Passanger data agreement between US and EU

On 6 Oct, 2006 the European Union and the United States finally came to an agreement on sharing air passenger data.

The pactum will replace the previous one made by the European Court of Justice in May, which provided the US access to passenger data. The previous deal lapsed on 1 October when both sides failed to agree on terms for a renewal.

According to this new deal, 34 pieces of information per passanger data will be available for the following institutions: Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of the Secretary. The information will be sent to the US Department of Homeland Security that cooperates with the other US counter-terrorism agencies.

The EU had concerns about the protection of the information since the data may move between US agencies.

These conditions are valid untill the end of July 2007.

This new deal requires the modification of the Hungarian Aviation Act of which a new draft was submitted to the Hungarian Parliament on 20 Oct, 2006.

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