Recent CAPPS II Coverage (March 7, 2003)

March 9, 2003 - Backgrounder

Our roundup of press coverage related to CAPPS II (Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-screening) from around the U.S.

Topics discussed in articles this week include a plan to boycott Delta (the first airline to be testing CAPPS II), more details about the initial tests, and strong opposition to the plan among travel industry executives -- as well as continued criticism by civil liberties groups.

Travel Industry and Privacy Groups Object to Screening Plan for Airline Passengers

Travel industry groups are also sharply objecting to CAPPS II. In a poll of approximately 250 corporate travel executives, 82 percent considered the program an invasion of privacy, and 79 percent said that they would avoid flying on any airline that uses the system.

[March 6, 2003; New York Times (registration required)]

<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/06/business/06FLY.html>

Privacy Activist Takes on Delta

Privacy activist Bill Scannell is calling for a boycott on Delta over the airline's testing of the CAPPS II system. Scannell earlier organized the successful Boycott Adobe campaign after Russian programmer Dmitry Sklyarov was arrested in the summer of 2001.

[March 5, 2003; Wired News]

<http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,57909,00.html>

Government: Airline credit screening hasn't begun yet

A spokesman for TSA says that the tests currently being conducted by Delta at three airports only test the system’s “infrastructure”, but declines to say when screening will start. The TSA plans to work with privacy advocacy groups to address concerns about privacy, and has invited the ACLU to a CAPPS II briefing in mid-March.

[March 5, 2003; Minneapolis Star Tribune]

<http://www.startribune.com/stories/535/3734191.html>

U.S. transportation agency tests program that uses credit reports to screen air passengers

A detailed overview with quotes from the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union and and an air travel expert from Minneapolis, who describes the proposal as "over the line".

[March 4, 2003; Minneapolis Star Tribune]

<http://www.startribune.com/stories/1576/3731926.html>

Privacy Concerns Raised Over Airline Screening Plan

"I have never seen such intrusions on what we would call civil liberties," said John Whitehead, who heads the Rutherford Institute, a conservative legal group.

[March 3, 2003; Family News In Focus]

<http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0024979.html>

Watchdogs warn on US-EU air passenger data accord

European national data controllers, watchdogs for privacy in Europe, expressed concern over the recent agreement on sharing European Union passenger data with the US. Warning that the proposal needs to be assessed in line with domestic laws, they requested more time to assess the agreement’s impact.

[March 3, 2003; Reuters via Forbes]

<http://www.forbes.com/home_europe/newswire/2003/03/03/rtr895341.html>

Civil liberties groups charge plan for airports goes too far

Privacy and civil liberties groups criticize CAPPS plans. A TSA spokesman notes that their security philosophy is now to look for people and behavior, rather than concentrate on devices.

[Newsday Online, March 1, 2003]

<http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-uspass013151951mar01,0,5301614.story?coll=ny-nationalnews-headlines>

Screening passengers maybe part of travel

San Jose International Airport is one of the three airports at which Delta will be testing CAPPS II.

[March 1, 2003; Tri-Valley Herald]

<http://www.trivalleyherald.com/Stories/0,1413,86~10669~1214084,00.html>

On Law: Virtually naked at the airport

Michael Kirkland, UPI Legal Affairs Correspondent, discusses CAPPS II, the reaction of civil liberties groups, and notes that a challenge to the regulations on Fourth Amendment grounds might fail because we have already given up our expectation of privacy in an airport.

[February 28, 2003; United Press International]

<http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030228-074054-9701r>

For previous news items, please see <http://www.privacyactivism.org/Item/77>.

Last updated March 10, 2003