Privacy Complaint Against Airline Dismissed

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Privacy Complaint Against Airline Dismissed


By Sara Kehaulani Goo
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 15, 2004; Page E03



Northwest Airlines did not violate its own privacy policy and did not  
mislead customers when it shared passenger records with the government  
as part of a secret airline security project after the terrorist  
attacks in 2001, the Department of Transportation has ruled.


The department dismissed a complaint filed this year by a Washington  
privacy rights organization, Electronic Privacy Information Center, and  
the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union alleging that the carrier committed  
unfair and deceptive trade practices in sharing the information with  
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration without informing its  
customers. The agency has the authority to review business practices of  
companies in the transportation industry, for example, such as whether  
an airline actually provided fares to customers as advertised. It was  
the first time the transportation agency had reviewed a case involving  
an airline's privacy policies, the Sept. 10 decision said.


Northwest's policy posted on its Web site said the airline would not  
sell information about its customers to third parties and that it  
shares information about its passengers only in limited, specific  
cases. Northwest shared three months' worth of travel records with  
NASA's Ames Research Center, following a December 2001 request by the  
agency.


The Transportation Department said it dismissed the complaint because  
the language of the policy says only that the airline won't sell the  
information and it did not address sharing information with the  
government. "Ultimately, and most convincingly . . . there does not  
appear to have been any actual or likely harm to Northwest's  
customers," the decision said.


Northwest was one of several airlines found to have shared millions of  
passenger records with the government or federal contractors after the  
terrorist attacks. Such records typically contain a passenger's name,  
address, phone number, e-mail address and credit card information.


Two lawsuits filed on behalf of Northwest passengers for violating  
privacy laws were recently dismissed in courts in North Dakota and  
Minnesota. One lawsuit is outstanding in Tennessee, the carrier said.


American, JetBlue, Delta, Continental, America West and Frontier  
airlines also said they shared passenger records for similar purposes.  
JetBlue and American have also been sued.


Marcia Hofmann, staff counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information  
Center, said her organization would ask for a review of the decision by  
the Transportation Department. "This [decision] calls into question the  
legitimacy of any privacy policy -- certainly any airline privacy  
policy," Hofmann said.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A21559-2004Sep14? 
language=printer>

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