From the Telegraph:

Britons flying to America could have their credit card and email accounts inspected by the United States authorities following a deal struck by Brussels and Washington.

By using a credit card to book a flight, passengers face having other transactions on the card inspected by the American authorities. Providing an email address to an airline could also lead to scrutiny of other messages sent or received on that account.

The extent of the demands were disclosed in “undertakings” given by the US Department of Homeland Security to the European Union and published by the Department for Transport after a Freedom of Information request.

About four million Britons travel to America each year and the released document shows that the US has demanded access to far more data than previously realised.

Not only will such material be available when combating terrorism but the Americans have asserted the right to the same information when dealing with other serious crimes.

This is apparently something we/ve been trying to get since just after 9/11, and up until now our requests have run afoul of European data protection legislation. But a recent agreement between Brussels and DC has cleared the way.

Are we asking too much? At what point do we say “Enough!” and stop invading privacy? While there is no reciprocity in the current agreement, is it only a matter of time before European countries demand the same data access for Americans flying to their countries?

What is the benefit of this information? Do we really even have a right to be demanding it?

I honestly don’t know the answers, nor do I know what I think on this one. It strikes me as overkill, but that might be because I’m not aware of all that it involves, just what I read in the Telegraph article.

Does anyone have more info on this?

h/t: Cap’n Ed