Image: Immo Wegmann, Unsplash
The US has agreements with the 41 countries that are part of the Visa Waiver Programme that allow it to conduct searches in their fingerprint and DNA databases for the purpose of vetting travellers to the country.
According to the Bergens Tidende report, the USA currently allows searches by the Norwegian authorities, but Norway has so far only made its fingerprint database available for US searches.
Under the new plan (pdf), authorities would be able to “compare the fingerprints of travellers seeking entry or immigration status… against their appropriate criminal, terrorist, and identity records,” and receive substantial amounts of personal data in case a comparison reveals a match.
As the paper puts it: “the USA wants free access, so that it can freely search various registers and extract information. It will give the US very extensive access to sensitive personal data.”
Currently, when a search in a foreign database reveals a match, a request must be made to the authorities seeking the release of further information.
According to the report, the Norwegian police consider the new US demands “challenging” given current data protection rules, and the justice ministry has said that there are “some questions” that need to be clarified with US authorities.
Source
- USA krever fri adgang til å søke i norske registre, Bergens Tidende, 1 January 2024 (paywall)
