All air passengers flying in and out of Europe could have all their personal data stored for up to five years if a counter-terror plan by the European commission is given the green light.
The plans, which come in the wake of the Paris attacks earlier this month, would require 42 separate pieces of information on every passenger, including their bank card details, home address and meal preferences, to be stored on a central database for up to five years for access by the police and security services.
According toThe Guardian, the Commission’s proposal describes itself as a “workable compromise” between European interior ministers, who want the plan adopted for all flights within Europe as well as international flights, and the European Parliament’s civil liberties committee, which has previously vetoed the plan.
A system for sharing airline travel data known as Passenger Name Record (PNR) was proposed in 2011 but has so far been resisted by campaigners who argue that it infringes privacy.
The Guardian said that interior ministers including Theresa May agreed the plan on the day of the Je Suis Charlie march in Paris.
Prime minister David Cameron has already announced plans that will force airlines to share more passenger data with security agencies in a renewed terrorism crackdown.
In September, Cameron said requirements on airlines should be tightened and more information shared about passengers than at present. Failure to do so could mean planes will not be allowed to land in Britain.
Jan Phillip-Albrecht, vice-chairman of the European parliament’s civil liberties committee, said: “It is an open breach of fundamental rights to blanketly retain all passenger data. Instead of a full take of passenger name record data, we need a focus on suspects and risk flights.”
A European commission spokesperson said: “We are carefully assessing all options for how the Commission can best help EU legislators to reach a quick and effective result on the EU PNR proposal."