Are you likely to travel soon? Where to? Whom do you associate with? Where are you from?
Creeped out yet? Unfortunately, the European Union is about to adopt a new law that would create databases of this kind of information about everyone flying into, out of, or even across Europe—no matter where you’re from or why you’re travelling.
Send a "boarding pass" to members of the EU parliament urging them to say “No” to the EU PNR Directive.
“Passenger Name Records,” or PNRs, contain your private information—the flights you’ve booked, the people you’re travelling with, your credit card details, and so on. Under this new law, all of that private data would be indiscriminately stored by government authorities for a minimum of five years, making you vulnerable to data theft, misuse, or abuse—with personal harms ranging from credit card fraud to government profiling. Yet no evidence has been presented in the EU parliament to show that building these massive databases will help catch terrorists or keep anyone safe.
History shows that this type of profiling and database-building disproportionately affects vulnerable people and communities, such as religious, ethnic, or other minority groups. Yet it’s all likely to take place under the European Union’s proposed PNR Directive.
We have to kill this bill.
Three years ago, the European Parliament rejected this measure, deeming it too great a risk to passengers’ privacy. But today some members of the Parliament are caving in to intense political pressure.
The PNR Directive was not the right answer for security three years ago, and it’s not the right answer today. Instead of adding more hay to the giant surveillance haystack, we need to improve the signal-to-noise ratio. That means investing in improving cooperation between EU law enforcement agencies in finding the “needle”—the suspects—and not more mass surveillance for everyone who travels there.
Passenger databases are not the answer we need. No matter where you live, it's time to tell members of the European Parliament to say NO!
The EU PNR Directive is set for a vote in the European Parliament. It is not too late to stop it. Whether you’re in Europe or just planning to travel there, you need to take action now.
Send a message and a boarding pass to members of the European Parliament, asking them to protect your privacy by rejecting the EU PNR Directive.
You are not alone in the fight. Who says NO to this PNR approach?
The EU Data Protection Supervisor
The EU Fundamental Rights Agency
The Article 29 Data Protection Working Party
European Digital Rights
