Written question asked by Dominic Raab (Conservative) on Tuesday, 20 March 2012, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 26 March 2012. It was answered by Damian Green (Conservative) on Monday, 26 March 2012 on behalf of the Home Office.

Passports: Databases

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to Article 3 of EU Council Common Position 2005/69/JHA, with how many EU member states the UK exchanges present and future passport data.

Answer: The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) does not share this data directly with any EU member state. The IPS provides lost and stolen passport data to Interpol via the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) on a daily basis, to assist with the international policing of borders. This arrangement has been in place since 2004. In accordance with Article 3, SOCA only shares the information with other Interpol members that ensure an adequate level of protection. This data is set out in Article 2. Only the passport number, lost and stolen reference and issue date are provided.

Secondary information