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US calls for increased and earlier passenger data transfers


US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff has told the EU to improve upon a controversial agreement that permits air passenger data transfers to the US, by providing more information and sending it sooner.

At present an agreed amount of data is transferred to the US within 15 minutes of a US-bound plane taking off; but this sometimes results in planes being turned back, as has happened twice over the past month.

Speaking last week, Chertoff indicated that he would prefer the data to be transferred an hour before the plane departed.

Yesterday, at the German Marshall Fund and European Policy Center in Brussels, Chertoff expanded on his theme, calling on the EU to carry on the fight against terrorism by joining together with the US to create security envelopes – "secure environments through which people and cargo can move rapidly, efficiently and safely without sacrificing security or privacy".

Those individuals within the security envelope would pass across the globe without being stopped and rechecked at every point, allowing resources to be focused on those outwith the envelope, who would be subjected to more in-depth analysis.

Screening would play a major part in this, and should be extended to cover biometric data – a requirement that chimes with the proposed launch of the Visa Waiver Scheme in the US.

This is due to be enforced from October 2005. By that time, passports granted to visitors from countries currently entitled to visit the US without first obtaining a visa – including EU countries – must contain biometric identifiers.

"Right now, in many ways we are using the most primitive kind of screening – meaning we screen for names that match lists of terrorists and criminals," said Chertoff. "Names can be changed, identification documents can be forged. But biometric identifiers can help reduce that type of fraud and protect the identity of the visa holder by making it much more difficult to impersonate someone."

In the area of law enforcement, Chertoff urged increased communication and information sharing. "For example, each country holds a reservoir of fingerprints taken from terrorists and violent criminals. Exchanging such biometric data is an important way to ensure that terrorists and murderers do not exploit informational seams between countries," he said.

European MEPs and privacy activists are unlikely to be pleased by the call. The existing agreement between the EU and US over the transfer of air passenger data is already the subject of a referral to the European Court of Justice.

Background

Airlines operating passenger flights to, from or through the US have been transferring passenger data contained in their reservation and departure control systems to US Customs since March 2003, in order to comply with US anti-terror requirements.

The transfer has been controversial, not only because the US does not meet general EU data protection requirements, but because an agreement setting out the terms of the transfer, signed in June last year, has also been found wanting.

The problem in Europe is that its Data Protection Directive of 1995 provides that personal data may only be transferred to third countries if the specific country ensures an adequate level of protection. The Commission decides which countries have adequate laws but, to date, only a few countries – not including the US – have met the criteria.

Lengthy negotiations between the Commission and the US came to a head in December 2003 when the Commission announced that an agreement had been reached that would provide EU air passengers with sufficient data protection.

But the decision to make this "adequacy finding" was largely a political one, and civil liberties groups and the European Parliament took issue with the Commission announcement, arguing that it, and the international agreement upon which the finding was made, do not provide sufficient protection, in terms of EU law, for European passengers travelling to the US.

The criticisms have been consistent, culminating in a decision by MEPs to refer the agreement to the European Court of Justice for an opinion.

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