The United States and European Union are close to an agreement to share private data of their citizens, including credit card information, travel history and internet browsing information, The New York Times said Saturday. Negotiations that begun in February 2007 however have to yet address whether Europeans can sue the US government for mishandling information, according to an internal report on the potential agreement obtained by the daily.

The negotiations are being conducted by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Justice and State departments, and their European counterparts, the daily said.