EU to share air passenger data with Canada

The European Commission decided today to sign an agreement with Canada on the transfer of airline passenger information between European airlines and the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), for the purpose of identifying terrorist threats. The CBSA is authorized to collect data on all persons flying into Canada, but EU laws restrict the right of European airlines to disclose such information. The agreement is expected to be signed and implemented in early autumn, 2005. According to the EC news release, "The agreement with Canada gives further enhanced data protecgtion compared to the deal concluded with the US last year, and a smaller number of data elements are involved."