Press Release

For Immediate Release
10 July 2007

ACTE Faults New EU-US PNR Agreement For Privacy Concerns

London --

The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) expressed concern over a number of points presented in the text of a new EU-US agreement regarding required PNR data for European travelers entering the United States.  According to ACTE’s Executive Director, Susan Gurley, the new agreement offers one small improvement at the expense of three significant disadvantages. These disadvantages refer to the amount of time passenger information can be stored, the number of agencies that have access to the data and how it can be used, plus the right of the passenger to examine the data.

“Someone needs to speak out for the rights of our European members and all international travelers,” said Gurley. “This association has been a strong advocate for preserving these fundamental rights for US travelers, and the same protection should extend to travelers from outside the US.”  ACTE’s position has been echoed by various European governments officials, who have also found fault with the agreement.

“Being an international organization, it’s ACTE’s responsibility to be cognizant of both the security needs of the US government and rights to privacy of European travelers. The reduction in number of required data fields now sought by the Department of Homeland Security from European travelers clearly indicates that over 40 percent of previously collected information was unnecessary,” said Gurley.

ACTE’s Executive Director claimed the field of data reduction should be well received by the EU, which initially protested the number of data fields required by the previous agreement, but could be a poor tradeoff considering the new demands. These include:

• An extension of time passenger data can be kept, up from 3.5 years to 15 years (including a dormant period)
• Data on EU citizens will be accessible to a number of US agencies, that will not be limited in their use of the information.
• The absence of a venue allowing EU citizens to check their stored data

“These issues need to be properly addressed, or this will simply be one more agreement subject to contentious revision in a few years,” Gurley concluded. All 27-member countries of the EU must ratify this agreement, with the existing agreement set to expire at the end of the month.

For more information, contact:
Debbie Flynn
CEO
Brighter Group
The Pod, London's Vertical Gateway
Bridges Wharf, Battersea
London SW11 3BE England
T: 020 7326 9880
F: 020 7326 9890
E: [email protected]
W: www.brightergroup.com