Europe Calls On Algeria To Exchange Personal Data

European Union plans to hold talks with Algeria and several countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to allow the European police (Europol) to exchange personal data about the suspects with the local police authorities.

According to data from the European Union, such agreements may, in certain circumstances, permit the transfer of data on the ethnic and origins of a person, political opinions, religious beliefs, trade union affiliation, genetic data, and health and sexual data.

In addition to Algeria, the EU will also have agreements with Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia, Jordan, Israel and Lebanon, which are part of the conventions in the context of the cooperation in counterterrorism strategy.

A spokesman for the European Commission said that the committee held meetings with representatives of Algeria and other countries last December, “to discuss opportunities for cooperation between the European police and police services in these countries.”

European Council and Parliament confirmed that any final agreement would be conditioned on the need for the concerned countries to agree with their data protection laws, in line with the European standards.

Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee said a comprehensive assessment of the impact of these conventions should be made to assess the risks they represent, and the parliament must give its consent before the signing of any final agreement.