Airport security is making news these days. A hot topic under discussion this week is how screeners will identify risk-based travelers. It has civil liberty groups worried about the security of travelers' personal identity and the risk of discrimination.
In a meeting last week in New York City, attended by security officials from around the world and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, it was shared that governments and airlines are planning to use personal data for travelers to help distinguish between "trusted travelers"-who will be able to pass through security with less screening-and other travelers who will be put through a more thorough screening. The Transportation Security Administration calls this an "intelligence-driven, risk-based screening procedure."
Passengers will be asked to volunteer their information and apply for this trusted traveler status. What has civil liberties groups concerned is the question of how effective this data will be in identifying terrorists without the potential for discrimination. Also of concern is the risk of identity theft, with so much personal information accessible via many different agencies.
Supposedly this process will be designed, like the Global Entry program, to prescreen travelers. But the Global Entry program is not without problems. Reports of some travelers applying for the program and being put in an untrusted category have popped up, and not all these travelers were given a reason for this identification, or the ability to challenge the label.
Additional information is also gathered through border checkpoint encounters, terrorist watch lists and criminal background checks.
Other government regulators-especially in Europe-join the civil liberty groups in questioning how much personal information will be accessed and then examined to determine the threat level for air travelers.
Governments already have access to a lot of data about travelers, especially those flying between countries. Passport information, birth dates, home addresses and credit card numbers are all used by airlines for the purchase of tickets.
The information on passports themselves is also full of personal information. Since 2007, the United States and several other countries have been issuing electronic passports, allowing security agents to scan the chips embedded in the books to access the information electronically.
Currently travel data collected by airlines is made available to the Department of Homeland Security, although certain identifiers, like the request for a kosher meal, for example, are filtered out because they could indicate a traveler's religion. Of course, a loophole has been built into the filter, so that in "exceptional circumstances," these additional identifiers can be accessed by the government.
The TSA reports that in addition to the gathering of information, it also will be enhancing the use of passenger identification technology to help keep terrorists off airplanes. What won't be new are the random searches of travelers and personal bags by security at most airports.
In a meeting last week in New York City, attended by security officials from around the world and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, it was shared that governments and airlines are planning to use personal data for travelers to help distinguish between "trusted travelers"-who will be able to pass through security with less screening-and other travelers who will be put through a more thorough screening. The Transportation Security Administration calls this an "intelligence-driven, risk-based screening procedure."
Passengers will be asked to volunteer their information and apply for this trusted traveler status. What has civil liberties groups concerned is the question of how effective this data will be in identifying terrorists without the potential for discrimination. Also of concern is the risk of identity theft, with so much personal information accessible via many different agencies.
Supposedly this process will be designed, like the Global Entry program, to prescreen travelers. But the Global Entry program is not without problems. Reports of some travelers applying for the program and being put in an untrusted category have popped up, and not all these travelers were given a reason for this identification, or the ability to challenge the label.
Additional information is also gathered through border checkpoint encounters, terrorist watch lists and criminal background checks.
Other government regulators-especially in Europe-join the civil liberty groups in questioning how much personal information will be accessed and then examined to determine the threat level for air travelers.
Governments already have access to a lot of data about travelers, especially those flying between countries. Passport information, birth dates, home addresses and credit card numbers are all used by airlines for the purchase of tickets.
The information on passports themselves is also full of personal information. Since 2007, the United States and several other countries have been issuing electronic passports, allowing security agents to scan the chips embedded in the books to access the information electronically.
Currently travel data collected by airlines is made available to the Department of Homeland Security, although certain identifiers, like the request for a kosher meal, for example, are filtered out because they could indicate a traveler's religion. Of course, a loophole has been built into the filter, so that in "exceptional circumstances," these additional identifiers can be accessed by the government.
The TSA reports that in addition to the gathering of information, it also will be enhancing the use of passenger identification technology to help keep terrorists off airplanes. What won't be new are the random searches of travelers and personal bags by security at most airports.
