EU court rules out airline data transfer to the US

[Maciamo]

BBC News : EU court blocks data deal with US

The European Court of Justice has blocked an EU-US agreement that allows European airline passenger data to be transferred to the US authorities.

The Luxembourg court said there was no legal basis for the EU decision to declare US data protection "adequate".

European airlines have been obliged to give US authorities passengers' names, addresses and credit card details.

The measure - opposed by the European Parliament - was designed to help prevent acts of terrorism.
...
Washington has warned that it will impose heavy fines and deny landing rights for any airline failing to comply with the agreement.

This is a good example of the European Court of Justice overruling a decision made by the EU Commission and member states governments.

The European Commission, EU governments and the US had signed the deal despite privacy objections from the European Parliament.

The parliament asked the European Court of Justice to annul the deal.

In its ruling on Tuesday, the court found that the EU Council of Ministers' decision to sign the agreement on "Passenger Name Records" lacked an adequate legal basis.

"Consequently, the Court annulled the Council decision approving the conclusion of the agreement," a court press release said.

[Mycernius]

I was going to pst a thread onthis as soon as I got home, but I see you have beaten me to it.
I, personally, agree with the ruling. Why do the US really need by credit card numbers, or even what type of meal I have had on the plane? Surely their checking in prodcedures should be tightened up. Europe have managed for longer with terrorist threats and do not ask for the details such as this. The UK could have demanded such things during the Irish Troubles, after all there were Americans who where sympathetic to the IRA, but we managed with tighter security at airports. It seems nowadays the way to get your own way is to shout the word terrorism and then expect everyone to panic and give away more of their rights. That is exactly what the US homeland security will shout about, terrorists, Islamic fundamentalists, 9/11 etc. Best way to control a people, fear and paranoia. I sometimes think George Orwell was right

[Minty]

Yeah, I wouldn't want too much invasion of my privacy either.