EU Agrees to Share Airline Passenger Data with US

securitas writes "The European Union has agreed to provide the US government with detailed airline passenger data. The agreement allows the collection of 34 pieces of data per person and limits storage of the data to three and a half years. 'The United States originally wanted to collect 60 pieces of data and keep it for 50 years.' Previously, the EU had objected to the plan because it violated EU privacy legislation, the data-protection directive. The plan is similar to the CAPPS II passenger profiling system. The data may be used for 'secondary purposes' other than anti-terrorism measures if requested from US Customs by other law enforcement agencies."

Comments

I've canceled by US trips

[ciaran_o_riordan]

I had planned to attend the FSF annual associate members meeting in Boston in March, but have scrapped that plan due to this legislation. I'll use the money to go to the Libre Software Meeting in France, and FOSDEM in Belgium instead. People shouldn't put up with this crap.

well

[sofar]

Do we European get the US data too then ??????

My last flight was my last flight

[bitty]

It was our honeymoon to Hawaii, so there wasn't much choice there. We drive everywhere now, the hassle and total invasion of our privacy just isn't worth it. In one airport, they even had me put one foot on this "detector", that for all I know did absolutely nothing. It was just a box with an opaque piece of white plexiglass with the outline of a foot that said "place foot here". No wires coming out of it at all, and it didn't appear to be plugged in. The security guy just watched me do it and said thank you. My wife and I were both pulled aside and searched twice each way by very rude people that seemed more interested in our undergarments than actually looking for anything dangerous.

Screw 'em. I'll spend my money elsewhere.