Air Passenger Code Plan In Motion (Thanks, Wesley)

[stickdog]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/12/terror/main592564.shtml

Precautions in the name of air security are about to taken to a level unimaginable in the United States only a few years ago.

The Washington Post reports the Bush administration is expected to order as soon as next month the first step in setting up databases on all air passengers, to be used to color-code each air traveler according to his or her potential threat level.

Passengers coded red would be stopped from boarding; yellow would mean additional screening at security checkpoints; and green would mean an only standard level of scrutiny.

Airlines and airline reservation companies would reportedly be forced to turn over all passenger records to U.S. government officials, who struck out in a trial program was based on voluntary surrender of airline industry data. Not a single airline agreed to turn over data voluntarily.

The ACLU's take on this:

http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=14699&c=206

ACLU Criticizes Plans to Go Forward With CAPPS II, Calls Dragnet Profiling Approach Fake Security on the Cheap

January 12, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: [e-mail]

WASHINGTON - Responding to news reports this morning that, despite broad opposition from across the political spectrum, the Homeland Security Department intends to go forward with two highly controversial airline screening programs, the American Civil Liberties Union today strongly criticized the move. It called the two programs - called CAPPS II and Trusted Traveler -- wrong-headed both for national security and for civil liberties.

"CAPPS II is illusory security on the cheap," said Barry Steinhardt, Director of the ACLU’s Technology and Liberty Project. "Instead of zeroing in on suspects based on real evidence of wrongdoing, it sweeps every airline passenger through a dragnet. From business class on down to coach, you’re going to be checked against secret government intelligence databases. What happens in cases of mistaken identity or simple computer error?"

CAPPS II, short for Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-Screening Program, will reportedly use a complicated two-step process to rank every airline passenger’s threat level, both domestic and international, as either a green, for standard scrutiny, yellow, for heightened scrutiny, and red, which will presumably result in the detention of the passenger. It also lacks any effective recourse for Americans’ who it falsely flags as terrorist suspects.

First, it will check passengers’ names, addresses, telephone numbers, birthdates and itineraries against commercial databases. This step has prompted concern in many quarters that some minorities and the poor, who tend to leave less clear cut "fingerprints" in the data, will be disproportionately flagged as potential security risks by the system.

Once the passenger’s identity has been established, CAPPS II will then cross-reference the person’s name against unknown law enforcement, intelligence or other government databases, called the "black box" by many experts in reference to the fact that not even the Transportation Security Administration - let alone passengers who could be affected by it - will know what exactly goes into these databases. In addition, CAPPS II presents serious practical problems, such as the fact that it would require the computer reservation systems used by airlines around the world to be rebuilt, at a cost that has been estimated to be as high as $1 billion.

more ...

[papau]

1. background check/database on everyone - and NRA says what?

Makes gun registration seem so pre-Bush!

And Bush still gets the right wing vote and gun vote - amazing!

:-)

[amber dog democrat]

2. Its starting

Will some be required to sew triangles or other identifying emblems on their clothes?
The spirit of liberty is alive and well in Amerika.

I firmly believe this is what dictatorships do.

[PATRICK]

3. this time the fear is well justified

The Libertarians who have been fantasizing fears about every type of government activity should be overcome by this whopper. It is most obviously a breach to begin the national database, ridiculed and rejected, worked on by Admiral Poindexter and other.

Unless citizens do more than grumble this is really(not just a possible alarm) the introduction of the entire program of computer government surveillance of everyone taken to its extreme. Sure they have already made inroads in getting at e-mails, but this is the big one which opens the gates for all else.

So whaddya going to do about it America, big Libertarian bravos and lawyers of esteemed civil rights organizations? Nothin. Ya can't do nothin.

[ugarte]

4. Don't fly, boycott

Money talks. If airlines start to get squeezed, Bush might pay attention.

[Dover]

5. Was this implemented with Congress's say-so? How does this

become active without citizen or Congressional input?

[Rose Siding]

7. The "patriot" act probably enables them to do it

Whether it's Constitutional or not is yet to be decided by SCOTUS. I can't imagine that there won't be challenges but that will be AFTER hundreds of millions are sunk.

[hang a left]

6. I am very curious what color the on-line

dissenters will be.

[Moderator]

8. Locking...this is not LBN

The article is older than 12 hours...