Posted on 06/08/2002 4:27:14 AM PDT by DoughtyOne
06/08/2002
Fox and Freinds just presented a segment on a new airline safety measure that is supposed to go into effect almost immiediately. Trying to catch most the information as they presented it quickly, I may have percieved this incorrectly, but I don't believe so. Here's the plan.
The airlines are going to start running fairly extensive credit checks on passengers. If you book a flight, they will access your credit report and scour the thing for any clues. It was mentioned that they are going to be looking for residence stability, purchases, payment history and other items that went by too quickly for me take catch them all.
In my opinion this is getting way out of hand folks.
Oh yeah...Credit card debt is (for the thousandth time) at an all time high.
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"Credit Checks Sought On Suspicious Air Travelers
Fri Jun 07 2002 11:13:16 ET
Uncle Sam may soon want to check passengers"credit histories before they board airplanes, the WALL STREET JOURNAL reported on Friday. The Transportation Security Administration is enlisting companies that analyze personal credit-card and insurance records.
MORE
"The aim is to target suspicious travelers when they make a reservation so that by the time they show up at the airport, authorities will be on alert."
The US "is asking a handful of firms that provide fraud- detection technology for credit-card companies or insurers, such as HNC Software Inc. and Infoglide Software Corp., to demonstrate how the government could run airline passengers' names against various databases to identify potential terrorists. The government hasn't disclosed what databases it plans to tap, but efforts to expand what authorities know about air travelers are taking wing.
"The project, run out of the TSA, is seeking help from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other law-enforcement agencies that keep lists of people wanted by the government. The TSA is asking Congress for $45 million to fund the project."
Devloping..."
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The TSA. The same administration that recommended "no guns for pilots" thinks its a good idea to snoop around everyone's credit report. It's time for Mineta and Mcgaw to go.
First, air travelers were asked who packed their bags. Next came questions about what might be in their shoes. Now, Uncle Sam soon may want to check their credit histories before they board airplanes.
In the midst of a massive reshuffling of various security agencies, the government is considering ways to better identify terrorists and to cut down the number of searches needed at airports. The Transportation Security Administration -- which President Bush Thursday proposed transferring to a new homeland-security agency from its current home within the Transportation Department -- is enlisting companies that analyze personal credit-card and insurance records. The aim is to target suspicious travelers when they make a reservation so that by the time they show up at the airport, authorities will be on alert.
The government is asking a handful of firms that provide fraud-detection technology for credit-card companies or insurers, such as HNC Software Inc. and Infoglide Software Corp., to demonstrate how the government could run airline passengers' names against various databases to identify potential terrorists. The government hasn't disclosed what databases it plans to tap, but efforts to expand what authorities know about air travelers are taking wing. The project, run out of the TSA, is seeking help from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other law-enforcement agencies that keep lists of people wanted by the government. The TSA is asking Congress for $45 million to fund the project.
Searching for Patterns
The undertaking builds on a program already operated by the nation's airlines to identify terrorists. That program, known as the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System, or Capps, relies on basic information disclosed by fliers to airlines when they reserve and buy tickets -- such as their names, addresses, and method of payment -- to look for patterns that point to terrorism.
The new program would take much of that same data and check it against other databases that the government considers reliable in determining that a passenger isn't a terrorist. A Transportation official familiar with the program says the TSA hasn't ruled out looking at fliers' purchasing patterns for evidence of suspicious behavior, but that the government is more interested in publicly available data, such as property records, rather than "whether you bought loafers or tennis shoes."
"We're never going to know the life histories of the millions of people who fly on planes, and we don't care to," the official said. But "if you've had a credit card for 25 years, always paid your bills and ... you're rooted in the community, that says you're probably not a terrorist of the type we saw on Sept. 11."
Meanwhile, one of the companies helping the TSA, San Diego-based HNC, is well known in the credit-card industry for making software that processes transaction data -- along with publicly available demographic and census data -- to generate a score indicating the probability that fraud has occurred. During a recent private briefing for the U.S. General Accounting Office, a HNC consultant said the company is developing software that could help the government assign a similar kind of score every time a passenger books a flight reservation.
"We view Capps as a way of allowing us to spend more time with the true terrorist," instead of wasting time with the average traveler, said an administration official familiar with the project.
