EU/US: Agreement on sharing of trans-Atlantic passengers data.

Last Monday, we mentioned the failure of the agreement between the US and the EU over data on airline passengers. Well, it looks like a deal has now been reached:

EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini said new mechanisms had been agreed to distribute data from airlines to the US.
US officials will no longer be able to "pull" the information - which includes details on credit cards, passports, telephone numbers and even meal preferences - direct from airline computer systems, but will have it "pushed" to them.
(.../...)
Mr Frattini said the new deal allowed easier distribution of data, but would not allow "unconditional direct electronic access" by agencies such as the FBI
(.../...)
Announcing the deal at a news conference in Luxembourg, Finland's Justice Minister Leena Luhtanen, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said the new agreement was the best solution for all sides.
"This new agreement will provide a possibility of giving passenger data to the US authorities while guaranteeing sufficient data protection," she said.

(BBC)

So next time you travel between the US and Europe, keep that in mind, the info will be “pushed”, not “pulled” any more – whatever difference that makes.
I guess it is all about the feeling of being in control…or not, and now the EU feels that it is.