AP: Traveler risk system may violate ban

[Eugene]

Posted on Thu, Dec. 07, 2006

Traveler risk system may violate ban
MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The Homeland Security Department's newly revealed
computerized risk assessments of international travelers may violate a
specific ban that Congress imposed as part of the agency's budget over the
past three years.

Some members of Congress and privacy advocates on Thursday questioned
the legality of Automated Targeting System, or ATS, risk assessments that
have been assigned to millions of Americans and foreigners who entered or
left the United States over the past four years.

"It clearly goes contrary to what we have in law," Rep. Martin Sabo, D-Minn.,
said in an interview. He said ATS is the kind of computerized risk assessment
"we have been trying to prohibit."

-snip-

Sabo, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations subcommittee on
homeland security, wrote into the agency's spending bills the ban on
computerized passenger risk assessments. For the past three budget years,
the legislation has said no funds from the appropriations bill could be used
to develop or test computerized data-mining tools "assigning risk to passengers
whose names are not on government watch lists."

-snip-

Full article: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/16188835.htm

Also in LBN: NYT: Democrats Set to Press Bush on Privacy and Terrorism

[Kagemusha]

1. Bet Bush wrote a signing statement.

Cute. Real cute.

[frebrd]

2. K & R

[FormerOstrich]

3. grrrrrr

although no one ever has been prosecuted.

Well I think it's time we changed that. Someone should be required to make restitution as well.

:wtf: