U.S. Wants Personal Data on Airline Passengers
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The U.S. government wants airlines  to turn over information on more than a million people who  traveled in June to test a new system for identifying  passengers who may pose a security risk, officials said on  Tuesday.
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Invasive DHS system just like the one we're building, apparently EU officials are crying foul over Department of Homeland Security attempts to impose draconian and invasive data requirements on passengers travelling to the US. The US demands, however, are remarkably similar to the ones the EU itself proposes to make of passengers travelling to Europe, making the officials shouting "blackmail" and "troublesome" somewhat unlikely guardians of the citizenry's freedoms.â¦
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WASHINGTON - Everyone who took a commercial flight within the United States in June will have his travel information turned over to the government so it can test a new system for identifying potential terrorists, federal officials announced Tuesday.    The Transportation Security Administration plans to order airlines to turn over the information in November...
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The Transportation Security Administration announced on Tuesday that it will order domestic airlines to turn over personal information about passengers to test a system that will compare their names to those on terrorist watch lists.
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Department of Homeland Security implements data-mining system for passengers traveling to the U.S.
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PARIS, Oct. 6 -- European officials agreed Friday to grant more U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies easier access to detailed personal data on all transatlantic air passengers, despite concerns over individual privacy and fears that the information could be misused.
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Everyone who took a commercial flight within the United States in June will have travel information turned over to the government so it can test a new system for identifying potential terrorists, federal officials announced Tuesday.
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(InfoWorld) - European and U.S. security officials were locked in talks in Brussels Monday to replace a passenger data sharing agreement that wasÂ outlawed by a European courtÂ in May. The screening of airline passengers entering the U.S. became standard security procedure after the terrorist attacks on the U.S. five years ago. An agreement was struck with the European Union in 2003 permitting airlines carrying passengers to the U.S. to pass over 34 pieces of European citizens' private data to U.S. immigration officials withoutÂ breaching strict European data protection laws. With that agreementÂ due to expireÂ at the end of this month, after being thrown out on a legal technicality by the European Court of Justice, security officials are trying to agree on an interim accord to take over from Oct. 1. Senior U.S. security officials have demanded an interim accord more far-reaching than the existing one, while the European Parliament wants to limit its scope. Without a replacement agreement, airlines face a dilemma: if they don't hand over the passenger name records (PNRs), U.S. authorities may impose hefty fines or withdraw their landing rights, while if they do hand over the data, passengers may sue them for breaching their right to privacy under European laws. The Parliament recommended last Thursday that E.U. governments protect European citizens' civil liberties by ensuring that any fresh deal with the U.S. incorporates new privacy safeguards to prevent the profiling of passengers. Current rules exclude the Parliament from negotiations. Last week it demanded that the legal basis for a Trans-Atlantic data sharing agreement be changed to allow the Parliament joint responsibility for negotiating a long-term replacement accord. The European Commission, the E.U.'s executive body leading the negotiations on the European side, supports changing the legal basis for a new long term accord -- once the interim agreement is in place. Justice and security commissioner Franco Frattini last week said the issue "underlines the need for a single legal basis for justice, liberty and security issues." But he stressed that reaching an interim accord is paramount. "The most important need is to guarantee the continuity of application of the ... agreement, and legal certainty," he said. He wants the interim accord to be the same as the one it is replacing. "I ask the U.S. to agree on the same substance," he told journalists on his way into a meeting with U.S. officials last Thursday. However, it could also incorporate "rules and procedures which effectively restrict the use of PNR data by the U.S. authorities," he told the Parliament last week. Any attempt to limit the scope of the current accord will be fiercely resisted by U.S. officials. In an article published in The Washington Post last Tuesday, U.S. Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff asked for the lifting of restrictions on how data can be shared with other agencies. The existing accord forbids U.S. immigration officials from sharing the 34 pieces of data with any other government agency. "European privacy concerns have limited the ability of counterterrorism officials to gain broad access to data of this sort," Chertoff said. Frattini wrote to Chertoff Monday promising continued commitment to cooperating in the fight against terrorism. The E.U., he said, "is better prepared to respond than we were five years ago." However, the alleged terrorist plot to blow up trans-Atlantic flights that came to light in the U.K. in August shows that more cooperation is needed, he said. In addition to striking a new passenger data agreement with the U.S., Frattini told Chertoff that new priorities include monitoring the use of the Internet by terrorists.
