U.S. Canada Negotiating Over Aviation List Privacy

The U.S. and Canadian governments have started formal negotiations over whether Canada will provide private information on its citizens for U.S. terrorist watch lists and aviation security programs, according to wire service reports.

But Homeland Security Department Secretary Tom Ridge predicted that an agreement will require lengthy negotiations, given the differences in privacy and constitutional laws of both countries.

The U.S. government is seeking access to watch lists from other countries for efforts such as the Terrorist Screening Center, which provides U.S. law enforcement agencies access to integrated databases, and the Computer-Assisted Passenger Pre-Screening II (CAPPS II) program, which screens and rates airline passengers for potential threats.

Ridge likened CAPPS II negotiations with Canada to those the U.S. government has had with the European Union. EU officials have balked at providing passenger data to the United States, saying that turning over passenger records would violate privacy laws.

But the EU agreed in Decemberto provide information for a CAPPS II pilot program to be conducted this summer to see how the data is used.