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Another idea under consideration at the TSA is the creation of a "trusted traveler" or "registered passenger" program, in which fliers would undergo extensive background checks in exchange for faster screening. But prospects for that plan are less certain, as the TSA's chief, John Magaw, has expressed concern that terrorists could foil it by living quietly in the U.S. for a few years.
For airline officials, any move to reduce random searches of their customers couldn't come sooner. Since Sept. 11, air travelers have been subjected to extensive searches of their carry-on bags and -- in some cases -- even been ordered to partially disrobe when going through security checkpoints, only to undergo further examination at boarding gates. Some airline officials see reducing random searches as crucial to winning back business travelers, who -- though they make up only half of the passengers on the average flight -- account for about two-thirds of the industry's annual revenue, based on some industry estimates.
"We have a lot of people who are driving rather than flying, and we need to get those people back," said Deborah C. McElroy, president of the Regional Airline Association, a Washington group that represents carriers that provide short- and medium-haul service.
Civil-Liberties Group Sues
Transportation officials have said any new security measures they implement won't single out fliers on the basis of race, ethnicity or national origin. But that hasn't soothed civil-liberties advocates. One organization, the Electronic Privacy Information Center here, has filed a complaint against the Transportation Department in federal district court here over the agency's refusal to provide details about Capps as the government assumes responsibility for the program.
"The facts that are known are few, but very provocative," says David L. Sobel, the Center's general counsel. "The question is how much information about this program is going to be known during the development phase before these systems are implemented. We believe a maximum amount of information should be disclosed ... so the public can assess the degree of invasiveness that might be involved with some of these systems."
Transportation Department spokesman Leonardo Alcivar said officials want to "strengthen our ability to share information among federal law-enforcement agencies," but declined to specify what other kinds of data the government is considering using. In a report to Congress last month, the TSA said its technology would "fuse threat data gathered from State, Federal and private-sector sources."
The prospect of bigger budgets for Capps has created a frenzy among companies eager to help the TSA overhaul the program. When the Transportation Department's deputy secretary, Michael Jackson, addressed a luncheon last month organized by the nonprofit Council for Excellence in Government, the audience was filled with representatives of various software developers, including Electronic Data Systems Corp. and American Management Systems Inc.
Before any extensive changes can be made to Capps, though, Congress has to weigh in. The TSA is seeking $4.4 billion -- on top of $2.4 billion the TSA has for the current fiscal year -- as part of a supplemental spending request for various security projects, such as equipping airports with bomb-detection machines and hiring new airport-security workers to screen passengers and bags for weapons.
The $45 million request for Capps in the TSA's budget proposal, though not large by federal-contract standards, would represent a massive increase in federal funding for the program. Until now, the airlines have carried most of the costs -- though they won't disclose its total budget -- with the Federal Aviation Administration chipping in about $5 million between 1996 and 1997 to help get the program started, according to people familiar with the matter.
For now, the TSA has agreed to pay a handful of software developers to demonstrate how they would assess old airline passenger-reservation records against public databases, such as property reports, driver's license information and telephone directories. Those tests are expected to be conducted sometime in the next 60 days, people familiar with agency's plans said. The agency said in last month's report to Congress that it plans to begin deployment of the new system this fall.
Let's say you purchased a subscription to Playboy 90 days ago and there is a rape one block over from your house. Care to guess how long it will be before there's a knock at your door?
In the United States we have been assured and have claimed the right to privacy, and the right to be considered innocent until proven guilty. This background check is delving into the rhelm of absolute dictatorial control over citizens. It's wrong, and it's very dangerous.
The data these agencies will be able to tap, will be subject to interpretation. Good luck on the interpretation.
Our federal government has gone stark raving mad.
Wait, I have a better way, much simplier and far less expensive. It would have also stopped 9-11.
CHECK THEIR F'ING VISAS AND PASSPORTS. THAT WILL TELL YOU HOW LONG THEY HAVE BEEN IN THE COMMUNITY!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry, didn't mean to shout so loud.
Thanks for the comments Glenn.
Always pay cash at the gun store.
I have another idea too. Why not grant everyone who has a concealed carry permit "trusted armed traveler" status and allow them to carry a firearm on board if they choose to do so. After all, the people who have those permits have already been investigated by the FBI, are fingerprinted and photograghed and who knows what else.
I'm sure gun registration (Brady) databases will be prime on the list they search.
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