Leaked documents have revealed that the US plans to keep data on air passengers for 15 years in a bid to counter terrorism.
This is three times as long as is allowed in Europe and will ignite the fury of human rights groups as it will see the likes of credit card details, phone numbers and home addresses kept on file and potentially open to abuse.
The Guardian newspaper, which obtained the draft agreement between Washington and Brussels, says the information will be analysed by US automated data mining and profiling programmes in an attempt to make sure known terrorism suspects do not board flights.
The paper says the US wants airline operators to give it passengers lists “as near complete as possible” 96 hours before take off to check for known names.
The EU must approve the plan before it can go forward.
by Dinah Hatch Read more:US wants to hold PNR records for 15 years-26 May, 2011
