The European Union's newjustice chief said Thursday that she is not convinced that Europeangovernments' transfer of personal banking data to US authorities isnecessary or effective in the fight against terrorism.
TheEU must this year renegotiate a controversial agreement to hand overhuge amounts of information on Europeans' banking transactions that theUS says has given it some key leads in terrorist investigations.
VivianeReding, who will become the EU's justice commissioner next month, alsocriticized moves to use body scanners more widely at airports, sayingthey could invade personal privacy and were not proven to be useful orsafe for personal health.
She called for a full impact assessmenton their use, saying she could not imagine "this privacy intrusivetechnology being imposed on us" otherwise.