EU-US Personal Flight Data Treaty signed - Uncle Sam needs to know what your meal preferences are

If you fly to the USA from a UK airport her Majesty the Queen has passed an Order in Council that means that your Personal Flight Data will be transmitted to the US authorities. For details see Lord Patel's post on Wednesday January 31st 2007
http://postmanpatel.blogspot.com/2007/01/fly-to-us-and-pass-their-terrism-test.html

Briefly. The Queen's Most Excellent Majesty in Council At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 19th day of July 2005 with the advice of Her Privy Council had ordered.
2006 No. 2316 / CIVIL AVIATION

The Air Navigation (Amendment) Order 2006 Made - - - - 5th September 2006 /Laid before Parliament 7th September 2006 / Coming into force - - 30th September 2006
At the Court at Balmoral, the 5th day of September 2006
Present, The Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty in Council
Her Majesty, in exercise of the powers conferred upon Her by sections 60(1), (2)(b), (3)(h) and (4), 61(1)(a) and 102(2)(b) of, and paragraph 2 of Part 3 of Schedule 13 to, the Civil Aviation Act 1982(a), is pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to order as follows: ... etc which means that 34 bits of data about you , name, address, sex, food preferences, credit card number, etc.,etc., will disappear of to the data vaults of uncle Sam forever.

At the time the EU were negotiating a treaty with the US , but HMQ couldn't wait so she pulled the old Order in Council trick on behalf of anyone who flies to the US from a UK airport, one of her cherished citizens or not.

Anyone noticed any MP's MEP's, Scots / Welsh MP's say anything whilst all this was whizzed through whilst they were on holiday last year ?

Gawd Bless you, yer Majesty !!!

Slightly more concerned about revealing all this data the EU have finally now negotiated a treaty for dealing with all this data that was signed yesterday in Washington by US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff and Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs Luis Amado on the behlf of every EU citizen and any other passenger choosing to fly from an EU airport to the USA. Chertoff says his guts tell him that such data is "an essential screening tool for detecting potentially dangerous trans-Atlantic travelers."

Concern over privacy rights led the EU to insist on a reduction in the number of data points (from 34 to 19) and to complain that the data would be stored for too long.

The US won't keep the data forever they will keep the data active for seven years, and then in a "dormant" file for specific uses for an additional eight years - how you check that it get's erased / destroyed is left to the imgaination. And US officials will not be able to access airlines' records directly, instead relying on the airlines to send them data -- or face fines.

Those 34 points have been reduced to 30, the remaining 11 points have such as race or religion is supposed to be filtered out, for instance, but could be retained in special cases. "This is like Swiss cheese -- for every rule, there is an exception or escape clause," says Dutch MEP Sophie in 't Veld "This fails completely, despite all the statements to the contrary."

"The Americans basically declare on their word of honor that they will be very careful with our personal data," Sophie in 't Veld says. "Based on our experiences in the past, that's not good enough." (Der Spiegel)

Again this year everyone is off on holiday so don't expect any MP's MEP's, Scots / Welsh MP's say anything whilst all this was whizzed through whilst they were on holiday again.

Just another erosion in personal feedom and liberty restricting UK (and EU fliers) citizens that have resulted from 9/11 , 7/7 et sequaela.... and which will contunue under Uncle Joe Stalin Gordon Brown.