CORRECTED COPY: DHS U/S BEARDSWORTH MEETS WITH

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 002833

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPARTMENT PASS TO EUR/WE
EUR/ERA FOR CHASE AND SAARNIO

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER EAIR SP EUN
SUBJECT: CORRECTED COPY: DHS U/S BEARDSWORTH MEETS WITH
SPANISH OFFICIALS ABOUT PASSENGER NAME RECORDS

REF: A. MADRID 2792

B. BRUSSELS 2775

This is a corrected copy of MADRID 2792


1. (SBU) Summary. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Acting Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security
Randy Beardsworth visited Madrid July 19 to brief Spanish
Ministry of Interior (MOI) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs
(MFA) officials regarding the value of Passenger Name Record
(PNR) data as a tool for combating terrorism. In his
meetings with Spanish officials, U/S Beardsworth highlighted
the positive uses of PNR data. The goal of these meetings
was to spread an appreciation of how PNR data helps achieve
our mutual interest of denying terrorists freedom of travel
while protecting privacy and facilitating the legitimate
movement of people and goods across international borders.
He also discussed the No Fly (NF) list and dispelled myths
regarding NF diversions.


2. (U) In separate meetings July 19, U/S Beardsworth met with
Antonio Camacho, Deputy Minister of Interior, and Angel
Losada, Director General for International Terrorism,
Non-Proliferation and Disarmament at the MFA. End Summary.


3. (SBU) At both the Ministry of Interior and the MFA, U/S
Beardsworth stressed the potential of PNR data to help U.S.
and European authorities strengthen border security and deny
terrorists freedom of movement. He explained how PNR data
detects relationships between passengers and acts as an
important forensic tool in the wake of terrorist attacks. U/S
Beardsworth showed how DHS used PNR to identify travel
agencies that use false documents to facilitate travel by
illegitimate passengers and how PNR had contributed to the
Lodi, California terrorism investigation. He also briefed
GOS officials on his meetings in Brussels (reftel B) and
Berlin and on the upcoming U.S.-EU joint PNR review in
September. U/S Beardsworth reviewed the USG's experience
with the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) and its
use with respect to the U.S. No Fly list, noting that DHS had
avoided flight diversions in all but a very few cases. He
said the international community should work towards limiting
the ability of terrorists to move freely across borders, just
as we had cooperated to restrict their access to the
international financial system.

//INTERIOR MINISTRY VOICES PRIVACY CONCERNS//


4. (SBU) U/S Beardsworth met with Deputy Interior Minister
Camacho, who was accompanied by chief of staff Victoria
Sanchez Sanchez, Director General for Infrastructure and
Secure Materials (Schengen) Julio Martinez Merono, Senior
Diplomatic Adviser Ambassador Arturo Avello, Senior Terrorism
Adviser Juan Hidalgo, International Affairs Adviser Jose
Ignacio Lopez Chicheri, and PNR adviser Luis Aparicio.


5. (SBU) Mr. Camacho expressed appreciation for the briefing
and said he was familiar with the topic as a result of
numerous discussions on the subject with EU counterparts.
Camacho said that one issue that seemed to undermine the
value of PNR was that many of the perpetrators of recent
attacks (September 11, the March 11, 2004 Madrid train
bombings, and the July 7 attacks in London) were unknown and
their names would not have emerged from any database.
Camacho argued that while some argued that democracies would
have to "modify" themselves to counter new security threats,
Spain believed it was important that existing privacy
provisions remain intact. He said that one of the
terrorists' objectives was to force democratic societies to
clamp down on their citizens and that Spain rejected any such
approach. In the case of the London attacks, said Camacho,
the bombers came from within the UK's borders, diminishing
the value of preventive programs such as PNR.


