Airlines give Aussie details to US
A report in The Australian this morning says that Australians flying to the US have their personal details provided to the US Government under a secretive deal with private airlines.
The details passed on may include names, addresses and telephone numbers, as well as email addresses and even dietary requirements that can be used as evidence of a person’s religion.
A spokeswoman for the Customs Service said the provision of the information was a mandatory requirement imposed by the US Department of Homeland Security and a spokeswoman for Qantas said the company had provided the US with such information since June 2004, with Qantas’ conditions of carriage stating the airline does compile personal information, including health details, and may disclose this to foreign governments for security purposes.
In contrast, airlines travelling to Australia have only to provide government agencies with access to their computerised reservations system, which includes some personal information, on request.
As the US authorities tightened security after the attacks of September 11, 2001, they demanded airlines provide information about passengers before they allowed planes to land.
The US department compares this information with watch-lists of terror suspects under an initiative known as the secure flight program, however, the program was suspended last February, pending a review of its privacy and management controls following criticism these were inadequate.
A DHS report released last month raised “significant privacy concerns” over the Secure Flight program and a parallel agreement between the US and European airlines was annulled in the European Court of Justice, which found it breached data protection laws.
In October, a temporary deal between the US and the EU allowed the exchange of this personal information to take place. Under the agreement, personal information can be shared with domestic agencies and with foreign governments on a “case by case” basis.
About 375,000 Australians travel to the US every month, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and the number is increasing.
The Chairman of the Australian Privacy Foundation, Roger Clarke, said that while a passenger’s email address would not necessarily allow government agents to read the contents of emails, it would enable them to track who that person was communicating with.
A Report by The Mole from The Australian
John Alwyn-Jones
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