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Written question asked by Lord Avebury (Liberal Democrat), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Baroness Ashton of Upholland (Labour) on Monday, 23 October 2006.

Aviation: Passenger Data

Question
How the new agreement between the European Union and the Government of the United States on the processing and transfer of passenger name record data by air carriers to the United States Department of Homeland Security varies from the previous agreement; and how the new agreement conforms with European data protection principles.
Answer

The new agreement does not vary significantly from the previous agreement. The key difference is that it has a Third-Pillar legal base rather than a First-Pillar one, in order to comply with the European Court of Justice ruling of 30 May. Unlike a First-Pillar agreement, a Third-Pillar agreement requires domestic implementation measures, and this has been done through a direction under the Air Navigation Order requiring airlines to provide PNR data. At present, the US authorities pull information from airlines’ reservation systems, but it is intended to move to a system in which airlines push data to the US as soon as possible. Like the 2004 agreement, the new agreement is due to expire in late 2007. The new agreement refers to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) instead of US Customs and Border Protection (which is part of the DHS) to reflect changes to the internal structure of the US Administration. However, the DHS is giving the same undertakings in support of the new agreement as the CBP gave in relation to the 2004 agreement. In a letter to the EU, the DHS has set out how it interprets those undertakings in the light of developments, including new US legislation, since 2004. The changes to the agreement do not materially affect the level of data protection for individuals. Although the data protection directive does not apply to the processing of personal data in the Third Pillar, the new agreement reflects the same data protection principles as the old one.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
685 c204WA; 7552
Session
2005-06
Subjects
Disclosure of information Data protection Aviation Airlines EU law Passengers USA
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk