Data security on US trips: EU allegedly gives employees disposable cell phones

The EU Commission has equipped some employees with disposable cell phones and simple laptops for visits to the USA to minimize the risk of espionage. At least that is what the Financial Times reports, citing several people in the know, and explains that such measures have so far only been intended for trips to China or Ukraine, where there is a risk of Russian or Chinese espionage. According to the report, the Commission itself has confirmed that the security instructions for the USA have been adapted, but at the same time assured that there is no official instruction to use disposable cell phones. However, the fact that such devices have been issued has not been denied.

“The alliance is over”

The British newspaper quotes an anonymous EU employee as saying that there is concern in Brussels that the USA is “infiltrating Commission systems”. This underlines how massively relations between the European Union and the USA have deteriorated since Donald Trump took office. The US president accuses Europe of unfair trade practices and has temporarily increased tariffs on goods from the alliance. “The transatlantic alliance is over,” said one EU employee, who also did not want to be named. At the same time, however, the newspaper recalls that years ago the accusation that US intelligence services were spying on then German Chancellor Angela Merkel caused upset.

The new security advice for travel to the USA now comes just a few days before the flights of two EU commissioners and an EU commissioner across the Atlantic, the newspaper writes. Valdis Dombrovskis, Maria Luís Albuquerque and Jozef Síkela want to attend meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Although their entry should be unproblematic, it could be different for less high-ranking individuals. The Financial Times also points out that US border officials have the right to confiscate and search the electronics of people entering the country. Some were subsequently denied entry because they were found to contain criticism of Donald Trump.

(mho)