On the Colonization of Commercial Data by Police and Intelligence: Is it of Any Use? And What About Ethical Consequences?

The US, Canada, Australia and UK run Passenger Name Record (PNR) systems for many years now. In 2016, after many years of internal dispute, also the European Union agreed to join the club. Originally, PNR data has been a tool for the aviation industry to manage the transfer of passengers and to improve the service on board. Now PNR is also supposed to contribute to the fight against terrorism and serious crimes. Recent studies on the use of data from social media such as Twitter or Facebook show that the use of private data by security authorities might have serious consequences. Marc Salter described the fact that security authorities have become interested in the data set as “colonization of PNR data by security agencies” (2010). Drawing on findings from communication studies, Data Science and empirical studies on PNR this contribution demonstrates that the engagement with the private sector and the tapping of commercial data such as PNR not only bears severe ethical problems but might be less effective than official statements of European institutions etc. claim.