The European Commission impact assessment pointed out in 2011 that unlike airline carriers, most sea and railway carriers did not collect PNR data. Thalys was one of the exceptions. (Photo: calflier001)

EU 'outdoing Bush' on sea and train passenger-data warning

Rule of Law

by Peter Teffer, Brussels,

The idea of obliging railway and ferry companies to transfer passengers' personal data to national authorities in the EU, as reported this week by EUobserver, shows that Europe is "trying to outdo" former US president George W. Bush, a privacy watchdog has warned.

Documents revealed that a majority of EU member states are open to the idea of expanding the scope of the 2016 passenger name record (PNR) directive, which requires air carriers to provide authorities with passenger data, suc...