EU eyes air passenger profiling in 2009

The European Union could start collecting air travelers' personal data from the first half of 2009 as part of efforts to strengthen anti-terrorism measures, top officials for the bloc said Friday.

This means people traveling to the European Union by air would have their personal data collected by no fewer than three separate systems if new anti-terrorism plans take effect.

"There was general support from all ministers on a European Passenger Name Record," Slovenian Interior Minister Dragutin Mate said, referring to a U.S.-style plan to collect air passenger data for anti-terrorism purposes which EU interior ministers discussed for the first time on Friday.

"It is realistic to say that the closest possible date for a European Passenger Name Record would be in the first half of next year," he told a news conference.

Under the plan, EU states would collect and store for 13 years some 19 pieces of personal data on international air travelers including their phone number, e-mail address, payment details, and travel agent.

The data, sent by airlines at least 24 hours before departure, would also be used to draw up statistics.

EU anti-terrorism coordinator Gilles de Kerchove said the EU wanted the system to take effect in the first half of 2009, but told reporters that ministers still needed to decide how the scheme would work and to convince European lawmakers and data privacy officers, who have been very critical of the plan.

EU Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini told a news conference the European Commission would propose next month two further schemes to collect travelers' data.

It will propose a register collecting biometric information on all non-EU travelers entering and leaving the 27-nation bloc, plus a check on air passengers in the shape of a form to be filled in on the Internet some days before traveling.

PROTECTING EU BORDERS

"Terrorism remains the threat number one," Frattini said. "The package of measures will aim at increasing the capacity of the EU to protect its external borders."

The entry/exit register would help authorities find out if people stayed longer than permitted, Frattini said, and the electronic form could replace visas and information handed out by air carriers before passengers travel.

French Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie backed the plans. "I am in favor," she told reporters. "It is paradoxical that we don't have here what we have with the United States," she said, referring to an EU-U.S deal by which U.S. authorities have access to data on EU citizens flying to the U.S.A.

Spanish Secretary of State for Security Antonio Camacho also supported gathering information on air travelers before their trip, saying Spain implemented a similar system last year.

"Since March, we have analyzed millions of (pieces of) data and this has allowed us to have a better idea of who enters our country and to stop ... almost 400 persons last year," he said.

Frattini said Britain had a similar system in place and others were considering such a move. It would be much better for the whole bloc to have a single system, he said.

Luxembourg's Justice Minister Luc Frieden cast doubts on the need for passenger data profiling. "We must evaluate if such a system is necessary," he said.

"We already know who enters (the EU), getting that information a bit earlier ... could be useful, but not necessarily," he told reporters before the talks.

He also insisted that the European Parliament, which has been highly critical of the deal struck with Washington, take part in decisions on an EU scheme.

(Published by Reuters, January 28, 2008)