U.S. Strikes Deal with EU on Passenger Data

For Europeans, flying to the United States just became a step more complex. According to a new cooperation agreement signed by Washington and Brussels, the EU will be required to provide personal information on passengers leaving European destinations for the United States. The brokering of the deal came after months of debate in which both sides refused to budge. While American authorities insisted that they needed the passenger data in their fight against terrorism, the Europeans argued that revealing such information would constitute a violation of privacy.

Under the agreement, airlines will have to attain information from passengers on 34 different aspects including home address, date of birth, credit card number, size of party traveling, and pieces of luggage. Most of the personal data given by passengers at the time of check-in or ticket-purchase will be sent to the United States ahead of the passengers themselves, giving customs officials the chance to assess the likelihood of the passengers being terrorists of criminals.

Mounting pressure

Originally, U.S. officials demanded the right to hold the data for up to 50 years, but in the new compromise deal, they will only be allowed to keep the information for three and a half years. The EU also negotiated strict restrictions governing which agencies will have access to the data, and insisted that Washington agree to immediately delete particularly sensitive information indicating religion, health and race.

Passing on passenger data became standard practice for American domestic airlines after the Sept. 11 attacks, and U.S. intelligence offices have long been piling pressure on non-U.S. carriers to follow suit, fining those who refused to pass on passenger data some €4,900 ($6,000) per head.

Negotiators in Brussels are aware that Washington has driven a hard bargain and got most of what it originally wanted. An EU Commission spokesman told the Observer newspaper that they would have preferred the United States to have access to fewer passenger data. But both sides agreed to review the situation in three and a half years, by which time the need to continue with the procedure may no longer exist.

European criticism

The deal has met with criticism from within Europe, with Tony Bunyan of the EU civil liberties body Statewatch commenting on the organization's Web site, that the move was the first step towards vetting passengers before they board a plane, boat or cross-border train. Bunyan is evidently concerned that information obtained will not only be used in the fight against terrorism. "The global surveillance of travel will not be limited to combating terrorism but will extend to other serious crimes -- which is now defined so broadly as to include everything but very minor offences," he wrote.

Some members of the European parliament share the skepticism. MEP Kathalijne Buitenweg told Reuters news that although it was necessary to cooperate with the United States, it was also essential to comply with EU law. "I find it quite excessive to store data for three and a half years and to do this for everyone not just the people the U.S. consider suspect," Buitenweg said.

Meanwhile spokesman for the European Commission, Jonathan Todd, said the EU executives would need to consult with the European Parliament before the deal could actually be finalized in April or May of next year.

The European Commission also said the agreement would set a framework for airlines to pass on data to non-U.S. authorities, adding that the EU was also considering seeking greater access to American passengers' data.