Interesting People mailing list archives
Secure Flight starts this Sunday; "may" require birth dates
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2004 18:45:17 -0400
Begin forwarded message: From: John Gilmore <gnu () toad com> Date: October 21, 2004 5:41:47 PM EDT To: eff-privacy () eff orgCc: Subject: [E-PRV] Secure Flight starts this Sunday; "may" require birth dates
Two important things in this story: TSA spokesperson says TSA will take responsibility for checking names "on Sunday"!! And second, "We may have to compel the date of birth before they fly". John http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=SECURITY-10-21-04&cat=AN Homeland Security may require birth dates from fliers /By LANCE GAY/ /Scripps Howard News Service/ /October 21, 2004/ *WASHINGTON* - The Department of Homeland Security is considering requiring airline passengers to give their birth dates along with their names to help federal agents stop terrorists from boarding flights. The extra requirement could cut the number of innocent passengers subjected to additional airport security after they match names on federal watch lists used to try to identify terrorists as they enter the country, officials said Thursday. Some 2,000 passengers - including such high-profile fliers as Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska - have been falsely snared by the terrorist watch lists. "We've got to use the best information available to us. We may have to compel the date of birth before they fly," said Justin Oberman, director of the Transportation Security Administration unit developing the new "Secure Flight" program. At a briefing on the new program, Oberman said that on Sunday, the TSA will take over from the 82 airlines the responsibility for checking airline passengers against the names of those on terrorist watch lists. He said the Secure Flight program will be tested for a few months and then the agency will propose regulations, giving the public, interestgroups, passenger organizations and the industry their chance to comment.
Civil liberties groups are skeptical that just checking passengers' names will keep terrorists off aircraft. Barry Steinhardt, director of the technology and liberty project at the American Civil Liberties Union, said it's not fair for the government to use classified data that can't be reviewed to put passengers on "no-fly" lists. The 9/11 commission said nine of the 19 hijackers in the 2001 attacks were identified as potentially dangerous under an old system administered by the airlines, but were permitted to fly. Congress allocated $35 million for TSA to test the program in the transportation spending bill that President Bush signed this month. Oberman said the agency is also establishing a procedure for passengerswho have been falsely identified to clear their names from the no-fly list.
"We're going to jump on this right away," he said. "There will be a mechanism for clearing them. It should only happen once." The agency is handling about 30 calls a day from passengers who feel they are routinely selected for secondary security screening or have other problems with the list. Oberman said the list will not be used for ordinary law enforcement purposes, for instance, to identify deadbeat dads or those wanted on warrants. ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
Current thread:
- Secure Flight starts this Sunday; "may" require birth dates David Farber (Oct 21)