U.S. Privacy Act to Cover EU Citizens

STRASBOURG, France (AP) - European Union citizens will be protected by the U.S. Privacy Act under an anti-terror deal with Washington on the sharing of trans-Atlantic air passenger data, the EU's top justice official said Monday.

Seeking to dispel concerns over a possible erosion of privacy, EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini told EU parliamentarians that the binding deal, backed by envoys from the EU's 27 nations two weeks ago, provides for a high level of data protection.

"Protection given under the U.S. Privacy Act will be extended to non-U.S. citizens, particularly with regard to redress and compensation. Citizens of the EU will be entitled to protection under the same privacy act, which wasn't the case under the previous agreement," Frattini told the European Parliament.

The new text is to replace an interim deal that expires at the end of July. Failure to strike a deal by then would have risked flight chaos, as Washington had warned that airlines failing to share passenger data under its anti-terror screening rules faced fines of up to $6,000 per passenger and the loss of landing rights.

Differences over how to balance security needs with concerns over passengers' privacy led to protracted negotiations after a 2004 deal on data sharing was voided by an EU court last year for technical reasons.