EU police may soon have snooping powers over UK
By ANIMonday, July 26, 2010
LONDON - European police could soon have the power to spy on people in Britain under sweeping new regulations.
Campaign group Fair Trials International said that under the new rules it would be possible for Spanish police investigating a murder in a club to demand the ID of every British citizen who flew to Spain in the month the killing took place.
In theory, according to the Daily Express, they could also insist that British police search their DNA database and send samples belonging to anybody who was in Spain at the time.
The database includes details of a million people who may then have to battle to prove their innocence.
The new powers will be brought in by the European Investigation Order (EIO), which is intended to work alongside the controversial European Arrest Warrant (EAW).
One of the major concerns about the EAW, to which Britain is signed up, is that it has been used to investigate minor misdemeanors, such as the “theft of a dessert” in a Polish restaurant. (ANI)
