The suit follows the Government's apparent refusal to give up
information following a freedom of information request.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the digital rights
group, has filed the case against the US Department of Homeland
Security (DHS). The suit demands that the DHS release records about
how collected data is handled, maintained, used, disclosed and
secured.
The EU and the US agreed a controversial deal in 2004 which
forced airlines to disclose information to the US. The European
Parliament objected to the deal and the European Court of Justice
(ECJ) ruled it illegal.
The ECJ's decision said that the previous agreement broke
European rules on a technicality after the European Parliament had
opposed it on grounds of substance. The substance of the deal was
never tested by the ECJ, which made no further decision once it
found the technical flaw in its implementation.
The EU and US then agreed a very similar deal which critics said
granted the US even more power to gather and process data, but
which the European Commission said gave it more control over data.
That deal is an interim one, and a new agreement must be signed on
a more permanent basis by next summer.
The deal means that 34 pieces of information about passengers
gathered by airlines at the time of booking are automatically
passed to US authorities before a plane even lands in the US.
The EFF is now seeking information about the handling of that
data. "Travellers may give up a lot of personal information when
they make flight reservations," said Marcia Hofmann, an attorney at
the EFF. "Those travelling between Europe and the United States
deserve to know who gets to see that data, how the information is
protected, and whether those practices comply with EU law.
The EFF had previously asked for that information under the
Freedom of Information Act, but the DHS failed to respond to their
request, it said.
The case has been filed under the Freedom of Information Act in
the District Court of the District of Columbia seeking access to
records under the FOI Act.
