OSCE and UNOCT host 8th Passenger Data Seminar in Vienna

On 7 and 8 November 2024 the 8th Annual Passenger Data Seminar took place in Vienna, Austria. The event was organized by the OSCE Transnational Threats Department and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT). The seminar was organized back-to-back with the 4th Annual Meeting of the Eastern European Informal Working Group on Passenger Data.

The Passenger Data Seminar provided participants with the opportunity to discuss new avenues for co-operation in implementing passenger data programmes, sharing good practices in legislation, including human rights implications, operations and security analysis. They also explored the future use of passenger data systems across different transport modes, including maritime, railway and road transport.

“With the expected growth in air traffic and the continuous threat posed by terrorism, measures such as utilizing Advance Passenger Information systems play a critical role in expediting border checks. They enhance the capabilities of national law enforcement agencies to combat irregular immigration, interdict travel of potential terrorists and individuals potentially engaged in transnational organized crime. This ensures both national and travel security,” said Lieutenant Colonel Christian Zammit-Cordina, Head of Politico-military dimension of the Delegation of Malta to the OSCE on behalf of the 2024 OSCE Chair-in-Office.

The main purpose of the event is to further support participating States in developing Advance Passenger Information (API) systems and provide opportunities to identify potential partnerships.

At this year’s seminar, a particular emphasis was put on data privacy, the role of data protection officers, and conducting privacy impact assessments. A separate session was dedicated to the role of networking and Informal Working Groups.

This event was the sixth consecutive joint seminar organized by the OSCE and UNOCT and it is a direct result of the OSCE-UNOCT Biennial Action Plan for 2022-2024 signed in September 2022. 

The Eastern European Informal Working Group (EE IWG) on Passenger Data was established in 2021 as a platform for technical exchange on methodologies in traveler data collection, technologies development, new applications of passenger data frameworks and exploring security analyses across different modes of travel. It includes: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Montenegro, Mongolia, North Macedonia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Serbia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Israel.