The EU is about to sell our most sensitive data to the US for visa-free travel

raxxorraxor

As a European these texts are always a bit embarrassing. The evil USA that abuses our data... No, European countries suck completely on their own. There are people in jail without due process, we have histories full of systematic abuse of children/people with disabilities in care units, blatant disregard for constitutional rights by executive forces and you have these cases like this surfacing every other week. You don't need the evil USA to reject biometric data gathering by government. You just need to get your largest boot and point it at the arse of the next public official that is responsible for YOU. Not some imaginary enemy behind a bit of water ffs... rant off The mistake isn't some agreement with the USA, the problem is that this data might be available in the first place. And yes, this is a case where government/EU is NOT able to safeguard it. Other than that the text is correct and then we should just need to deal with the realities of needing visas again. > EDRi recommends the Commission and the Council to push back against the US government’s blackmail and refuse to sell people’s personal data There is no leverage so I fail to see how this could succeed. Especially if said officials have zero problems with this kind of surveillance. They just have to pretend that they do.

lukasbm

The future is bleak.

maratc

The point missing in the article is that, in order to enter the US, one needs to give the US Govt their photo and fingerprints ("biometric data") anyway. There are two options: visa-free with the biometric data passing on the wire (no hassle), or visa (a major hassle) and biometric data passing in the airport (a minor one). As a side note, the EU also collects photo and fingerprints from visitors now. Whereas in the US you only need to go through fingerprinting only once (or maybe "once per passport") and only on arrival , in the EU you need to go through it both on every arrival and every departure .

trolleski

EU selling out to the US, a shocker!

Vinnl

It's not clear to me if this would allow access to all biometric data, or "just" to that of people crossing the US border? And for the latter, what data are we talking about? If it's mostly fingerprints, don't those already get collected upon crossing the border? And can't they already be read from a passport's chip?

cm2187

I fail to understand the distinction between an ESTA and a visa to be honest. You need to do the paperwork in advance, pay, provide all sort of personal information, and it can be denied, and if approved only for a limited amount of time. Given that both the EU and the UK have reciprocated, it is a fiction that there exists some visa free travel between these 3 zones. And the more hassle you create, the less tourism you will get.

artisinal

Last time I purchased a new passport my fingerprints got scanned and sent to a French private company. Not sure if this is worse or not.

tokai

»It is on this basis that EU countries would then adopt their own bilateral EBSP agreements directly with the US (or adapt their existing arrangements).« So nobody has sold anybody out yet. The solution is to never visit the USA.

some_random

What a stupid, hysterical claim. This "sensitive data" is just what's on your passport, fingerprints, criminal history, and terrorism flags (from European agencies), only for people crossing the border. I don't see how you could defend not sharing any of that.

rocqua

Under the assumption that this framework is somewhat sane and only shares biometric data of those people who actually request an ESTA, I don't see the issue. This data already leaks whenever you travel legally to the US, because they take it from you as a requirement of entry. All this does is let them check the data they take on entry against the provided data. Which seems fair. The fact this data is already in passports is a very different matter, but that is something the EU has done voluntarily.

internet2000

Alarmism doesn't help anyone.

nonick

Romania and Bulgaria are in the EU and don't even benefit from visa-free travel to the US.

speak_plainly

This is a good thing for travellers. In border security there are generally two camps, one that uses data and intelligence to go after the worst, large-scale criminal operations and networks, and generally makes travelling easy for the average person, and the other is like traditional cops using traditional tactics… the kind that will miss the person smuggling a kilogram of cocaine in their suitcase but will go after the old man who didn’t declare a pair of socks he bought on a trip. They generally make travel awful. Support the intelligence-driven side of border security and reject the traditional cop camp.

was_a_dev

As an aside, I always find it amusing that as a British person that have visited both the US and the Schengen area since the new entry/exit system. Both the US and EU have taken my biometric information (i.e fingerprints) but the UK government has not.

bambax

Borders are generally insane. But they are especially rich coming from countries, like the US or many European countries that got most of their wealth from pillaging other territories. Walls and steel doors are bad enough but it's a good thing we're not birds, or else the world would be covered with wire mesh.

khurs

I assume this works both ways? And USA is in return 'about to sell our most sensitive data to the US for visa-free travel' too

gib444

On "selling out" claims. Yet again people not reading the article and trying to misrepresent who was the driving force: > In 2022, the US government announced that it would require access to biometric databases of countries if they wish to keep visa exemption for their citizens travelling to the US Big bad eu !!11!?!

pluc

Why isn't screening tech globalized on a planetary level? Shouldn't someone like INTERPOL take care of that?

EasyMark

This is not something I have a real issue with. Most of my privacy concerns are with my own government (the USA, Flock, various TLAs have unfettered communications access in violation of the 4th amendment, etc). I think the exchange of information should be mutual though. I don't care if they want to check me out before I enter their country, seems like a basic step. However, that info should not be shared until one gets a ticket/visa to said foreign country.

joeblubaugh

This is exactly what the EU does for foreigners entering