The European Union's new justice chief said Thursday that she is not convinced that European governments' transfer of personal banking data to US authorities is necessary or effective in the fight against terrorism.The EU must this year renegotiate a controversial agreement to hand over huge amounts of information on Europeans' banking transactions that the US says has given it some key leads in terrorist investigations.Viviane Reding, who will become the EU's justice commissioner next month, also criticized moves to use body scanners more widely at airports, saying they could invade personal privacy and were not proven to be useful or safe for personal health.She called for a full impact assessment on their use, saying she could not imagine "this privacy intrusive technology being imposed on us" otherwise.
(photo credit: The Jerusalem Post)