Section:GDN 1N PaGe:28 Edition Date:190808 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 7/8/2019 16:31 cYanmaGentaYellowbl
- The Guardian Thursday 8 August 2019
(^28) World
EU states back plan to collect road and rail
users’ personal data despite privacy fears
Daniel Boff ey
Brussels
The EU’s member states have given
“broad support” to collect ing the
personal data of people travelling on
high-speed trains and even on Europe’s
roads in an expansion of a directive
that covers airline passengers.
Despite concerns in some capitals
that the move would amount to a dis-
proportionate infringement of privacy
or create travel delays, it has won the
backing of a majority of member states,
according to internal documents.
Under the passenger name record
(PNR) directive, about 42 pieces of
information are collected in advance
on those travelling on scheduled and
charter fl ights, either with in the EU
cover road traffi c, such as international
coach services , although this proposi-
tion is not a priority given the logistical
problems it poses.
The document states: “The negative
replies highlighted arguments related
to the increase of data to be processed
... something which was unlikely to be
manageable, and could even be seen
as an intrusion into privacy.
“Overall, member states were in
favour of broadening the scope of data
collection to other types of transpor-
tation, but that it was important fi rst
to implement the PNR directive as it
is, [and] ensure that PIUs [passenger
information units – the specialised
offi ces each member state must set up
for travel data collection] can manage
the PNR data and are fully opera-
tional,” it says.
Earlier this summer, the Community
of European Railway and Infrastruc-
ture Companies , which represents the
transport sector, warned that interna-
tional rail journeys to or from Belgium
were likely to take 20 to 30 minutes
longer once its national requirements
were imposed.
Belgium is currently piloting its
plans, whereby inspectors check
whether the name on the train ticket
matches the passenger’s identity card
or passport.
A second EU document – written last
month by the government of Fin land,
which currently holds the bloc’s rolling
presidency – reports that law enforce-
ment agencies are struggling with the
rise in travel both in and out of Europe
and within its borders.
“Increasing cross-border travel-
ling entails cross-border crime, such
as migrant smuggling and irregular
migration arrangements, which
involves third-country nationals that
are smuggled into the EU territories,
or narcotic drugs smugglers, terrorists
and other criminals,” the paper says.
“This poses a growing challenge to
national law enforcement authorities
in combating crime.”
The confi dential document adds:
“The presidency suggests continuing
the discussion about widening the
scope of the PNR directive to other
forms of transportation than air traffi c.
“These other forms of transporta-
tion could be, for example, sea traffi c
and international high speed trains.”
Any expansion of the PNR would
require scrutiny and approval by the
European parliament. Member states
would then have two years to translate
the revised directive into national law.
Naughty step: ban on tourists
sitting on Italian monument
Angela Giuff rida
Rome
Police in Rome have begun shooing
away tourists resting on the Spanish
Steps as the city continues its crack-
down on unruly visitors.
Police began patrolling the 18th-
century marble steps on Tuesday,
blowing whistles at those sitting down
and asking them to move on.
The monument, a Unesco world
heritage site, has long been a favourite
or entering it, including itinerary,
bank card details, home address, seat
number and baggage information.
Police and security services use the
records to identify potential terror or
serious crime suspects and track their
movements.
Belgium – the only EU state to also
impose such reporting requirements
on operators of international trains,
coaches and ferries under its PNR
legislation for national use – is among
those wanting the pan- European
scheme expanded.
A confi dential EU document pub-
lished by the website Statewatch
shows 83% of member states back
the expansion of the PNR directive to
maritime travel and 76% to railways.
A majority of member states (67%)
are said to support an expansion to
42
Number of pieces of information
collected in advance on those either
entering the EU or fl ying within it
Police attempt to move visitors
from the Unesco-listed 18th-century
Spanish Steps in Rome yesterday
MAIN PHOTOGRAPH: ALESSANDRO SERRANO/REX
around bare-chested, jumping into
fountains and dragging wheeled suit-
cases and pushchairs down historic
staircases.
“We agree that people shouldn’t
‘camp out’ and eat on the steps of mon-
uments, as rubbish gets left behind,”
said To mmaso Tanzilli , a director at the
Rome unit of Federalberghi , the Italian
hotels association. “But criminal ising
people for sitting down, especially if
they are elderly, is a little excessive.”
Claudio Pica , the president of Fie-
pet-Confesercenti in Rome, said the
rule was absurd and would “drive
tourists away”.
The Spanish Steps, designed by
the architect Francesco de Sanctis
between 1723 and 1726, underwent a
€1.5m restoration in 2016, funded by
the luxury jeweller Bulgari.
Similar measures are in place in
Venice, where stewards patrol the
steps of the porticos that surround St
Mark’s Square and other monuments
throughout the summer. But moving
people away is often futile, since other
unwitting visitors soon replace them.
In July, two German tourists were
fi ned €950 and asked to leave Venice
after being caught preparing coff ee on
a camping stove on the Rialto Bridge.
Nor are the rich and famous
exempt from Italy’s rules: the newly-
wed German model Heidi Klum and
her husband are reportedly facing a
€6,000 fi ne for swimming in Capri’s
Blue Grotto.
The couple, who married on the
island on Saturday, allegedly dived
from a yacht shortly before sunset on
Monday. People can visit the grotto
by boat, but swimming is forbidden.
spot for tired visitors , particularly at
sunset. But now tourists can be fi ned
€250 (£230) simply for sitting down.
Dirtying or damaging any of the
136 steps, which lead to the Trinità
dei Monti church, will incur fi nes of
up to €400.
“Protecting a monument is fi ne,
and obviously you shouldn’t eat on the
steps, but the ban on sitting down is
really excessive,” said Vittorio S garbi,
a n art critic and former deputy minis-
ter of culture. He told AdnKronos news
agency: “It seems to me to be a fascist-
style provision that the municipality
will be forced to review.”
The measure is one of a set of rules
reinforced by the authorities in early
June , including a ban on “messy eat-
ing” beside monuments, wandering
‘The ban on sitting
down is excessive
... it seems to me to
be a fascist-style
provision the city will
be forced to review’
Vittorio Sgarbi
Former deputy minister
When in Rome
Here are eight things that could land
you in trouble in Italy:
- “Messy eating” or “camping out”
on piazzas or monument steps. - Singing, while drunk, on public
transport. - Wrapping your mouth around the
nozzle of a drinking fountain. - Walking around bare-chested.
- Dipping your toes into a canal.
- Feeding pigeons (Venice).
- Building sandcastles in Eraclea (a
beach town near Venice) - Wearing noisy shoes in Capri
(wooden clogs were banned 1960)
Angela Giuff rida
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