UK government clashes with EU over data plans

Home Office ministers want airline passenger data for crime fighting

The government is gearing up for a battle with other European Union (EU) states over Brussels’ plans to restrict the use of flight passenger data.

Information routinely collected by airlines ­ including name and address, payment method, itinerary and baggage details ­ is legally required to be supplied for flights into the US and Canada. The EU is proposing a common approach for flights to or from member states.

But, according to Home Office minister Meg Miller, the UK “will need to negotiate wider scope” for the EU plan. The current scheme to allow the data to be used only to combat terrorism or organised crime will “constrain our ability to process the data for combating, for example, individual serious crime”, she said.

The government wants to be able to use so-called passenger name record (PNR) data to “maintain the security and integrity of our borders”, said Miller.

“We need to allow the processing and exchange of PNR data for wider border security and crime-fighting purposes such as immigration and customs issues,” she said.

But MPs are concerned with the need for “an appropriate balance to be struck between the right to privacy of the individual and the need to ensure safety and security”, says a European Scrutiny Committee report published last week.

Under Brussels’ plans, member states will create a “passenger information unit” to collect data, delete any not required and carry out risk assessments before transmitting anything relevant to security agencies.

Airlines will be required to supply data to the country of entry, departure or transit within 24 hours of scheduled departure and immediately after flight closure. The data will be kept for eight years and then deleted.