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(InfoWorld) - Europeans who visit the U.S. will be required to fill out an online questionnaire two days before they enter the country under a proposal being studied by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The department has been discussing the idea internally for about a month, said Hugo Teufel III, chief privacy officer for the DHS, in a meeting with journalists in Paris on Thursday. He could not say when the registration system might be introduced. The proposal will likely increase tensions between the U.S. and Europe at a time when the two sides are already in heated debate over U.S. demands for data about air passengers flying from Europe to the U.S. The U.S. says it needs access to more data to prevent suspected terrorists from entering the country, while European regulators counter that the demands are excessive and worry how the data will be used. The online registration would complement the Automated Targeting System, or ATS, a program disclosed by the DHS in November that assigns a "risk assessment" to people entering and leaving the U.S., to determine the likelihood that they pose a security threat. The registration system would likely require approval by the U.S. Congress before it could be introduced, Teufel said. "It's a fairly new initiative in that we've been discussing it internally for about a month," he added. He offered few other details Thursday, but Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff discussed the proposal earlier this week in an interview with the German newspaper Der Spiegel. Chertoff said the U.S. wanted to "elevate the security level generally" for foreign visitors, particularly in light of its looser visa requirements for some countries. The online registration "would be similar to what they do in Australia where visa waiver travelers would register online in advance, and they would, therefore, know before they arrive in the United States whether there was going to be a problem with their being admitted," Chertoff told the newspaper. "The registration would have a shelf life of some years. It wouldn't be something you do every trip, you would do it periodically," he added. The DHS will prepare a "privacy impact assessment" on the registration plan, Teufel said Thursday. Such assessments cover issues like how data is used, who can access it and for how long it will be retained. Teufel suggested that the assessment report would be made available to the public, although U.S. law makes exceptions for reports about systems used by the intelligence community, he said. Teufel was appointed by Chertoff in July last year and is responsible for the DHS's privacy policies.
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European officials yesterday joined the chorus of concern over a U.S. screening program that creates risk profiles for every air traveler entering or leaving the United States, and sought assurances that the system does not violate European privacy rights.
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The American Government now has flight information on every person that boarded a commercial flight in the US in June. The Transportation Security Administration will use the information to test a new passenger screening system called Secure Flight.
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The Bush administration on Monday released new guidelines aimed at protecting the privacy of U.S. citizens as the government moves to enhance its sharing of information as part of post-September 11 reforms.
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The government says all U.S. airlines must turn over passenger data so that it can test a planned screening system. The airline industry and others complain that the order will mean massive privacy violations, extra expenses and possible trouble with foreign countries. By Ryan Singel.
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Europe's Parliament is to look at how data on air passengers and citizens' bank details is being sent to the US.
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The Bush administration will ask Congress to change and expand a program that allows citizens of some countries to enter the United States without visas. In exchange, the U.S. government would require visitors to provide more data about themselves before they board planes.
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(InfoWorld) - The U.S. may be willing to give some ground in a dispute with European regulators over access to trans-Atlantic passenger data, although reaching a compromise before a July deadline remains uncertain. The issue of how long the U.S. holds onto passenger data has been one of the sticking points in the dispute, which threatens airlines' ability to carry passengers to the U.S. without violating U.S. or European law. "I anticipate that there may well be a decrease, and perhaps even a significant decrease, in the amount of time [the passenger data] is retained," said Hugo Teufel III, chief privacy officer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in a meeting with journalists in Paris on Thursday. The U.S. requires airlines to hand over 34 facts about each passenger traveling from Europe, including where and how their airline ticket was purchased. The U.S. says it needs the information to help identify terrorism suspects, but some European regulators have fiercely opposed sharing their citizens' data, citing concerns about privacy. A 2004 agreement on the matter was struck down by the European Court of Justice earlier this year, and an interim agreement will expire on July 31. If a new accord isn't reached before then over the "passenger name records" (PNRs), airlines face being sued in Europe for sharing the data, or being denied landing permission in the U.S. if they do not. "I believe that there will very likely be increased privacy protections with respect to the PNR data," Teufel said on Thursday. "Whether it happens before the end of July or after the end of July is very difficult to say." He cautioned that he is not directly involved in the discussions, and would not elaborate on what the increased privacy protections might be. It was unclear if the concessions had been communicated to the European Union or would prompt it to ease its position. European parliamentarians have also expressed other concerns with the PNR system, including the amount of data being collected and the ways it will be used. A spokesman for Franco Frattini, the E.U.'s commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security, said it would be inappropriate to comment on Teufel's remarks while the talks are ongoing. "We are in the midst of negotiations," the spokesman said via e-mail. Teufel is a political appointee responsible for privacy policies at the Department of Homeland Security. He was in Europe to meet with privacy representatives in France and Germany to gather feedback and smooth relations between the two sides. He sought to dispel what he characterized as misinformation about the PNR system. The U.S. does not ask about meal choices to identify potential Muslim travelers, he said, calling that "absolutely false." Asked if credit card data is collected, he said: "To my knowledge the department is not pushing for that." He acknowledged theÂ divisions between U.S. and European attitudes to privacy. "I think Europeans are beginning to have a better understanding of U.S. privacy and U.S. privacy laws. I don't think Europeans as a whole have a sufficient understanding now," he said. "I am not surprised when I hear from a European their often-held view that the U.S. has no privacy laws. That's just false. We do have privacy laws, we care about privacy. What we do have is a different approach to privacy and a different approach to government."
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The US government unveiled plans on Thursday for a revised computer-based program using personal information to identify airline passengers who may pose a threat to air travel.