EU-Canada air passenger data deal illegal: Court

LUXEMBOURG: An EU-Canada deal to share air passenger data to help combat terrorism breaches “fundamental” human rights and cannot proceed, the European Union’s top court said on Wednesday.

The EU and Canada began negotiating the accord in 2010 amid a push led by Washington to increase information sharing in the face of a series of terror attacks.

The Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice said the agreement goes too far and undermines the right to privacy enshrined in EU law.

“The Court declares that the agreement envisaged between the European Union and Canada on the transfer of Passenger Name Record data may not be concluded in its current form,” it said in a statement.

“Several of its provisions are incompatible with the fundamental rights recognised by the EU,” it said.

While the intention — fighting terrorism — was justified, the ECJ said “several provisions of the agreement are not limited to what is strictly necessary and do not lay down clear and precise rules.”

The PNR accord allows for the EU and Canada to transfer and process the data, including keeping them for up to five years, that passengers give airlines, travel agents and tour operators.

This includes itineraries, ticket types, contact details, baggage and payment information and possibly even “sensitive information” about specific passengers.

The ECJ said transferring the data would “entail an interference with the fundamental right to respect for private life. Similarly, the envisaged agreement entails an interference with the fundamental right to the protection of personal data”.

The EU has similar PNR deals with the United States and Australia which were agreed amid serious misgivings in Europe over the amount of information transferred and what would ultimately happen to it.

Reflecting those concerns, the European Parliament decided to seek the ECJ’s opinion before ratifying the EU-Canada agreement, resulting in Wednesday’s ruling.

The European Commission said it would work with Canada to address the issues raised by the ECJ so that security cooperation could continue.

“Exchanges of information such as PNR are critical for the security of our citizens,” a statement said.

In addition, although the ruling concerned only the agreement with Canada, the Commission said it would ensure that similar accords with other countries were also in line. — AFP