The Passenger Name Record (PNR) ‘dilemma’ within and beyond European Union's borders: balancing security concerns and the protection of fundamental human rights

Whilst the collection of PNR data is increasingly perceived by States as a vital risk assessment tool against security threats, the delivery, on 26 July 2017, of the CJEU’s negative Opinion on the new envisaged EU-Canada PNR agreement – where the Court found that several provisions of the said draft agreement did not comply with Articles 7 and 8 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights on the protection of private life and personal data – has made the fate of the EU PNR regime uncertain. At the same time, the increase in the number of States requesting and collecting PNR data worldwide seems likely to contribute to a proliferation of privacy issues beyond the EU borders, questioning the consistency of national or supranational PNR regimes with human rights norms enshrined in universal and regional instruments. Whereas legal scholarship has so far mainly focused on the EU PNR ‘dilemma’, the present paper purports to broaden the analysis to encompass also this ‘universal scenario’.