ACLU Applauds EU Court Decision Striking Down US-EU Data-Sharing Pact

Posted on May 30, 2006

Today the unelected black robes in the European Union have struck down an agreement that requires the EU to share information on European citizens flying to the United States:

Europe’s highest court struck down an anti-terrorism agreement that allows the European Union and the U.S. to share information on airline passengers, giving authorities four months to resolve conflicting rules.

The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg today said the 2004 accord was illegally adopted, upholding a challenge by European Parliament lawmakers. Authorities have until Sept. 30 to come up with new regulations, the court said.

Today’s ruling may mean that carriers such as Air France-KLM Group, Europe’s biggest airline, and Deutsche Lufthansa AG will have to choose between violating EU or U.S. law, facing fines on both sides of the Atlantic, according to Eduardo Ustaran, a lawyer specializing in information technology. The European Parliament had argued the rules violated EU protections on personal data.

“This is an extreme example of a conflict of laws between two jurisdictions,” Ustaran said in a phone interview from London. The decision puts the negotiation “back to square one,” he said.

Of course this is a vital tool in keeping America safe. Without this kind of information sharing that provides a mutual benefit to both countries, America has no way of knowing who flies into our country from the EU. As Charles Johnson says: “If the US insists on having this information (and if we don’t, we’re in bigger trouble than I thought), it could mean that no EU citizen will be able to fly to the US.”

This is definitely a step backwards in our war on terror, catering to the politically correct mindset in a reckless manner that takes no regard for common sense or the safety of millions. Of course, this is the kind of decision that the ACLU applauds.

Today’s historic decision by the European Court of Justice striking down a data-sharing agreement between the United States and the European Union is a striking rebuke for the United States, and shows the need for the U.S. to reassess its plans for airline passenger profiling, the American Civil Liberties Union said.

“The United States needs to get into the orbit of reality when it comes to airline passenger data sharing and prescreening,” said Barry Steinhardt, Director of the ACLU’s Technology and Liberty Project. “This decision shows that our Homeland Security officials cannot keep fantasizing that they can create a massive, all-encompassing global system for collecting data on travelers by running roughshod over not only basic privacy protections but also the laws of other nations.”

The court ruling came about after the United States pressured the EU to share the private data of its passengers with U.S. authorities as part of the US effort to collect identity and other information on every person who flies. That agreement was reached while DHS was attempting to establish its passenger prescreening program, then called CAPPS II, which has since been modified and renamed Secure Flight.

“Europe has done what the United States should and must eventually do: create enforceable laws to protect personal data,” said Tim Sparapani, Legislative Counsel in the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office. “This decision strikes another blow at the administration’s over-reaching passenger screening proposals. Perhaps the Transportation Security Administration will finally learn that programs like Secure Flight and Registered Traveler are fatally flawed and should be abandoned.”

Put your tin foil hats on moonbats! The ACLU are telling the U.S. to get into the orbit of reality? Once again, the ACLU show their true colors on American security. One might could cut them some slack if there was any effort by the U.S. to protect us from terror that the ACLU didn’t oppose. And the solution that the ACLU offers us to this dilema? Abandon the programs. Right? I mean, what could we ever need information sharing for? We should just be absolutely clueless who we let into this country. I think its the ACLU that need to get into the orbit of reality.

Also see: BBC News
and Flopping Ace’s conclusion about the EU.

» Filed Under ACLU, News, War On Terror

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Comments

One Response to “ACLU Applauds EU Court Decision Striking Down US-EU Data-Sharing Pact”

kerwin_brown on May 31st, 2006 12:27 pm

Our reaction is easy as all we need to do is stop all flight without the needed data from the EU from coming to the US and then wait and see how fast the EU finds a solution.