PNR data, the EU, the US and the Beeb

I was surprised one evening last week when I saw the top story on the BBC Ten O'Clock news was the negotiations between the US and EU over the technical difficulties - the slight matter of the European Court of Justice declaring the activity illegal, following a challenge by the EU parliament - the EU now have with airlines handing over passenger details to the US security services.

They got all the details wrong, misunderstood what the whole thing was about and painted it as a 'complete breakdown' between the EU and the US. But that the Beeb's TV news had it billed as a top story, which is fairly unusual for one of such technical and legal complexity, was almost enough to forgive the errors. The Register has a short piece on the story today.