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Traveler screening won't invade privacy
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The head of a controversial airline passenger-screening program sought to ease concerns that the government would scrutinize travelers' financial and criminal records before letting them board. While the Transportation Security Administration will hire private data aggregators to confirm travelers' identities and screen out possible hijackers, the agency will not view credit records, traffic violations or other personal data, Admiral James Loy said. In fact, the agency will not keep records of travelers at all once they have completed their trip, Loy said at a privacy conference Thursday. "Not long after the traveler has returned home, loosened up his laces and unpacked his bag, all government records of his trip will be erased," Loy said. The agency has faced a firestorm of protest since it first announced details of its second-generation screening program at the end of February.
Scheduled for deployment in spring 2004, the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System, or CAPPS II, would combine government intelligence with information from credit bureaus and other commercial data services to determine if a passenger had links to al Qaeda or other violent groups. Business travelers, privacy advocates and some lawmakers worry that the system would allow the government to compile an Orwellian database of its citizens, violating long-established privacy laws and subjecting travelers to invasive scrutiny. Civil liberty concerns"I'm not an airline security expert, but I know a violation of the U.S. Constitution when I see one," said Bill Scannell, a California resident whose Web site, www.boycottdelta.com, targets the airline that is testing the program in three airports. In Congress, a Senate committee approved a measure Thursday that would require TSA to examine the civil-liberties impact of the program. "There have to be rules and congressional oversight," said Sen. Ron Wyden, the Oregon Democrat who sponsored the measure.
A TSA spokeswoman said that the system was still being developed, but it would work on a much more limited basis than some reports have described. Airline reservation agents would provide a traveler's name, address, phone number, date of birth, and travel plans to the TSA, which would then check that information against a variety of commercial databases and an FBI watch list, said TSA spokeswoman Heather Rosenker. The search would yield a final "threat assessment" of each passenger, but it would not reveal information like whether a person had outstanding parking tickets or was turned down for a loan, Rosenker said. TSA also plans to set up an independent review board to ensure the system does not violate travelers' civil liberties and provide travelers with an ombudsman to handle complaints, Loy said. Agency officials also plan to meet with privacy experts next week to hear other suggestions. Lara Flint, a staff attorney with the nonprofit Center for Democracy who plans to attend the meeting, said commercial databases often contain clerical errors that could pose problems when used as the basis for security decisions. "It's a different world when the government's using this kind of technology" than when it is used by banks or junk-mail firms, Flint said. "It could mean you don't get a job, or you get arrested, or you don't get on a plane, who knows." Copyright 2003 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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I'm not an airline security expert, but I know a violation of the U.S. Constitution when I see one.
