U.S. Wants to Keep Passenger Data Longer

The United States hopes to renegotiate an agreement with the European Union on air passenger information to allow agencies to keep data for decades.

Under the current agreement, passenger records must be purged within three years and six months, the EU Observer reported.

"Our usual rule for law enforcement data is that it is kept for about 40 years, but the real question is how long is it likely to be relevant," U.S. negotiator Stewart Baker told reporters Tuesday.

He said investigators sometimes need years to piece together bits of information to make a case against suspected terrorists.

Baker said that sharing information on airline passengers flying from Europe to the United States is a substitute for the visa process required for visitors from most of the rest of the world.

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