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Breaking News

Curious America? The US are planning to expand the data collection system for aliens arriving by plane. On the basis of the Advanced Passenger Information System and the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Reform Act in effect since May 14, 2002, airlines have to provide the US authorities with the passengers' full names, date of birth, sex, passport number, alien registration number and address during the stay. According to the experts opinion, forwarding this data does not violate privacy laws and is vital for identification. The passenger "volunteers" this information, but in case he or she does not want to give this information, admission will be denied. However, this data alone does not seem to be sufficient for the US authorities. They have demanded access to the so-called Passenger Name Record System. This is an internal information system of the individual airlines and has nothing to do with identification.

The airlines consider this information to be confidential. It includes information about the capacity utilization of the airlines, payment systems, and possibly also credit card numbers. But also destinations and information about the general travel and payment history, i.e. the really sensitive information. With this, the US can also find out whether someone has been to Baghdad or Arab countries a lot. This, however, does not correspond with the privacy laws of most EU countries, which is the reason their data protection officers are protesting against these plans by the US. Behind this is also the fear that this data will be forwarded freely to other US authorities since there are no strict laws for data exchange between authorities.

The US are threatening to revoke the airlines' landing rights in case they don't agree. So now the EU and some individual national governments are negotiating with the US to find a sensible solution. Experts believe that the US demands will not be enforced.