Top US officials defend passenger name exchange system

A Brussels conference was told that collection of airline passenger data in the US has helped combat a series of potentially "devastating" terrorist attacks.

Many MEPs have criticised PNR as a potential infringement of human rights.

But Tom Bush, of the US department of customs and border controls, said passenger name records (PNR) had "proven to be one of our most valuable tools" in tackling terrorism.

Bush was part of a high-level delegation of US officials who were in Brussels on Tuesday to update EU officials on implementation of the EU directive that requires airlines to pass on names and booking information of passengers before travelling to their destinations.

He said the arrest of Mumbai attack accused David Headley was "just one of many examples" of how the collection of such data had helped combat terrorism.

Bush said that data collected by airlines under the directive on passenger name records (PNR) is considered a "vital and proved tool" in the fight against terrorism and other organised crime.

He said the example of David Headley, the terrorist convicted in the US of involvement in the Mumbai attacks, shows the benefits of PNR.

He added, "The US used the PNR data in association with other known flight information to identify the suspect before he could travel".

His comments were echoed by Mary Callahan, chief privacy officer in the US department of homeland security, who said she wanted to dispel "myths" about PNR.

While admitting that some had questioned the legality of such a data-collection system, she stressed that there had been "no violations" by the US authorities.

She said "This is very important to us. I am often asked what we do with the information we collect and I tell them that while PNR has proved to be a very effective means of security, it has a robust privacy protection built into it."

She said that of the 130,000 requests for information last year, one third had come from Europeans and one third from Americans.