EU hands airline data to US  European Parliament bypassed
European Community officials signed off a deal to transfer
airline passenger data (passenger name records, PNR) to the US
authorities last Friday.  The controversial agreement goes into
effect despite a vote by the European Parliament last month to
refer the deal - which quite clearly breaches EU privacy
legislation - to the European Court of Justice. By getting
European foreign ministers to back the deal the Commission has
pushed through the contentious proposals despite data privacy
concerns.  The Commission has argued that these concerns were
misplaced because it had won major concessions during the
negotiations with the US (decide for yourself here), and that
refusing to agree to US demands would result in chaos in
transatlantic flights. Then there's the now familiar argument
that the transfer of passenger data was vital to the 'War on
Terror'.  The agreement was signed in Washington DC by US
Secretary for Homeland Security Tom Ridge, Ambassador N