The Council of the European Union has approved the signing of a new EU-Australia Passenger Name Records (PNR) agreement, which is expected by the end of the month. The main aspects of the agreement, according to a council press release, include a strict purpose-of-use limitation to terrorist activities and transnational crime; a requirement that Australian border authorities share intelligence leads from PNR data with EU authorities; a strong data protection regime prohibiting the use of sensitive data, and a time limit of five-and-a-half years on storing the data. The agreement must receive the European Parliament's consent before its adoption.
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