New EU-US passenger data agreement formally initialled

European Union and the US formally initialled (17-Nov-2011) a new agreement on the transfer of air passengers' data for flights from the EU to the US. If adopted by the European Parliament and EU Member States in the Council of Ministers, the new agreement on Passenger Name Records (PNR) will replace the current agreement from 2007. The new agreement is aimed at improving data protection whilst providing an efficient tool to fight serious transnational crime and terrorism. The new PNR agreement brings more clarity and legal certainty for citizens and air carriers. It ensures better information sharing by US authorities with law enforcement and judicial authorities from the EU, it sets clear limits on what purposes PNR data may be used for, and contains a series of new and stronger data protection guarantees. [more - original PR]