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EU Set to Hand Over Sensitive Personal Data to US In Visa-Free Travel Deal

By  |  January 6, 2026

The European Union is preparing to grant the U.S. access to biometric databases containing sensitive personal data on EU citizens in exchange for continued visa-free travel privileges to the U.S. The European Commission and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security are poised to enter negotiations on a “framework” agreement that will provide the legal basis for individual EU-member countries to enter direct talks with the U.S. on the exchange.

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    The U.S. currently grants visa-free travel privileges to all EU countries except for Bulgaria, Romania and Cyprus. Per Euractiv, the Washington first demanded the data in 2022 as a condition for continued no-visa travel under a program the U.S. calls Enhanced Border Security Partnerships (EBSP).

    According to a Commission document outlining the planned negotiations, the information turned over the U.S. could include data on travelers’ ethnic origins, political opinions, and religious or philosophical beliefs, as well as genetic or biometric information such as fingerprints, where “relevant and under appropriate safeguards.”

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    The expected agreement comes despite the EU’s comparatively strong privacy laws and rules concerning the transfer of sensitive personal data. It also comes as tension with the U.S. over the EU’s data protection rules and digital regulations are running high, including the EU’s strong objection to the recently announced U.S. ban on travel of five prominent EU figures.

    Related: EU Plans to Step Up Enforcement of Digital Rules in the Face of US Opposition

    Yet,  the European Council, the EU’s supra-executive arm, adopted without discussion a decision to authorize the Commission to start negotiations with the U.S. on the framework agreement in 2026, according to the official summary of the Council’s December meeting, a sign that opposition to the EBSC proposal was muted.

    Not all EU parties are fully comfortable with the idea, however. In an opinion issued in September, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), Wojciech Wiewiórowski, who oversees compliance with data protection laws, said the proposed framework would “set an important precedent, as it would be the first agreement concluded by the EU implying large-scale sharing of personal data, including biometric data.” As a result, he said, it is essential to “ensure that the envisaged processing of personal data does not exceed the limits of what is strictly necessary and proportionate.”

    The Commission’s negotiating outline, which was prepared after the EDPS issued his opinion, states that data transferred to the U.S. “should be processed fairly, on a legitimate basis and only for the purposes for which they have been transferred. Any further data processing incompatible with the initial purpose should be prohibited.”

    The framework agreement is also expected to include and “exhaustive list” of U.S. authorities to which the data can be transferred.

    According to the Council, the U.S. has said it expects data access to be in place and operational by the end of this year.