In stead of getting information on European passengers headed for the United States fifteen minutes after take-off, the US now want the information one hour before the plane departs. Michael Chertoff, chief of the Department of Homeland Security announced this on 23 May 2005 during a visit to the European Policy Centre in Brussels.

Under the current passenger name record (PNR) agreement between the EU and the US, the US can pull the information directly from the European airlines reservation systems. A push system in which the airlines send the information themselves still needs to be implemented. Chertoff believes that passengers and airlines will be positive about the new demand, to prevent any further incidents with planes sent back to the EU.

The European Parliament has taken the European Commission to court over the agreement with the US on the transfer of air passenger's personal data (PNR). The Strasbourg Court is examining whether the Commission, when making the deal, exceeded its powers and acted in breach of EU Data Protection legislation. In an interview with EUPolitix.com EU Commissioner for Justice Frattini said he expects a decision by the Court in September.

On 20 April 2005 the civil liberties group Statewatch, together with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and two other NGOs launched the Campaign Against Mass Surveillance (ICAMS), calling on all national governments and intergovernmental organisations to turn away from antiterrorism efforts that are oriented around mass surveillance.

The campaign started with an in-depth report on 'The emergence of a global infrastructure for registration and surveillance'. "Driven largely by the United States, a growing web of anti-terrorism and security measures are being adopted by nations around the world. This new 'security' paradigm is being used to roll back freedom and increase police powers in order to exercise increasing control over individuals and populations." The report describes 10 signposts that clearly mark the general erosion of human rights. To some extent, all of the signposts have already been realised. To another extent, the report reads like a manual for an awesome uncle of Big Brother.

On 9 March the European Parliament debated in plenary in Strasbourg about the transfer of passengerdata (PNR) to the US and asked the Commission about the Council plans for mandatory data retention. EU Justice Commissioner Frattini for the first time stated in public that the Commission sees no legal basis for a framework decision from the Council and he personally 'will try to convince' the Council of Justice and Home Affairs to withdraw the proposal. "As a consequence, the Commission will present an alternative proposal on data retention based on Article 95 of the Treaty of the European Community by early spring 2005." Frattini also announced that the Commission will carry out "an impact assessment to determine to what extent the creation of obligations to retain data will have economic implications."

Since 30 September 2004, all visitors to the United States are electronically face-scanned and fingerprinted at the US border. This 'biometric' information, together with a mass of associated personal data, can be shared throughout the US government. Personal files can also be shared internationally. These measures are part of an unprecedented traveller surveillance and profiling system that within fifteen years may encompass data on a billion people.

Privacy International has published an alarming report about the challenges US-VISIT poses to civil liberties, with a comprehensive flow-chart showing the detailed workings of the program.

Privacy International condemns the U.S.-VISIT Programme (28.09.2004)
http://www.privacyinternational.org/article.shtml?cmd%5B347%5D=x-347-7...

On 28 July, Privacy International has presented the 6th annual UK Big Brother Awards ceremony. Privacy International took the unusual step of awarding a US initiative for the UK awards because of the almost total silence in the US over this programme. US VISIT will fingerprint all visitors to the US from September of this year. The scheme is offensive and invasive, and has been undertaken with little or no debate or scrutiny. Nor has the requirement taken any account of the 'special relationship' between the UK and the US. The UK government has been silent about the programme and has capitulated every step of the way.

Winner of 'Worst public servant' was Margaret Hodge, Minister of State for Children. According to the jury report, "Margaret Hodge has received numerous nominations because of her patronage of the controversial tracking provisions in the Children Bill and for her determination to develop a wide spectrum of intrusive databases and information systems.

The Article 29 Working Party that oversees the implementation of the EU privacy directive has released its opinion on the current state of affairs regarding the transfer of passenger data from EU airlines to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The Working Party notes that the Commission failed to take into account previous demands by the Working Party before authorizing its transfer to the U.S., particularly on the scope of the data, the retention period, and the ways in which the data is used. As the European Parliament is pursuing this case in the Courts, the Working Party is calling for some immediate 'essential' changes to the current practices to minimize the encroachments on passengers' rights.

These 'essential' changes include:

1. Replacing U.S. Customs direct access to reservation systems with a 'push' system where carriers send only the required information to the American authorities.

On his last day as President of the European Parliament, Pat Cox finally decided to give in to the demands from the Legal Affairs committee and the majority of political group leaders. The European Parliament has now asked the European Court of Justice to annul the recently signed EU-U.S. agreement on transfer of airline Passenger Name Record (PNR) data to U.S. government agencies.

European Digital Rights has signed a resolution against the PNR-transfer from the Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD), a coalition of more than 60 consumer organisations in the U.S. and Europe. It calls upon the EU and U.S. governments to suspend the agreement until much stronger privacy safeguards are adopted. The letter was submitted to EU and U.S. government representatives at the EU-U.S. Summit in Dublin on 25 June 2004.

This resolution comes from the TransAtlantic Consumer Dialogue TACD, a coalition of more than 60 consumer organizations in America and Europe. It calls the EU and US governments to suspend a recent agreement disclosing passengers' data to US government agencies until much stronger privacy safeguards are adopted. The letter will be directly submitted to EU and US government representatives at the EU-US Summit in Dublin today. Read the resolution in English, French (PDF) or German (PDF) language.