Further supplementary evidence by the Home Office
I understand that members of the Committee would appreciate some background information on Project Semaphore and e-Borders to be included as supplementary evidence in your forthcoming report on the draft EU PNR Framework Decision. I hope that the information below is helpful.
PROJECT SEMAPHORE
Between January 2005 and March 2008, the UK Government trialled the processing of passenger, service and crew data provided by carriers in order to support an intelligence-led approach to operating border controls. Project Semaphore was a pilot project aimed at testing an operational prototype in order to de-risk the development and delivery of the e-Borders solution. Semaphore initially targeted six million passenger movements a year, on a number of international air routes to and from the UK. After a successful first year and in the wake of 7 July 2005 London bombings, the project was granted additional funding to increase capability. From the initial single carrier and two routes, Semaphore grew to receive passenger data from 102 carriers and 182 arrival/departure points. Between January 2005 and March 2008, when the pilot concluded, Semaphore captured data on 47 million passenger movements and issued over 20,000 alerts to border agencies, resulting in more than 1,800 arrests and other interventions for crimes including murder, kidnap, rape, assault, firearms and fraud. These alerts and the data captured also made a significant contribution to countering terrorism.
Semaphore trialled the electronic processing of two main categories of data. The majority of passenger data captured was Advance Passenger Information (API) data which is also known as Travel Document Information (TDI). API contains biographical information from the passenger's travel document and the unique service information used by the carrier to identify each particular routing. API data is run against watch-lists in order to identify known individuals that pose a risk of harm to the UK and its citizens.
The second type of passenger information collected was Passenger Name Record (PNR) data. PNR is a term specific to scheduled air carriers and comprises reservation data collected by carriers for commercial purposes during the booking process and at check-in. The data cover up to 19 data fields including passenger name, travel itinerary, contact and billing information. PNR is alternatively referred to as Other Passenger Information (OPI) which can refer to booking information collected by other carriers including air, rail and maritime carriers. PNR data are used in two ways. Firstly, the data are checked electronically against carefully constructed profiles to identify passengers who appear to display high risk characteristics, but whose identifies are unknown to us. Secondly, we use PNR data to enrich ongoing investigations.
Under Project Semaphore we began processing PNR data on carefully selected routes from October 2005. The Government has never placed any obligation on carriers to collect specific PNR data indeed, we can only request such data as are known to the carrier. Usually fewer than half of the 19 data fields are collected by carriers.
E -BORDERs
On 1 March 2008 the package of legislation underpinning the e-Borders programme came into force. The legislation is formed of three statutory instruments: the Data Acquisition Order, the Duty to Share Order and the Code of Practice. e-Borders systems will provide the capability to risk assess all future passengers; and where necessary intervene against those considered to be high risk.
The UK Border Agency is required to balance its obligation to the security of the United Kingdom's border with that of facilitating the entry and exit of legitimate travellers. The e-Borders system will assist in maintaining that balance. The programme will provide an electronic record of people entering and leaving the UK through the collection of API data. By April 2009 e-Borders will handle data for 100 million international passenger and crew movements a year. The programme will be able to count 95% of all passengers in and out of the country by the end of 2010, with 100% coverage by March 2014.
PNR data will contribute to the passenger data collected. However, we will target the collection of PNR data on high-risk routes and aim to be collecting PNR on 100 million passenger movements a year by 2013. We will receive PNR data 24-48 hours before the scheduled departure time, API at check-in, a second supply of PNR data once the carrier is satisfied those data are final, and separate departure confirmation to confirm those passengers who are on board once the aircraft doors are sealed.
If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me or my colleagues in Border and Visa Policy.
Tom Dodd
Director, Border and Visa Policy
6 May 2008
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