08 May 2023
The Future of the European Security Architecture: A Debate Series
This debate series is dedicated to Ligue des Droits Humains – a case in which the Court of Justice of the European Union decided on the fate of one of the main drivers of this development: the Directive on on the use of passenger name record (PNR) data for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences and serious crime. The PNR Directive, being one of the first major EU-wide examples of predictive policing, is not just interesting in itself. It exemplifies the emergence and gradual consolidation of a new security architecture in Europe. Continue reading >>
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24 June 2022
Fundamental Rights at the Digital Border
We are witnessing the emergence of the EU’s ‘digital border’: an ecosystem of interoperable databases to expand the surveillance and control of the movement of third-country nationals. In this blog post, we discuss one of the latest additions to this ecosystem - the European Travel Information and Authorisation System, or ETIAS in short - and argue that the system as it is currently set up violates the right to data protection laid down in Article 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, especially in light of the CJEU’s PNR judgment earlier this week. In many ways, we consider ETIAS to be a test case for a much wider roll-out of such often AI-powered technologies in the field of border control. Continue reading >>
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23 June 2022
A Directive altered beyond recognition
On 21 June 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union rendered its decision in the preliminary ruling procedure on the fate of the PNR Directive. The Court had a chance to decisively answer one of the most crucial questions facing European security law: Is indiscriminate mass data retention for and the technology-induced analysis of ordinary human behavior compatible with fundamental rights? It instead opted for an enigmatic compromise creating a whole host of new questions. It does not change the fact that the PNR Directive survives – as a strange beast altered beyond recognition. Continue reading >>
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28 January 2022
A cautious green light for technology-driven mass surveillance
Yesterday, on 27 January 2022, Advocate General Pitruzzella published his Opinion in the CJEU's preliminary ruling procedure on the PNR Directive and its compatibility with EU primary law. The AG, while criticizing the PNR Directive’s overly broad data retention period and its lack of clarity and precision in certain points, generally considers the PNR Directive to be “compatible with the fundamental rights to respect for private life and to the protection of personal data”. His arguments are not convincing. Continue reading >>
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21 December 2021
Der europäische PNR-Rahmen und die sich verändernde EU-Sicherheitslandschaft
Seit Mai 2018 werden Reisende, die einen Flug in die, aus der oder innerhalb der Europäischen Union buchen oder antreten, gemäß der PNR-Richtlinie in Risikokategorien eingeteilt, um die Wahrscheinlichkeit ihrer Beteiligung an kriminellen oder terroristischen Aktivitäten zu bewerten. Das eigentliche Ziel des PNR-Richtlinie besteht darin, potenzielle Verdächtige zu identifizieren, die den Behörden bisher unbekannt waren. Sie hat somit das Potenzial, zentrale gesellschaftliche Werte wie Privatsphäre, Fairness und menschliche Autonomie neu zu definieren. Continue reading >>
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21 December 2021
The European PNR framework and the changing landscape of EU-security
Since May 2018, travelers booking or embarking on a flight to, from or within the European Union are classified into risk categories in order to assess the likelihood of their involvement in criminal or terrorist activity, per the PNR Directive. The very ambition of the PNR framework is to identify potential suspects previously unknown to the authorities. It has thus introduced important changes into existing EU approaches to security conceptions and practices, and has the potential to redefine core societal values such as privacy, fairness and human autonomy. Continue reading >>
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