Aviation ID System Stirs Doubts

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: "Jonathan B Spira" <jspira () basex com>
Date: Sat, 15 Mar 2003 00:08:35 -0500
To: farber () cis upenn edu
Subject: Aviation ID System Stirs Doubts

Dave,
Certainly "doubts" is an understatement.

/s/ Jonathan

Jonathan B. Spira
CEO and Chief Analyst
Basex
E-mail: jspira () basex com
Tel: +1 (212) 725-2600 x113
www.basex.com
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Aviation ID System Stirs Doubts
Senate Panel Wants Data on Impact on Passenger Privacy


By Robert O'Harrow Jr.
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 14, 2003; Page A16


Criticism of an electronic airline passenger-screening network took on a
new edge yesterday as the Senate Commerce Committee endorsed a plan to
require the Transportation Security Administration to disclose how the
system will work, including its impact on personal privacy.


Government officials consider the surveillance system, known as CAPPS II,
to be a crucial part of plans to secure the aviation system from terrorist
threats. But a growing number of critics believe the system will be overly
intrusive and used by other law enforcement agencies.


"This is really the beginning of a debate of how our country can fight
[terrorism] ferociously, without gutting civil liberties," Sen. Ron Wyden
(D-Ore.) said after the committee accepted his amendment yesterday. It also
would require the TSA to report how it will mitigate errors and enable
appeals from passengers who believe they were incorrectly identified as
potential threats.


The CAPPS II system will rely heavily on commercial data warehouses
containing names, telephone numbers, former addresses, financial details
and other information about nearly every adult American, according to
documents and officials.


Under current plans, it will send a passenger's identifying information to
a commercial information service and have the service construct a risk
score, based on computer models provided by the TSA. Those scores will help
determine whether a passenger can board a flight. Officials have said
they're most interested in knowing whether someone is "rooted in the
community."


Eventually, the TSA, which says it is building privacy protections into the
system, intends to extend its use to screen truckers, railroad conductors,
subway workers and others whose transportation jobs involve the public
trust.


Civil liberties activists praised Wyden's amendment, but said it may not go
far enough. Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy
Information Center, questioned whether the system should operate at all.


James M. Loy, undersecretary of transportation for security, has said the
system will not draw in personal information to CAPPS computers, apart from
names and a few other details gathered from reservations. He also has said
his agency will not create a central file of passenger information.


In a speech yesterday, Loy said the TSA also would create an independent
oversight board for the screening system. "TSA is committed to the very
American proposition that our rights and our security are complementary,
not competitive or contradictory," Loy said.


                    © 2003 The Washington Post Company



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