German travel management association VDR has welcomed the Lufthansa Group’s withdrawal from US data platform Prism and is calling on other airlines to follow suit.
The VDR has long criticised airlines’ use of Prism, which requires business customers to input travel booking information in order to secure certain benefits including corporate deals. The data enables airlines to monitor corporate contracts but, by purchasing data from Prism, carriers can also make demand-related price adjustments, says VDR, which has in the past referred Prism to Germany’s federal cartel office on the grounds of data protection and competition laws.
“The canceled collaboration between Lufthansa and Prism is an important step against market agreements and for better cross-border data protection,” said VDR president Christoph Carnier.
“From the point of view of the VDR, the handling of information by Prism does not meet the needs of our members for the protection and security of their data.
“In addition, the passing on of sales data distorts the competition between the airlines and weakens the negotiating position of our member companies with the airlines.
“We therefore encourage our members to urge their contractual partners to also opt out of Prism in the interests of fair competition and compliance with German and European data protection regulations.”
Carnier added: “At the same time, we are offering the airlines the opportunity to work on a new standardised reporting system that complies with data protection regulations.”