European states most likely to abuse privacy laws

One of the largest internet security companies in the world has claimed European countries are “by far” the most likely to abuse privacy laws when demanding details about online activity.

Matthew Prince, founder of Cloudflare, said the firm spends a lot of time pushing back from “nudge, nudge, wink, wink” requests from law enforcement agencies who are not going through legal procedures.

However, despite the current furore over US spying on communications, Mr Prince said European authorities are much more inclined to ask for information not directly relevant to their investigations.