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Log inU.S. Seeks Data Exchange
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U.S. Seeks Data Exchange
by Outspoken on Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:43 am
U.S. Seeks Data Exchange
Newer European Union Countries Want Waiver From Visa Requirements
By Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post Staff Writer
The United States is negotiating deals with European countries to exchange fingerprint and DNA data in criminal and terrorist cases, and in some circumstances to transfer data on race or ethnic origin, political and religious beliefs, or sexual orientation.
Such agreements are a condition for granting citizens of newer European Union member states the right to enter the United States without visas, and for maintaining that right for older E.U. members. U.S. citizens already enjoy such a right when traveling to Europe.
Senior Bush administration officials said the data exchange is crucial for spotting dangerous people before they enter the United States and for furthering criminal and terrorist investigations.
The United States and the E.U. have been negotiating a separate, broad agreement on commercial data protection. But European privacy officials are concerned that the emerging bilateral pacts will not adequately protect people's privacy. And U.S. privacy advocates are concerned about the potential transfer of sensitive information on U.S. citizens to Europe.
The bilateral pacts augment the airline passenger record agreement reached last year with the E.U., which requires airlines flying here from abroad to transfer data on passengers to U.S. security agencies. They also complement a series of bilateral agreements to exchange screening data on known or suspected terrorists, which exclude data on race, religious beliefs and other sensitive items.
"So if we arrest someone who's a German national and we take his fingerprints, we do have the opportunity to send those fingerprints to Germany to say, 'Do you know anything about this person?' " said Stewart A. Baker, assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security. "European governments are entering into these agreements much more readily than they were four, five years ago, because concerns about terrorism are no longer confined to one side of the Atlantic."
But some European lawmakers fear that, taken together, the accords will lead to a far-reaching exchange of personal data without appropriate safeguards and that eventually the United States will seek access to Europe-wide databases. "We seem to be opening the floodgates, left, right and center," said Sophie in't Veld, a European Parliament member from the Netherlands. "It seems to me there are hardly any restrictions left."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/07/AR2008070702459.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Newer European Union Countries Want Waiver From Visa Requirements
By Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post Staff Writer
The United States is negotiating deals with European countries to exchange fingerprint and DNA data in criminal and terrorist cases, and in some circumstances to transfer data on race or ethnic origin, political and religious beliefs, or sexual orientation.
Such agreements are a condition for granting citizens of newer European Union member states the right to enter the United States without visas, and for maintaining that right for older E.U. members. U.S. citizens already enjoy such a right when traveling to Europe.
Senior Bush administration officials said the data exchange is crucial for spotting dangerous people before they enter the United States and for furthering criminal and terrorist investigations.
The United States and the E.U. have been negotiating a separate, broad agreement on commercial data protection. But European privacy officials are concerned that the emerging bilateral pacts will not adequately protect people's privacy. And U.S. privacy advocates are concerned about the potential transfer of sensitive information on U.S. citizens to Europe.
The bilateral pacts augment the airline passenger record agreement reached last year with the E.U., which requires airlines flying here from abroad to transfer data on passengers to U.S. security agencies. They also complement a series of bilateral agreements to exchange screening data on known or suspected terrorists, which exclude data on race, religious beliefs and other sensitive items.
"So if we arrest someone who's a German national and we take his fingerprints, we do have the opportunity to send those fingerprints to Germany to say, 'Do you know anything about this person?' " said Stewart A. Baker, assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security. "European governments are entering into these agreements much more readily than they were four, five years ago, because concerns about terrorism are no longer confined to one side of the Atlantic."
But some European lawmakers fear that, taken together, the accords will lead to a far-reaching exchange of personal data without appropriate safeguards and that eventually the United States will seek access to Europe-wide databases. "We seem to be opening the floodgates, left, right and center," said Sophie in't Veld, a European Parliament member from the Netherlands. "It seems to me there are hardly any restrictions left."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/07/AR2008070702459.html?wpisrc=newsletter
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Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
