Passenger data will soon flow again between the EU and Canada after a mandatory pause of several years. Outgoing EU Interior Commissioner Ylva Johansson and Canadian Security Minister Dominic LeBlanc on Friday signed a new version of an agreement on the transfer of so-called passenger name records (PNRs) on the sidelines of the G7 summit.
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This relates to passenger data on flights between Canada and the European Union. PNRs contain sensitive information ranging from date of birth, names of accompanying persons and the means of payment used to purchase the flight to an unspecified free text field.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) overturned the first attempt at PNR transmission in 2017 due to multiple violations of fundamental rights. The judges particularly criticized the groundless storage of all passenger data for five years.
Purely symbolic reform?
One from civil rights organization Statewatch Published the draft of the new agreement in November Suggests that there are some changes now. However, there should be a five-year storage period and broad access options for security officials. Obviously not much will change with regard to monitoring of data processing by counter-terrorism authorities. It will remain possible to send PNRs to third countries if there is a “serious and immediate threat to public safety”.
The draft clearly states, “Canada may not make decisions that result in significant harm to a traveler based solely on the automated processing of PNRs.”
The current text not only strengthens the work of investigators, but also sets higher standards around security, privacy and data protection. assures the commissionComparable contracts already exist with the United States and Australia.
The EU Parliament and Council of Ministers still have to agree. Statewatch has advised lawmakers to already send the amended agreement to the ECJ for review. In any case, public representatives should at least complain to the EU Ombudsman about the Commission’s lack of transparency in this matter.
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