Statewatch | EU prepares to give US direct access to police and immigration databases
www.statewatch.org
The massive increase in violent immigration raids, detention and deportation underway in the US has put off many people from visiting the country. Soon there may be yet another reason to think twice about taking a trip to the “land of the free”: US immigration and law enforcement agencies could be given the power to search European databases, to identify people posing “a threat to US security.”

The EU is planning to strike a deal with the US that would let the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies search European databases to identify people posing “a threat to US security,” according to a proposal published by the European Commission at the end of July.

    • bigFab@lemmy.worldEnglish
      313·
      1 month ago

      So you believe in the sincerity of US intelligence agencies, that even if they have access to everybody’s police record they’re gonna limit the surveiling to the ones with a plane ticket already bought? History tells a very different story.

      • Vincent@feddit.nlEnglish
        11·
        1 month ago

        Does the linked proposal say that the US intelligence agencies get access to everybody’s record, or just to the ones with a plane ticket?

        • Wrufieotnak@feddit.orgEnglish
          2·
          1 month ago

          The US police could easily falsify a ticket or just say, I want to immigrate from a neighbouring country if I travel to Mexico for example. But more likely, they get full access and then when it gets out, that they copied it fully, everybody involved will try and make their best Pikachu face.

        • bigFab@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          1 month ago

          I think it’s pretty obvious. There is no such thing as a database of people with a US plane ticket and the article refers to direct access rather than request to access policy. Direct access then technically includes the whole database, even if the surveiling pretext is certain kind of US travelers.

    • Alfredolin@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      132·
      1 month ago

      How is it misleading? That’s what I read in the article. And that’s probably actually “Millions of innocent Europeans in police databases”. These are not exclusive affirmations?

      A quick search tells me just about 2 million Germans visited USA in 2024. Which is actually much more than I expected.

        • Alfredolin@sopuli.xyzEnglish
          61·
          1 month ago

          Most EU countries already participate in the Visa Waiver Program. This agreement is about extending it to 3 more countries in the union and …

          Where the objective of an exchange of information under a PCSC agreement is to fight terrorism and serious crime, the purpose of the exchange of information under the EBSP is potentially broader as it also concerns the areas of border management and visa policy.

          … extend the content of exchanged data. So, yes, the article is right?

            • Alfredolin@sopuli.xyzEnglish
              3·
              1 month ago

              That’s true. The title might lead to think of a generalised access. The data exchange is not defined yet, and that is the work to be done as stated in the paper you linked. Annex, point 3:

              In particular, the framework agreement should provide clear and precise rules and procedures for triggering a query on a traveller, to preclude a systematic, generalised and non-targeted processing of data for all travellers.

              • Wrufieotnak@feddit.orgEnglish
                1·
                1 month ago

                Yeah, never heard that one before a country wide surveillance database was generated.

                When the government, especially the USA, and surveillance is concerned,I expect worst results instead of good faith.