6. (SBU) U/S Beardsworth said that privacy protection was
just as important an issue in the U.S. as it was in the EU
and that controls on the use of PNR data were intended to
address sensibilities on both sides of the Atlantic. He
reviewed the tight procedures surrounding use of PNR data to
meet privacy concerns and the fact that PNR data did not flow
to the intelligence community. These safeguards include
filters and audit functions to ensure that data is protected
and not accessible by individuals who would not have a direct
need for the information. Also, PNR does not allow the user
to look beyond the surface of the information provided for a
particular traveler; more detailed reviews required the same
court authority as would apply to any law enforcement
investigation.


7. (SBU) Regarding the relevance of PNR as a tool for
detecting impending attacks, U/S Beardsworth explained that
PNR data may have proved very useful in helping detect
patterns and associations that could have drawn the attention
of law enforcement officials to the attackers in the cases
cited by Camacho. In the London attacks, for example,
several of the suicide bombers had traveled to Pakistan and
PNR data related to their visits may have been helpful to
police. U/S Beardsworth said that while UK officials could
subpoena case-specific PNR data related to a single
individual, they were not able to draw the broad associations
and connections made possible by the U.S. PNR database. U/S
Beardsworth explained that, in response to the recent
terrorist incident in London on July 7, a PNR database
algorithm based on intelligence was configured in a matter of
hours that was tailored to identify high risk passengers
bound for the U.S. from the UK.


8. (SBU) Camacho said that the GOS agreed with the USG in
"nearly all respects" regarding the struggle against
terrorism and specifically on the use of PNR data. He asked
U/S Beardsworth whether DHS had a specific request for Spain
on PNR. U/S Beardsworth said that he had included Spain,
Germany, and France on his agenda because of their high level
of counter-terrorism cooperation with the USG. The USG hoped
that Spain would be an advocate in EU councils for closer
U.S.-EU collaboration on PNR. Camacho said that Spain would
be helpful and suggested that PNR be a topic for further
discussion during the September meeting of the DHS-Ministry
of Interior Working Group in Washington.


//MFA UNDERSTANDS THE ISSUE//


9. (SBU) U/S Beardsworth met separately with newly named MFA
Director General for International Terrorism Issues and
Disarmament Angel Losada, who was accompanied by Deputy
Director General for European Justice and Interior Issues
Felix Fernandez-Shaw and Losada's adviser on international
counterterrorism cooperation Carmen Bujan Freire. Losada
indicated a general understanding of PNR, but requested
specific details as to its value as a deterrent for
international travel by terrorist suspects. U/S Beardsworth
cited the KLM/Mexico case (APIS information, not PNR) where,
regardless of the purported intentions of the travelers, the
USG made clear that it was monitoring movements by suspected
extremists and was prepared to deny them access to U.S.
airspace. This approach was has a deterrent effect and PNR
contributes to our ability to deny terrorists the ability to
travel freely.


10. (SBU) On U.S.-EU PNR cooperation, U/S Beardsworth
discussed his meetings in Brussels with members of the
European Parliament Civil Liberties (LIBE) Committee (reftel
B) and his assessment that he had made progress in explaining
privacy protection guidelines associated with PNR.
Fernandez-Shaw said he was well aware of the LIBE Committee's
concerns and assured U/S Beardsworth that the GOS understands
that PNR does not violate any data protection guidelines. He
lamented that U.S.-EU discussions on PNR were being mixed up
with an internal EU debate regarding personal data and
privacy protections. Fernandez-Shaw agreed with the need to
clarify the details of PNR in order to respond to the LIBE
Committee. Freire emphasized this point as well, saying that
governments had to explain to NGOs and to their publics that
they had established firm parameters regarding the use of
personal data. She suggested that the London bombings may
help crystallize public opinion in favor of increased
security measures.


11. (U) U/S Beardsworth was accompanied by Policy Advisor
Dennis Sequeira of the DHS Office International Affairs,
Policy Advisor Erik Shoberg of the DHS Office of Customs and
Border Protection, TSA Liaison Jill Drury of USEU, and
Executive Assistant David von Damm.
AGUIRRE