U.S. to Europe: pull the data directly from the airlines' computer servers and store the information for 99 years

an interesting battle over privacy is shaping up...

The post-Sept. 11 flight data sharing agreement between the US and EU expires in July. But a new agreement is nowhere in sight. The Americans want to know even more, and the Europeans want to tell them even less.

the u.s., in response to perceived resistance, even sent chertoff to talk to the european parliament...

It was his first opportunity to address the European Parliament about an issue that is extremely contentious in Europe: How much information should US authorities be given about travellers from EU countries flying to the US?

small wonder there's resistance...

The Americans' dream agreement would allow them to pull the data directly from the airlines' computer servers and store the information for 99 years.

but, these days, what with one thing and another, the u.s. is about as popular as a turd in a punchbowl...

[T]he session repeatedly turned into an obscure, would-be trial about the US's many lapses over the past years: From Abu Ghraib and illegal kidnappings by the CIA to gun laws, every gripe was fair game.

and, naturally, we have the patented bushco stonewall...

Chertoff ignored just as many questions as he answered.

so far, little progress is being made...

[Center-left parliamentarian Wolfgang Kreissl-Dörfle's] main criticism was that the US is basically blackmailing Europe. In his view, Washington is forcing a simple alternative on the EU states: "My way or the highway." That is not, he says, the way to a solution, even if the deadline looms.

but, hey, wolfgang, that's the way they operate domestically too...

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