacy.
François Hollande sharply criticised US surveillance last year, but the fact remains that France also engages in mass data collection and intelligence sharing.
