Britain seeking wider use of flight passenger data

EU: BRITAIN IS fighting EU plans to place restrictions on the police force's ability to use personal information collected from airline passengers.

New legislation being drafted in Brussels would only allow EU states to use so-called "passenger name records" (PNR) data to investigate terrorism and organised crime. The legislation seeks to harmonise the collection and use of PNR data across the EU to help combat serious crime, while at the same time ensuring European citizen's right to privacy.

But London, which is constructing the most advanced PNR collection system in Europe (called e-Borders), opposes the proposal to curtail use of information such as names, e-mail addresses and credit card details. It wants its security services to be able to use PNR to track illegal immigrants and investigate other crime.

Home secretary Jacqui Smith said the EU measure could undermine Britain's e-Borders programme, which will introduce the first official passport checks between Ireland and Britain since the creation of the common travel area.

"As currently drafted, there is a real risk that the EU PNR proposal would degrade e-Borders by prohibiting the use of PNR data for combating immigration offences. We will therefore lobby strongly for the framework decision not to preclude the use of PNR for this purpose," said Ms Smith in a document released to the media.

Since e-Borders was launched in 2005, it has collected details of some 54 million passengers. The PNR information has helped police issue 25,000 alerts and make 2,100 arrests.

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times