US embassy cable - 04BRUSSELS2586

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRUSSELS 002586 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR CA/PPT - ABARRETT; EUR/ERA - RBOLY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CPAS, KFRD, KCRM, EUN, USEU BRUSSELS 
SUBJECT: U.S.-EU JOINT MISSION TO INTERPOL ON LOST/STOLEN 
PASSPORTS 
 
REF: (A) BRUSSELS 2487 (B) STATE 100029 
 
1. (SBU) Summary.  During consultations in Brussels on 6/9 
and a subsequent joint mission to Interpol headquarters in 
Lyon on 6/10, the U.S. and EU ironed out some of the 
remaining wrinkles in plans to share information on lost and 
stolen passports through Interpol.  An EU Common Position, 
expected to be approved 6/18, will oblige all Member States 
to immediately begin transferring current and future data on 
lost/stolen passports to Interpol.  The EU will require 
reciprocity for Interpol to share this data with other 
countries. The joint mission discussed technical issues aimed 
at improving verification, feedback, data privacy and data 
protection.  Expanding access to Interpol's database at ports 
of entry worldwide will increase its utility.  End Summary. 
 
------------------------ 
EU Prepares to Adopt Common Position on Lost/Stolen Passports 
------------------------ 
 
2. (SBU) On 6/9, European Commission (EC) officials briefed 
Managing Director for Passport Services Ann Barrett, Senior 
Passport Operations Officer Michael Holly and PRMOff on the 
draft EU Council Common Position regarding the transfer of 
lost/stolen passport data to Interpol.  The draft received 
unanimous support at the EU Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) 
Council earlier that day and should formally be adopted by 
the EU on 6/18.  The Common Position provides a legal 
basis -- as well as an obligation -- for EU Member States to 
transfer all present and future data on lost and stolen 
passports to Interpol immediately after the passport data is 
sent to the Schengen Information System (SIS) and/or the 
national database.  Currently, only seven EU Member States 
provide passport data to Interpol.  According to JHA 
Administrator for Police Cooperation Jacques Verraes, when 
the upgraded version of the SIS comes online in 2007 the 
function of transferring passport data to Interpol will be 
assumed by the EC.  SIS-2 will have the legal and technical 
capabilities to automatically transfer data on lost and 
stolen passports. 
 
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Interpol Provides Conduit for Information Exchange 
------------------------ 
 
3. (SBU) In his opening remarks to the joint U.S.-EU mission 
on 6/10, Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble said that 
the decision by the U.S. and EU to submit data on lost and 
stolen passports to Interpol will greatly increase the 
utility of its Stolen Travel Document database.  Operational 
since September 2002, the Interpol database currently 
consists of 1.5 million records from 41 countries, including 
approximately 306,000 records from the U.S.  Noble noted that 
on 6/9 the G8 called for its members to contribute their 
records on blank passports to the database by the end of 
2004. 
 
4. (SBU) Noble stressed the advantages of exchanging data 
through Interpol by describing its global communication 
system (I-24/7), which allows 106 countries to continuously 
send and receive information, as well as the Command and 
Control Center staffed round the clock with multi-lingual 
personnel.  Noble welcomed the EU's draft Common Position and 
said that the Interpol database could handle receiving the 
8.5 million records of stolen/lost documents currently in the 
SIS.  JHA Head of Unit for Large Scale Information Systems 
Frank Paul clarified that the 8.5 million figure includes 
national identity cards and drivers licenses, but that the 
number of passports was probably several 
million. 
 
5. (SBU) According to Interpol, its travel document database 
has only generated 149 hits so far this year.  This low 
number is attributed to a lack of access at ports of entry 
and by national officials other than 
the NCBs.  Once the database is routinely queried by POEs and 
elsewhere, the number of hits is expected to rise quickly. 
Interpol said that within three months an interim solution 
could be found to expand connectivity to ports of entry 
(contingent on approximately 100,000 euros for technical 
improvements).  This connectivity will be piloted in the US. 
A more permanent solution could be reached by 2005 and cost 
nearly a million euros.  The EU Common Position stipulates 
that "Member States shall ensure that their police 
authorities will query the Interpol database for the purpose 
of this Common Position each time when appropriate for the 
performance of their task.  Member States will ensure that 
they set up the infrastructures required to facilitate 
on-line consultation at the latest by December 2004." 
 
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Ironing Out the Details 
------------------------ 
 
6. (SBU) Major points covered during the consultations in 
Brussels and Lyon on stolen/lost passports are as follows: 
 
-- Scope of data:  At Noble's request, the U.S. and EU said 
they would be receptive to contributing data on both blank 
and issued passports to the database.  He said that the date 
and location of the theft/loss was also important.  Barrett 
said that although this data was not recorded in CLASP, the 
Department could consider modifying its current procedures. 
 
