WaPo:

Chertoff Urges Data-Sharing Deal With EU
VENICE, Italy, May 12, 2007 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- Pieces of information gathered about airline passengers arriving in the United States can be crucial when least expected to preventing terror attacks, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Saturday as he pushed for a deal with European countries on sharing data.

European government are trying to ensure the deal will not violate their strict privacy laws, a legacy of the continent's history with authoritarian regimes.

Well, thank goodness we've got no history of authoritarian regimes on this continent!

Let the galled jade wince, our withers are unwrung...