Europe Agrees To Send Airline Passenger Data To US 403
Qedward writes "The European Parliament has approved the controversial data transfer agreement, the bilateral PNR (passenger name register), with the US which requires European airlines to pass on passenger information, including name, contact details, payment data, itinerary, email and phone numbers to the Department of Homeland Security. Under the new agreement, PNR data will be 'depersonalized' after six months and would be moved into a 'dormant database' after five years. However the information would still be held for a further 15 years before being fully 'anonymized.'"
Re:Why? (Score:5, Informative)
The article says that's exactly what the US threatened. To require a visa for any European entering the US. I think if I were an EU politician, I would be inclined to threaten to do exactly the same to them. But apparently two thirds of them disagree with me. Pity.
Re:Why? (Score:4, Informative)
Economic stick? I think the stick has slightly different nature [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures]
Re:As this violates... (Score:5, Informative)
On the other hand, I can't think of a single reason why I wouldn't want the government to know how much money I have in the bank, unless it's coming from illegal activities. What could a deranged government do with that information? Make me pay taxes?
Re:Why? (Score:4, Informative)
Nothing new here? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Good job! (Score:4, Informative)
No one. The agreement seems to apply to all carriers that fly to or from the US, and there is no mention of limiting the release of information only to US-bound flights. So if I choose my national carrier, even on a domestic flight, the US will have my data. Sweet.
Here's the full text of the agreement: http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/11/st17/st17434.en11.pdf
Re:TFA unclear (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17764365 [bbc.co.uk]
The agreement applies to airlines operating flights between any of the 27 EU countries and the US.
It covers not only European airlines but also any carriers that are "incorporated or storing data" in the EU and operating flights to or from the US.
http://rt.com/news/eu-us-data-deal-491/ [rt.com]
The agreement applies to airlines that operate flights between EU countries and the US.
The list of airlines covered by the new legislation extends beyond European carriers to include any carriers that are "incorporated or storing data" in the EU and operating flights to or from the US.
Re:Why? (Score:5, Informative)
The visa application is such a ballache that few people would want to bother, and would take their holidays elsewhere. Business travellers would teleconference or simply not consider doing business in the US.
Truth! Before I got naturalized Finnish citizen, applying for a USA visa was one big, tedious and infinitely irritating procedure where one has to gather ridiculous amounts of documents, like bank statements of the last six months AND payslips AND proof of employment (just to name ONE category of documents). Then, the application fee is paid in some super-archaic way that forces one to go to the bank instead of just whipping out the credit card or doing a bank transfer using internet banking. And finally, you had to provide a special, pre-paid envelope with your application, so they can send you the passport home in that. I didn't mention some other docs one had to collect.
A fucking quest!