A deal between Europe and the US could lead to unprecedented access by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – which operates US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – to the biometric data of European citizens.
Europe and the US are holding talks on a framework agreement for an Enhanced Security Border Partnership (EBSP) between the US and the European Union (EU) that will provide the US with access to data on EU citizens.
The UK’s Home Office confirmed it has received a request from the US DHS to access fingerprint records in relation to the EBSP programme, but said no negotiations were underway.
The agreement between Europe and the US will allow “a reciprocal exchange of information” for security screening, identity verification and visa applications.
Critics say that given the sensitivity of the data involved and the widely criticised actions of ICE officers against US citizens, there is a strong public interest in understanding exactly what the European authorities are negotiating.
But negotiations are shrouded in secrecy. The author of this article has been trying to obtain the documents for months under Freedom of Information (FOI) laws, but the Council of the European Union has refused to release them, arguing that their disclosure would harm international relations.
It said that the council enjoys a “wide discretion” in determining whether disclosure of a document to the public would undermine the public interest.
Continuous systematic transfers of data
A draft of the agreement proposed by Europe has been leaked to Statewatch, which reported that the EBSP “would involve mutual continuous and systematic transfers of biometric data”, understood to include fingerprints, photographs and genetic data.
Statewatch, a non-profit that monitors human rights in the UK and Europe, warned that data exchanged under the proposal could be used for a wide range of purposes by the US.
This includes preventing or arresting people travelling to the US who have expressed opposition to US policies in Europe, or for automated discriminatory profiling of travellers, including EU citizens.
The US is also holding separate negotiations with other countries participating in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), a US government scheme that allows nationals of participating countries to travel to the US for tourism or business for up to 90 days without a visa.
US authorities expect EBSP to be in place by 31 December 2026.
UK is negotiating with US on ESBP
The UK Home Office told Computer Weekly, following a FOI request, that it had received a request from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regarding an Enhanced Security Border Partnership with the UK, but that “negotiations are not underway”.
Asked which UK databases the US is seeking access to, the Home Office said the US was seeking access to UK fingerprint data, but mentioned no other biometrics.
“The US has requested the ability to check the fingerprints of UK citizens applying for a US visa against the UK national criminal fingerprint databases as a condition of ongoing membership of the US Visa Waiver Program,” it said.
Sophie In’t Veld, former Dutch member of the European Parliament and a vocal critic of the post-9/11 EU-US data agreements, told Computer Weekly it was hard to see who would defend the rights of European citizens.
“The government leaders are falling all over each other with grand statements about European digital autonomy, but they happily give away our most sensitive data, without any legal protection whatsoever, to an administration that is anti-democratic and hostile to Europe and Europeans,” she said.
Journalists in Europe and Australia, another country participating in the VWP, who have tried to access information about the EDPS under Freedom of Information laws have received either denial or heavily redacted documents.
This author has requested documents from Italy’s Home Office, which refused to reply, with the Council of the European Union, which denied access.