EU firms loath to give U.S. data.

European companies that refuse to provide data that they fear could violate EU data protection laws could risk being thrown off U.S. stock exchanges, according to an article in European Voice.

The problems were highlighted at a recent debate held by the American Chamber of Commerce in Frankfurt by companies doing business in the United States or with sister or parent companies in the country.

The type of data requested by U.S. authorities is often aimed at investigations into corporate governance, but European companies are often reluctant to hand over data because the United States does not guarantee that it will be used only for a specific purpose and not shared with other U.S. agencies.

"If the respective purpose is clear and restricted, then that's fine, but if it's a case of 'give us all your data and we will see what we can make of it,'" that is unacceptable," Mark Hilgard, co-chairman of the corporate and business law committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany, told European Voice. He added that companies were often asked for data--names, addresses, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers--on all their employees. Employee consent must be given voluntarily, and firing those who do not agree with their data being transferred to the U.S. authorities also violates EU laws.

Demands for data have increased since 9/11, the report said. Controversial transfers, including information on airline passengers traveling to the United States and banking transfer information through the SWIFT banking network, have alarmed European companies about the different interpretations of data protection on either side of the Atlantic.

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"The understanding of the purpose of data protection is very different between Europe and the United States. They use the same words but have different concepts," Hilgard said.

The SWIFT case particularly worried European companies because the company was subpoenaed to supply information to the U.S. authorities. After it supplied the information, however, SWIFT was accused of making transfers that violated EU data protection laws.