U.S. to seek more leeway on air passenger records

Passengers walk towards their gates at Ronald Reagan Airport in Washington, November 23, 2005. The United States will push for more flexible arrangements with Europe on how U.S. agencies can use the personal records of air passengers to combat terrorism, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday. (Larry Downing/Reuters)

October 17, 2006
By Mark John

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The United States will push for more flexible arrangements with Europe on how U.S. agencies can use the personal records of air passengers to combat terrorism, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday.

The United States and the European Union this month agreed temporary rules giving U.S. law enforcement agencies easier access to air passenger data as part of measures brought in after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

But the chief U.S. negotiator of that pact, which is due to be replaced by a permanent accord after July 2007, said Washington would push for the right to hold data on passengers for longer than the current arrangement of 3-1/2 years.

"Our usual rule for law enforcement data is that it is kept for about 40 years, but the real question is how long is it likely to be relevant," said Stewart Baker, assistant secretary for policy at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Baker described restrictions included in the current accord as "almost a code of conduct for the United States" but said he was confident that negotiations due to start with Europe would lead to some of them being relaxed in any future pact.

"I am quite hopeful we will be able to have a more flexible arrangement that reflects the fact that we have the same moderately competing goals -- better security and good privacy as well," he told a news briefing in Brussels.

Under the October 6 deal, European airlines must pass on up to 34 items of data, including passengers' addresses, telephone numbers and credit card details, in order to be allowed to land at U.S. airports.

Limits apply on the access to the data enjoyed by U.S. agencies, how long they can keep the records and how they can use them. EU ministers rubber-stamped the deal on Monday and U.S. officials are expected to do the same later this week.

Some EU lawmakers have accused European negotiators of surrendering the privacy rights of air passengers under U.S. pressure, and forecast the deal was just a preamble to a campaign by Washington for greater access to more information.

Baker played down privacy concerns, saying the records being transferred were "not our deepest secrets" but typically only basic data required to make an airline booking.

He added that he hoped any permanent arrangements between the United States and Europe could be a model for similar data transfer systems around the world.

"If the United States and Europe agree on that, we will set the standard and that will be a good thing," he said.