WPost: U.S., EU Will Share Passenger Records

U.S., EU Will Share Passenger Records
Ridge Calls Agreement 'Essential'

By Sara Kehaulani Goo
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, May 29, 2004; Page A02


The United States and the European Union signed an agreement yesterday
to share airline passenger records as a way to search for wanted
criminals or suspected terrorists on transatlantic flights.

In a ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Building, Homeland Security
Secretary Tom Ridge said the long-negotiated agreement represented "an
essential security measure that allows us to link information about
terrorists and serious criminals" while providing privacy protections
for airline passengers.

U.S. and European airlines and reservation companies will exchange
passenger information with customs officials up to three days before a
flight's departure, officials said.

Gunter Burghardt, the EU ambassador to the United States, said the
agreement was "further concrete evidence that the U.S. and EU share a
common goal of fighting terror," despite differences in law. "Today we
are at the end of the beginning . . . of a wider effort," he said.

Some EU politicians who view the deal as a violation of Europe's
strong privacy laws could still challenge the agreement in the
European Court of Justice. "We believe the agreement would withstand a
legal challenge," said C. Stewart Verdery Jr., the assistant homeland
security secretary for policy.

The Homeland Security Department plans to begin negotiations with
other countries that are interested in forming a legal agreement to
exchange information about their passengers, Verdery said. He would
not identify those countries.

Passengers' names, addresses, phone numbers, credit card information,
seat location and, in some cases, hotels will be transferred to the
destination country before departure. U.S. officials agreed to block
certain fields such as meal preference and health considerations
because European officials argued those items were private.

The information will be kept for 3 1/2 years and will be used as part
of a controversial computer screening program under development by the
Transportation Security Administration, known as CAPPS 2. It aims to
add an additional layer of security to air travel by using databases
of commercial information to verify each passenger's identity. Every
passenger on U.S. and overseas flights will be assigned a risk score.

As part of the agreement signed yesterday, EU representatives agreed
to allow U.S. officials to use passenger records to test the CAPPS 2
program, but only after U.S. airlines agree to do the same.

Airlines that operate in the United States and Europe expressed relief
yesterday that they would no longer find themselves between two
opposing legal systems. "We certainly see this as a positive step
forward," said Wanda Warner, spokeswoman for the International Air
Transport Association.


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