U.S.-EU air passenger data deal illegal, lawyers say.

• Position: PRIVACY

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The United States and European Union (EU) have hammered out an agreement on storing the personal data, including credit card details, home addresses, and phone numbers, of millions of transatlantic travelers, but the European Commission's lawyers have warned that the deal's 15-year storage requirement is illegal.

According to The Guardian, the legal opinion states that the agreement to allow the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to store airline check-in data is "not compatible with fundamental rights" or EU data protection law.

The agreement would allow passenger data provided to airlines at check-in to be analyzed by U.S. data mining and profiling programs to help fight crime, terrorism, and illegal immigration. The United States wants airlines to supply the passenger lists 96 hours before takeoff so it can check them against various watch lists, The Guardian reported.

With the 15-year retention requirement, the U.S.-EU passenger name record's (PNR) retention period is three times the five years allowed for in the EU's PNR. A period of five and a half years was recently negotiated in a similar agreement with Australia, The Guardian noted.

The agreement must get approval from the Parliament and ministers before it can become law. The European Parliament has demanded proof that such a PNR agreement is necessary, and said it should in no circumstances be used for data mining or profiling. U.S. lawmakers have said the agreement...