 
-- Reciprocity:  The EU will demand reciprocity by only 
allowing Interpol to share EU-originated data with other 
members which provide similar information to Interpol and 
which give the EU access to it.  The EU intends to sign an 
"appropriate instrument" with Interpol headquarters and with 
other contributing countries to ensure reciprocity. 
According to Verraes, for the U.S. this could be accomplished 
with a simple exchange of notes and does not have to be an 
elaborate, legally binding instrument.  (Note.  The EU wants 
to guarantee that countries which sign a reciprocity 
agreement update the database in a timely and consistent 
manner -- not an issue with the U.S.  End Note.)  Barrett 
stated that the U.S. restricts its data only to the five 
officially listed state sponsors of terrorism and said the 
U.S. hopes in this way to lead by example.  Noble said he 
would remind countries at the upcoming general assembly in 
October that if they query the database they should also 
contribute data.  Barrett also mentioned that the U.S. 
intends to demarche all Interpol members to encourage them to 
share passport data. 
 
-- Data Protection:  The EU will require an "adequate level 
of protection of the personal data concerned" in its 
agreements with third countries.  According to JHA Special 
Assistant Luigi Soreca, this will involve a very low 
qualitative threshold because it relates to third pillar data 
protection for law enforcement purposes (which virtually all 
of the 182 Interpol members currently meet).  Soreca and Paul 
both mentioned that data protection issues were essential for 
gaining political support for the initiative from EU Member 
States.  Both the U.S. and EU expressed some concern about 
the possibility of "data mining" by certain governments.  To 
guard against this, Interpol allows border officials to check 
only one document at a time.  If NCBs submit large series of 
numbers for checks, Interpol only provides the first ten 
responses.  Interpol said that national security officers are 
also able to monitor, audit and analyze inquiry patterns. 
 
-- Data Privacy:  The EC expressed some data privacy 
reservations, including retention periods and rights of 
redress by the traveling public.  Regarding data retention, 
Interpol explained that the default purge date is set at five 
years.  Before the period expires, the contributing state 
will be notified and asked whether the information is still 
relevant or whether it should be purged from the system. 
Interpol noted that contributors are also given the option to 
set their own expiration dates (e.g., the UK currently uses 
10 years after the date the passport was issued).  Interpol 
also explained that citizens could file a "freedom of 
information" type request, but that Interpol would ask 
permission from the contributing state before providing 
information on file.  If incorrect data has been entered into 
the Interpol database, only the contributing government may 
request its alteration or deletion (not the private citizen 
or another government). 
 
-- Feedback and Verification:  Barrett stated that the top 
USG concern relates to Interpol members sharing immediate 
feedback on hits, particularly if they involve American 
citizens being stopped by border officials.  The EC also 
expressed concern about malicious reporting of stolen 
documents and inaccuracy of data entry resulting in 
legitimate travelers being stopped.  Interpol explained that 
each hit generates an automatic alarm message which states, 
"Do not take any police action before contact is made with 
the relevant NCB."  The EU Common Position makes verification 
mandatory before action is taken by national officials in the 
EU.  Barrett suggested customized wording to accelerate the 
verification process.  If the automated message requested 
specific information which only a legitimate passport holder 
could answer (i.e., mother's maiden name, father's birth 
date, social security number, etc.), the verification process 
would be expedited.  Interpol said that this was technically 
feasible and they would explore this possibility further. 
When asked about system down time, Interpol explained that 
the database is replicated and that if one system should go 
down, an error report is generated and when the database is 
queried again the request is automatically routed to the 
back-up for response. 
 
------------------------ 
Comment 
------------------------ 
 
7. (SBU) The joint mission to Interpol was useful in moving 
the information exchange on stolen/lost passports forward, as 
well as enhancing the transatlantic dialogue on border and 
transportation security.  Success in this information sharing 
effort could build confidence and lead to other initiatives 
with the EU.  CA/PPTs consultations in Brussels also allowed 
the EU to update the Department on other relevant topics such 
as including biometrics in EU passports (reftel a) and the 
effects of enlargement on the movement of American citizens 
in the Schengen area.  At Interpol, the U.S.'s decision to 
quickly hand over passport data compared favorably to the 
EU's internal plodding.  Though slower, the EU's Common 
Position should ultimately result in an additional 18 
countries contributing to Interpol's  Stolen Travel Document 
database. 
 
(CA/PPT has cleared on this cable.) 
 
SCHNABEL