The European Union (EU) has raised concerns with the US over the National Security Agency’s (NSA) surveillance programme, Prism.
EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding was quoted by the EUbusiness as saying that she would raise the matter with US Attorney General Eric Holder in Dublin on 14 June.
Reding said: "This case shows why a clear legal framework for the protection of personal data is not a luxury but a necessity."
Leaked by a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee Edward Snowden, Prism enables US authorities to access emails, information of live chats.
Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, Apple, PalTalk, AOL, Skype and YouTube are reported to have been tapped under the programme.
US President Barack Obama’s administration has been criticised by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the New York Civil Liberties Union, who filed a lawsuit challenging constitutionality of the programme.
Recently, a petition posted on the White House website to the Obama administration called for Snowden’s immediate pardon.
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The petition said Snowden should immediately be issued a full, free, and absolute pardon for any crimes he has committed or may have committed related to blowing the whistle on secret NSA surveillance programmes.
