In a recent significant move, the EU and US are taking the final steps to enter into an agreement to enable FBI access the credit card data and the Internet browsing habits of the citizens of UK. The essential features of this agreement between these two countries will remove the limitations that have prevented the swapping of private data including the spending habits and travel history. However, this news comes as an alarming factor to the advocates of civil rights.

Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the US, negotiations began for accessing the highly personal information by American security agencies. The argument of the US counter-terrorism officials is that they require the access to the information regarding the spending and travel of the EU residents, which can help them prevent any such future attacks.

In a joint report issued by the negotiations between the EU and US, it has been noted that a significant progress has been made on the agreement despite several years of opposition from the member EU states with strict privacy laws. However, there is still one single hurdle to be cleared. For instance, British and the other EU citizens do have the right to sue the government of the US with respect to the handling of their personal information.

Also, yet another area of concern is that the question of appropriate safeguards that are agreed upon that would stop US authorities from seeking additional information on individuals pertaining to their political inclinations, sexual life and religious life.