The EU will soon be putting two new, huge information systems for travellers into operation. The personal data stored there is arousing the US government’s interest.
In police databases, authorities store facial images, fingerprints and other identification information of both their own nationals and foreigners applying for asylum. Further data is recorded in migration-related systems, for example when applying for visas or when rejected asylum seekers are obliged to leave the country. In the European Union, they are operated jointly by the 27 member states. In November, a “Entry/Exit System” (EES) will be introduced, which will record biometric data when crossing European borders. A “European Travel Information and Authorisation System” (ETIAS), which is modelled on the US “Electronic System for Travel Authorization” (ESTA), will follow in May next year after a significant delay.
With several hundred million entries, including fingerprints and facial images, the EES will be one of the world’s largest biometric information systems. The government in Washington has had an interest in this data for some time, but so far only at an bilateral level. Two years ago, the US Department of Homeland Security required governments participating in the Visa Waiver Programme to grant US border authorities direct access to fingerprints, facial images and personal data records. It remains unclear whether this “Enhanced Border Security Partnership” (EBSP) also allows the 40 or so countries concerned to access biometric data in the US.
It is unusual for a government to grant another state privileged access to such personal records. Data is usually only exchanged at the request of a police authority or secret service. Germany concluded such a “security agreement” with the USA in 2008. It regulates reciprocal queries between the Federal Criminal Police Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) according to the “hit/no hit principle”. This involves using fingerprints or DNA samples to check whether information is available on a person, which can then be requested by means of a mutual legal assistance request. There are plans to extend this method to facial images.
This principle could now be adopted by the so-called “Five Eyes” states. Originally founded as an intelligence alliance, they consist of the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the UK, and are currently examining the possibility of cross-checking their criminal record databases. The initiative is aimed at fingerprints, which are to be used in the processing of visa applications and asylum requests. It is still unclear whether the measure would also affect nationals of the five countries or only people from other countries.
For three years now, the secret services of the “Five Eyes” and other friendly governments have also been authorised to enter terror suspects in the Schengen Information System (SIS). If these persons are found by the police during a check, the authorities are notified. Europol acts as an intermediary for this co-operation: the governments send lists, sometimes containing hundreds of names, to the police agency in The Hague, which then looks for a willing member state for entry in the largest European police database. Many of these requests come from the US FBI.
Following an enquiry via the “Ask the State” platform, another EU cooperation with the US Department of Homeland Security became known. In a pilot project launched at the beginning of 2023, Europol will receive information on people who have not been granted entry to the USA following an application via the ESTA programme due to “terrorism-related” reasons. Europol can search for the persons concerned in its own databases or in the SIS or issue alerts there for Europe-wide searches or monitoring. This also includes refusals for the protection of “national security” – the term is usually used to describe the work of secret services.
The idea behind the pilot project is that the US border authorities will in turn be notified of people who are denied entry under the European ETIAS programme from May 2025 due to “terrorism-related” reasons. The Frontex border agency in Warsaw, which has been commissioned by the EU Commission to operate the new “European Travel Information and Authorisation System”, would then also be involved in this cooperation.
Published in German in „nd“.
Image: From November, all foreign nationals will have to provide fingerprints and facial images when entering the EU. This will create one of the world’s largest biometric databases (Bundespolizei).
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