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Lords raise concerns on airline passenger agreement Print E-mail
Monday, 04 June 2007

The House of Lords has raised concerns about a planned EU/US Passenger Name Record Agreement (PNR), arguing that the collection of data should not go beyond that needed in the fight against terrorism.

The European Union committee, whose members conducting the inquiry included Lord Foulkes of Cumnock, also an MSP, fully accepted the potential value of PNR data in the fight against terrorism, but argued that data must be collected accurately, analysed correctly, and used only for counter-terrorism and related crimes, which it says the current PNR agreement with the US does not achieve.

It says data can be used for many crimes other than counter-terrorism, even for protection against infectious diseases, adding that data are widely available and distributed without appropriate safeguards.

The committee state that the new PNR agreement being negotiated with the US must include clear and unambiguous undertakings about the collection, use and retention of data, and the US must not be allowed to amend the undertakings unilaterally.

The committee believes that the new agreement must be no more invasive of individual liberty than is strictly necessary for counter-terrorism, which is vital if public confidence in the system is to be maintained. It also recommends that airlines inform passengers about what happens to their personal information, and that the agreement must include a full list of the data allowed to be collected, and must not include open-ended data elements like ‘general remarks’.
The data must not be passed to bodies not dealing with counter-terrorism unless this is essential, and only if the same safeguards are maintained, and there must be annual reviews of the working of the agreement

Lord Wright of Richmond, the chairman of the Lords EU Sub-Committee on Home Affairs, said: “We accept that the sharing of PNR data can be valuable in protecting the public from the very real threat of international terrorism.
“However it is crucial that any new agreement does not prejudice the rights of law-abiding travellers. Their personal data must be used only for fighting terrorism and other equally serious crimes. It must be kept safely and not used for other purposes.

“The PNR agreement between the EU and Canada strikes the right balance between safety, security and privacy. The agreement being negotiated with the US must do the same.”
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Last Updated ( Monday, 04 June 2007 )
 
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