EFF: Feds Unable to Search Own Anti-Terrorism Database

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: EFF Press <press () eff org>
Date: September 29, 2005 11:47:53 AM EDT
To: presslist () eff org
Subject: [E-B] EFF: Feds Unable to Search Own Anti-Terrorism Database
Reply-To: press () eff org


Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Contact:

Danny O'Brien
   Activism Coordinator
   Electronic Frontier Foundation
   danny () eff org
   415.436.9333

Matt Zimmerman
   Staff Attorney
   Electronic Frontier Foundation
   mattz () eff org
   +1 415 436-9333 x127

Feds Unable to Search Own Anti-Terrorism Database

TSA Stops Deleting "Secure Flight" Records, But Drags Feet On Project
Transparency

Washington, DC - After receiving hundreds of requests from
Americans asking to know what personal information the
government has obtained about them, the Transportation
Security Administration (TSA) told passengers that it "does
not have the capability to perform a simple computer-based
search" to locate individual records.

TSA revealed last fall that it would use private passenger
data from all domestic airline flights taken in June of
2004 to test its troubled "Secure Flight"
passenger-screening system. In response to a fruitless
Privacy Act request by four Alaska residents, the
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) encouraged other
airline passengers to request their own files. TSA recently
began notifying the passengers who filed Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) and Privacy Act requests that it
lacks the ability to easily search its records. TSA also
said that it would close such requests unless individuals
provided additional detailed information, such as the air
carrier they used, the dates of travel, and their phone
numbers -- part of the data that requestors were seeking in
the first place.

"TSA is failing to follow the law," said EFF Staff Attorney
Matt Zimmerman. "The Freedom of Information Act and the
Privacy Act place very clear obligations on government
agencies for searching their records, and TSA has simply
said that it doesn't want to go through the effort. It's
bad enough that Secure Flight has repeatedly failed to show
that it can be a useful tool to strengthen airline
security. However, that doesn't excuse the federal
government from telling Americans about the private
information it has gathered and used to test the project."

In light of the high volume of record requests that it has
received, TSA recently agreed to stop deleting the
passenger data it obtained for testing Secure Flight until
it processed its backlog of requests. However, TSA told
initial requestors that some of their data had already been
deleted.

Secure Flight, a passenger-profiling system aimed at
identifying security risks, is the successor of the
controversial "CAPPS II" program that was cancelled in the
wake of questions about its cost, effectiveness, and impact
on privacy and civil liberties. The Secure Flight screening
process would involve comparing airline passenger
reservation data with an interagency terrorist watch list
to determine who should be subject to more invasive
screenings or arrest.  After repeatedly misleading Congress
and the public about its intention to use data provided by
commercial data brokers to supplement the watch list, TSA
recently announced that it would not use such data in the
program for the time being.  Despite the controversy
surrounding the project, TSA has stated that it is moving
forward this fall with plans for a partial roll-out
involving two airlines.

For more on EFF and Secure Flight:
http://action.eff.org/secureflight

For this release:
http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2005_09.php#004015

About EFF

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil
liberties organization working to protect rights in the
digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and
challenges industry and government to support free
expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported
organization and maintains one of the most linked-to
websites in the world at http://www.eff.org/


     -end-

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