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Switzerland’s Federal Council has opened the consultation process for the Flight Passenger Data Act (FPG), the country’s authorities have confirmed.
According to the statement published by the Federal Office of Switzerland, the use of flight passenger data is an effective tool that helps to fight terrorism and other serious crimes in more than 60 countries, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Authorities in Switzerland have stressed that the country should be eligible to use the corresponding data in the future.
“Switzerland is an important hub in international air traffic. Before the pandemic, it recorded over 58 million air passengers. When booking a flight, the airlines summarize information about the individual passengers in a passenger name record (PNR for short) – also in Switzerland. When flying to a country that uses PNR, airlines are now obliged to provide the local authorities with the flight passenger data,” the statement published by the Federal Office notes.
Airlines that take off from the Swiss territory and land in the European Union, the United States, or Canada will be required to pass this data on to the authorities at the destination.
A total of 62 countries worldwide, including the European Union countries, have set up offices that estimate this information about air passengers in order to fight illicit affairs such as crime and terrorism.
Switzerland is ineligible to use the data due to the fact that there is no corresponding legal basis in this regard.
Thus, the Federal Council has now opened the consultation for the corresponding federal law on the processing of flight passenger data in order to combat terrorism and other criminal affairs.
Passenger Name Records (PNR) data helps to identify terrorists or people who are involved in such illicit affairs. This enables the police officers to get the detailed information regarding persons’ travel movement and also recognize patterns for a police investigation. In this way, persons involved in a criminal affair can be uncovered.
“PNR use is an international obligation: With three resolutions, the UN Security Council calls on the international community to set up national PNR systems. The resolutions are also binding for Switzerland. The use of this instrument is also a condition for Switzerland to remain in the USA’s Visa Waiver Program (VWP),” the statement reads.
PNR data consists of information such as first and last name, address and telephone number, credit card, or PayPal.
Despite the new changes, authorities in Switzerland have stressed that the data and personal rights of the passengers are guaranteed.