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Us europe clash over passenger data { September 19 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/09/19/national0158EDT0424.DTLhttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/09/19/national0158EDT0424.DTL
U.S., Europe clash over access to passenger data
LESLIE MILLER, Associated Press Writer
Friday, September 19, 2003
©2003 Associated Press
(09-19) 22:58 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) --
The government's plan to collect personal data on airline and cruise passengers in order to prevent terrorists from entering the country is running into resistance from the European Union, which says the proposal violates its privacy laws.
The issue has the potential to erupt into a major trade dispute if the United States and EU fail to reach a compromise, said Peter Swire, an Ohio State University law professor who advised President Clinton on privacy issues.
"If the Europeans push on this, they could make it very painful for the U.S. carriers, who would be caught in the middle of a political issue," Swire said.
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and his undersecretary, Asa Hutchinson, will meet Monday with EU internal market commissioner Frits Bolkestein in Brussels to discuss the matter.
The issues at the heart of the dispute are similar to those being raised in America about the Transportation Security Administration's plan to collect personal information on all domestic airline passengers to ensure no wanted criminals or potential terrorists board planes.
"The European concerns are valid and echo the privacy questions that have been raised in the United States," said David Sobel, general counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
It used to be easier to fly or sail to America. For years, airlines and cruise companies simply distributed a card that was filled out by foreign travelers as they entered and exited the country. U.S. citizens and legal residents were exempt.
In the late 1980s the U.S. government signed agreements with more than 140 foreign air carriers and two countries, Australia and New Zealand. They agreed to electronically transmit to the government information about passengers and crew -- name, birthdate, nationality and visa or passport number -- so it could be compared to a "watch list."
As concerns about terrorism increased, U.S. officials sought access to files created by an airline's reservation system on each passenger. Depending on the airline, the "passenger name records," or PNRs, can include as few as five pieces of information or more than 50.
PNRs can include name, birth date, address, phone number; reservation, ticket and itinerary information; and the travel agent used, form of payment, seating and PNR history.
Using the data, officials could tell, for example, whether four young men from Afghanistan all used cash to buy one-way tickets.
Some airlines voluntarily provided the extra information.
"We had spotty cooperation," said Robert Jacksta, executive director of Border Security and Field Operations for the Customs Service.
Shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., amended a bill to require all airlines and cruise lines crossing U.S. borders to send passenger lists within 15 minutes of departure.
"We weren't getting cooperation from Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia," Dorgan said. "We had terrorists come over our border and murder thousands of Americans and we're simply trying to secure our borders."
The Customs Service wrote new interim regulations and excluded all exemptions, including for U.S. citizens. In mid-2002, Customs began to phase in the program, sending batches of letters to airlines, based on their size and the risk they presented.
"We started working with carriers and they started working with us," Jacksta said. "Some were more responsive than others." Threats to fine noncomplying airlines -- as much as $1,000 per passenger -- generally worked, he said.
Europe was a different case, though, because of strict privacy laws. For example, people have no means of redress if they believe information about them is misleading or wrong, which is required under EU law.
In November, Customs sent letters to European carriers, telling them they had to allow the U.S. government access to airline reservation systems for PNR data, he said.
The airlines were caught in the middle: If they followed U.S. law, they risked being fined by the European Union for violating EU privacy law. If they obeyed the European Union law, they risked fines from the United States.
An interim agreement was reached with the European Union in March that allowed the United States to tap into the airlines' databases. Customs agreed not to share the information with other agencies, Jacksta said.
The European Parliament has indicated it wants to scrap the deal, so Ridge and Hutchinson are heading across the Atlantic to try to negotiate a compromise.
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On the Net:
Transportation Security Administration: www.tsa.gov
European Union: www.eurunion.org
©2003 Associated Press
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