Yesterday officials of the European Union and the United States came to an agreement on the transfer of private data of EU citizens flying to the US (Passenger Name Records, PNR). They also reached an agreement on the conditions under which the US Treasury Department can check the records of European citizens via the SWIFT network.

As a reaction to the current state of negotiations, the European Parliament's rapporteur for the PNR-agreement Sophie in ´t Veld (D66, Netherlands) is very concerned about the threat to the privacy of Europeans as a result of this PNR deal: "The PNR deal is simply bad. The purposes for which the personal data can be used is not sufficiently defined. Furthermore, data are being used not only for investigations but also for profiling and data mining (automated computer system) that makes profiles of individuals based on the collected data."

"Furthermore, the US authorities can store the data for up to 15 years (against 3,5 years in the current agreement), they will be allowed to log directly onto European computer reservation systems and the United States can renege upon the agreement unilaterally."

Sophie in ´t Veld is less critical about the SWIFT agreement: "The purpose is strictly limited to fighting terrorism, the data will not be used for profiling, the retention period is shorter and there is slightly better monitoring of compliance. Furthermore, the national parliaments have no other option than to approve."

blanket surveillance...requires more public debate   

Sophie In 't Veld

"It remains unacceptable that such a sensitive agreement has been treated as a mere administrative formality negotiated by civil servants without a debate in the European Parliament or indeed in national parliaments."

Alexander Alvaro MEP (FDP, Germany) who authored a report for the Parliament on international financial transactions also considered yesterday's agreement on SWIFT to be "broadly acceptable".

"It is a balanced agreement with high hurdles to be overcome before sensitive data can be released to authorities not connected specifically with the fight against terrorism. It also provides for supervision and an external auditor to ensure it is being correctly implemented."

PNR and Swift are only the tip of the iceberg; each individual measure is not only an infringement of privacy but the accumulative effect is that the authorities have access to a wide range of data from Google, emails, credit card data, insurance companies, medical files and so on.

"We should be more worried about all the information the authorities are gathering on us. Since 9/11 the watch lists of people that are monitored by the authorities have grown from a couple of thousand to almost half a million people. This is blanket surveillance that requires more public debate," concluded Sophie In 't Veld.