--- Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2004 15:11:04 +0000 To: Declan McCullagh <declan@private> From: Simon Davies <s.g.davies@private> Subject: more scandal about PNR and air privacy Declan, this is our latest report on the air travel privacy issue. Some disquieting things have come out of it. I'd be grateful if you would circulate this on Politech :-) Hope all is well Cheers Simon PRIVACY INTERNATIONAL MEDIA RELEASE Report on Transfers of Air Passenger Data to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security: Report discloses covert EU strategy to establish regime of global travel surveillance Negotiations by the European Commission described as "systematic deception and subterfuge". 2nd February 2004 For immediate release The human rights watchdog Privacy International today published a detailed report on covert actions by the European Commission intended to undermine the privacy rights of air travellers. The report is the most comprehensive investigation yet published on negotiations between the US Department of Homeland Security and the Commission over the mandatory transfer to the US of files on all EU air passengers. The report has been released in association with European civil rights groups Statewatch and the European Digital Rights Initiative (EDRi). It includes a commentary from the American Civil Liberties Union, voicing its concerns regarding the action of the U.S. government, while also raising their concern about the overstepping done by the EU. A demand by the US for EU passenger data has provoked widespread concern in Europe. The Commission pledged to undertake hard-line negotiations to appease the US while also protecting Europe's cherished privacy rights. However the Privacy International report provides damning evidence that the Commission has engaged in a process of systematic deception and subterfuge in the latter stage of negotiations. Not only has it allowed key privacy rights to be extinguished in a deal struck with the US last December, but it has also failed to disclose its own intention to establish a more extensive regime in the EU. The proposed EU surveillance system will be used not only for purposes of anti-terrorism, but also for immigration, law enforcement and customs. The Commission has also been silent about its pivotal role in plans to establish a global air travel surveillance system similar to the one being built by the US. The report's principal author, Dr Gus Hosein, Senior Fellow at Privacy International, said: "This is a case of opportunism by the Commission. The EU is can blame the U.S. for an admittedly unjust law, but then going further than the U.S. to establish a global system of surveillance of movement." Privacy International has expressed its concern and anger at the actions of the Commission. It urges the European Parliament to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the affair, with a view to taking legal action against the Commission. Privacy International's Director, Simon Davies, warned that the Commission had overstepped its mandate and had breached the trust of European citizens. "The European Parliament and the people of Europe have been deceived by the Commission. A full-scale investigation is now necessary. We believe legal action should be taken against the Commission to ensure that this dangerous subterfuge does not occur in the future", he said. The report is available in pdf format at http://www.privacyinternational.org/issues/terrorism/rpt/transferringprivacy.pdf _________________ - Simon Davies is at simon@private Gus Hosein is at gus@private - Privacy International (PI) www.privacyinternational.org is a human rights group formed in 1990 as a watchdog on surveillance by governments and corporations. PI is based in London, and has an office in Washington, D.C. Together with members in 40 countries, PI has conducted campaigns throughout the world on issues ranging from wiretapping and national security activities, to ID cards, video surveillance, data matching, police information systems, and medical privacy, and works with a wide range of parliamentary and inter-governmental organisations such as the European Parliament, the House of Lords and UNESCO. -- Date: Mon, 02 Feb 2004 14:25:27 -0500 To: Declan McCullagh <declan@private> From: Barry Steinhardt <Bsteinhardt@private> Subject: New Report on American Grab of European Air Passenger Data Declan, Privacy International, the European Digital Right Initiative and Statewatch have published a report Transferring Privacy: The Transfer of Passenger Records and the Abdication of Privacy Protection on the agreement by the European Commission to transfer private information about air travellers flying from Europe to the US .The report and commentary on the role of the US Government by the ACLU, along with a link to the highly critical report of the internal EU "Article 29 Working Group" on Privacy can be found http://www.aclu.org/Privacy/Privacy.cfm?ID=14852&c=130. Notably the reports shows that the European Commission has failed to protect the privacy and fair process rights of its residents and the citizens of other nations, including Americans, who fly from Europe to the US. * The Europeans declared US privacy protections "adequate," a finding required under EU law for sharing data, despite the fact that the U.S. clearly does not meet the criteria for such a finding. * Although the EU legal regime only permits data transfer for combating terrorism, the European Commission allowed the US to use information for regular crimes as well. * The Commission announced that the December 2003 agreement did not permit the U.S. to use European data for CAPPS II, and that would be negotiated separately. A few weeks later, however, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security declared that European records are currently being used to test CAPPS II. This even before a Congressionally mandated study of the likely privacy implications and effectiveness of CAPPS has even been completed. * The Commission accepted a U.S. offer to retain European data for 3.5 years, far in excess of what EU regulations permit. * The Commission accepted a weak due process procedure that is entirely internal to the Department of Homeland Security, where EU rules require a true right to redress for citizens who believe their data is being abused. I hope you will post this message and the links to Politiech. I believe the list members will find it of interest. Barry Steinhardt Director Technology and Liberty Program American Civil Liberties Union 125 Broad Street NYC 10004 _______________________________________________ Politech mailing list Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/)
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