<p>Called EU Directive on Passenger Name Records (PNR), the passenger data collected by airlines is considered a "vital and proved tool" in the fight against terrorism and other organised crime, Immigration minister Damian Green said in a statement in the House of Commons last night.<br /><br />Making the case for Britain's participation in the EU Directive, Green mentioned the example of David Headley.<br /><br />He said: "(The) case of David Headley, the terrorist facilitator convicted in the US of involvement in the Mumbai attacks shows the benefits of PNR.<br /><br />"All that was available to investigators initially was the first name 'David', a vague travel window of 'the next few weeks' and the partial travel itinerary of a flight from the United States to Germany".<br /><br />He added: "The US used this PNR data in association with other known flight information to identify the suspect before he could travel. Headley was later arrested and pleaded guilty to terrorism-related crimes".<br /><br />PNR, Green said, helped law enforcement agencies to prevent, detect, investigate and prosecute terrorists and other serious criminals.<br /><br />Its power lay in the fact that by using an automated system and interrogating it intelligently, authorities are able to sift data quickly and in such a way that it reveals patterns and makes links that would otherwise not be readily apparent, he said.<br />The system also helps apprehend human traffickers, Green said.<br /><br />In 2009, working with Italian authorities, he said Britain used PNR data to identify Chinese passengers attempting to travel to London from Italy in a human trafficking operation.<br /><br />It led to the conviction in the Italian courts of several traffickers in January 2010.<br />The statement said: "Modern criminality requires modern methods to seek out and shut down criminal activity. We cannot just focus on solving crimes after they have happened".<br />"Instead we must use the tools available to prevent them happening in the first place".<br /><br />Green added: "Our commitment to a proportionate approach is made clear by our proposal to collect data only on routes of high risk, whether these are between a third country and a Member State or between Member States.<br /><br />"Our starting position therefore is about reducing the amount of data collected rather than imposing blanket coverage on all routes from outside the EU as the Directive currently proposes".</p>
<p>Called EU Directive on Passenger Name Records (PNR), the passenger data collected by airlines is considered a "vital and proved tool" in the fight against terrorism and other organised crime, Immigration minister Damian Green said in a statement in the House of Commons last night.<br /><br />Making the case for Britain's participation in the EU Directive, Green mentioned the example of David Headley.<br /><br />He said: "(The) case of David Headley, the terrorist facilitator convicted in the US of involvement in the Mumbai attacks shows the benefits of PNR.<br /><br />"All that was available to investigators initially was the first name 'David', a vague travel window of 'the next few weeks' and the partial travel itinerary of a flight from the United States to Germany".<br /><br />He added: "The US used this PNR data in association with other known flight information to identify the suspect before he could travel. Headley was later arrested and pleaded guilty to terrorism-related crimes".<br /><br />PNR, Green said, helped law enforcement agencies to prevent, detect, investigate and prosecute terrorists and other serious criminals.<br /><br />Its power lay in the fact that by using an automated system and interrogating it intelligently, authorities are able to sift data quickly and in such a way that it reveals patterns and makes links that would otherwise not be readily apparent, he said.<br />The system also helps apprehend human traffickers, Green said.<br /><br />In 2009, working with Italian authorities, he said Britain used PNR data to identify Chinese passengers attempting to travel to London from Italy in a human trafficking operation.<br /><br />It led to the conviction in the Italian courts of several traffickers in January 2010.<br />The statement said: "Modern criminality requires modern methods to seek out and shut down criminal activity. We cannot just focus on solving crimes after they have happened".<br />"Instead we must use the tools available to prevent them happening in the first place".<br /><br />Green added: "Our commitment to a proportionate approach is made clear by our proposal to collect data only on routes of high risk, whether these are between a third country and a Member State or between Member States.<br /><br />"Our starting position therefore is about reducing the amount of data collected rather than imposing blanket coverage on all routes from outside the EU as the Directive currently proposes".</p>