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Deutsch: Unschuldige Reisende werden mittels PNR überprüft und zu Verdächtig...

It has recently been revealed that UK Police secretly investigated the PNR (Passenger Name Records) data of 47 000 innocent people having travelled in and out of UK in 2009.

Checks included scrutiny of the police national computer, financial records and analysis of "known associates" related to travellers including information on their family and friends before being cleared for travel.

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Deutsch: Transfer von EU-Bankdaten auf Agenda der EU-Institutionen

The airline problems in Europe that have affected also many MEPs, have postponed a series of voting sessions scheduled for this week in Strasbourg, including the votes on PNR and SWIFT resolutions.

The US Administration declared that it hoped to continue "realistic" negotiations with the EU for a new bank data transfer deal with the EU, allowing American investigators to track terrorism funding.

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Deutsch: EP: Passagierdatenabkommen mit den USA und Australien auf der Tagesord...

The European Parliament (EP) has discussed last week the PNR (Passenger Name Records) agreements with the US and Australia.

MEP Sophie In't Veld (ALDE, Netherlands) explained that the Parliament has traditionally been more opposed to PNR agreements than to SWIFT. She said that it would be inappropriate to give the Parliament an option only to say "yes" or "no" to the proposal.

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Deutsch: Treffen der ISPs heizt Debatte über niederländische Vorratsdatenspei...

Dutch government agencies held a meeting on 14 October 2009 with internet service providers, looking for ways to clarify the data retention obligations under the country's new Data Retention Act. After the meeting, ISPs still face uncertainty over how long to store data, who falls within the scope of the Act and how the authorities want the data to be stored or disclosed.

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In Austria the international data protection day on 28 January will pass by widely unrecognised. This year, as already in 2008, the Data Protection Commission (DSK; the Austrian Data Protection Authority) and the Data Protection Council (DSR; a political advisory board) will together organise a meeting for a strictly limited amount of interested persons (max. 100 participants) where they will present European and international developments in data protection. In contrary to 2008, where they were confronted with by far more than 100 registrations, the event was promoted very poorly.

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The year 2008 did not improve the course of privacy and data protection in the Netherlands. The public debate focused on data collection systems related to fundamental aspects of Dutch citizens' lives, such as communications, health and movement. Unfortunately, there are no signs that concerns or incidental public outcry over privacy will lead to significant improvements to the design of the systems or reconsideration of their goals, merit and impact on society.

After years of negotiations, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) approved the data protection guarantees in the smart card system for the public transport sector.

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The Privacy Office of the U.S.

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On 11 November 2008, Peter Hustinx, the European Union's Data Protection Supervisor, gave some comments to the report published on 26 June 2008 by EU-US High Level Contact Group (HLCG) on information sharing between US-EU on privacy and personal data protection.

According to Hustinx, a greater sharing of personal data between the European Union and the US should be accompanied by guarantees that the individuals whose data are exchanged may examine the exchange process and correct eventual mistakes. He believes that US and EU should be allowed to share individual personal data in criminal cases, only if people can take the authorities to court when they are wronged.