The US hunger for data on everyone everywhere was dealt a blow yesterday by the European Court of Justice. The court blocked an agreement between the US and the EU that would have seen the sharing of passenger data.
The agreement demands that within 15 minutes of take-off for the United States, a European airline must send the US authorities 34 items of personal information about the passengers on board.
Washington had warned that it would impose heavy fines and deny landing rights for any airline failing to comply with the agreement.
The US authorities also said passengers would be subject to long security checks on arrival, if the data was not sent in advance.
As the serve and volley begins it will be interesting to see how this plays out bearing in mind the US predisposition for heavy-handed tactics.
[tags]Airline Security, European Union, EU Court, Bush[/tags]