Answer given by Mr Avramopoulos on behalf of the Commission

8.2.2018

Law enforcement partners from Austria, Germany, Denmark, France, Sweden and Norway participated in the European Tracking Solution (ETS) pilot hosted at Europol from 19 October to 18 November 2016. The pilot aimed to test the technical feasibility of the proposed solution. Geo-location data was shared between the participating partners and with Europol via software installed on Europol’s infrastructure.

Analysis of the data exchanged over ETS will only be conducted upon explicit request by the data owner. In such a case, analysis will be performed within Europol’s analysis system. The procedures for processing the data will be specified in consultation with the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS).

The geo-location standard for the envisaged tracking solution proposed at this stage is the recommended minimum standard from the National Marine Electronics Association. However, in order to allow for differentiation and data owner’s identification at European level, a unique alphanumerical string will be added.

Europol intends to connect up to 12 participating European law enforcement partners in 2018 to a so-called beta version of the exchange solution. As this concerns an ongoing project, the development process is ongoing and may be subject to change.

At the same time, the exchange solution requires a direct secured connection between the participating partners and Europol’s infrastructure.