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Privacy Activist Takes on Delta
By Michelle Delio | Also by this reporter Page 1 of 2 next »
02:00 AM Mar. 05, 2003 PT
NEW YORK -- Hell, no, Bill won't go. And he doesn't want anyone else to go either, if their travel plans involve Delta Airlines.
Bill Scannell, organizer of the successful Boycott Adobe campaign launched when Russian programmer Dmitry Sklyarov was arrested in the summer of 2001, is now calling for a boycott on Delta.
At issue is Delta's test run this month of CAPPS II, the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System. CAPPS II would require background checks on all airline passengers when they book a ticket, including checking credit reports, banking and criminal records.
Passengers would then be assigned a threat level -- red, yellow or green -- which would help authorities determine if they should be subjected to increased security checks at the airport or refused boarding.
Advocates of CAPPS II insist the system will identify terrorists while allowing law-abiding citizens to avoid the airport security shakedown. But privacy advocates like Scannell believe CAPPS II is highly intrusive and ineffective in identifying terrorists.
Delta will be trying out CAPPS II at three as-yet undisclosed airports during the month of March. It's a first step prior to potentially deploying CAPPS II screening throughout the country over the next year.
Scannell hopes that people will join in his boycott to send a message to the airline industry and the government that CAPPS II is not acceptable.
"Delta was first in line to sign up for fascism," Scannell said. "CAPPS II treats all Americans who want to board a plane as if they were thugs. It's a horribly misguided attempt to make flying safer. It's ridiculous and horrible, and it has to stop."
Scannell first heard that Delta would be testing the CAPPS II program last Friday. He immediately registered BoycottDelta.org and worked all weekend to get the site up.
It went live late on Monday, and Scannell sent information about it to several security and privacy mailing lists. He said the site received about 25 e-mails an hour on Tuesday, all but one in complete support of the boycott.
Scannell argues that CAPPS II is ineffective in spotting would-be terrorists, as the system can easily be defeated by watching to see what sort of passengers it targets for special attention.
"CAPPS II threatens our liberty, but its security benefits are far from clear," said Barry Steinhardt, director of the ACLU's Technology and Liberty Program. "It will leave security screeners at sea in an ocean of private data; some of that data will be fraudulent, and much of it just plain wrong."
Scannell also raises the issue of ruined credit ratings as a side effect of CAPPS II screening.
"Every time a credit report is run on you, it hurts your credit rating," Scannell said. "Frequent fliers will not only have a nice thick Delta dossier, but a damaged credit history to boot."
Privacy activists are also concerned that CAPPS II will target less-affluent people, those with bad credit ratings or no credit history at all.
"This system threatens to create a permanent blacklisted underclass of Americans who cannot travel freely,'' said Katie Corrigan, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union. "Anyone could get caught up in this system, with no way to get out."
According to a January Federal Register notice containing some details of the program, CAPPS II will store information about those deemed a yellow- or red-level threat for up to 50 years.
Information from files about those individuals could also be shared with other government agencies at the federal, state and local levels, as well as with intelligence agencies such as the CIA and with foreign governments and international agencies -- all of which could use those designations for many purposes, including employment decisions and the granting of government benefits, according to the ACLU.
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Privacy Activist Takes on Delta
By Michelle Delio
02:00 AM Mar. 05, 2003 PT
Undersecretary of Transportation for Security James M. Loy said in a statement that CAPPS II will respect citizens' privacy.
"CAPPS II is being designed to serve our national security without sacrificing individual privacy," he said. "Concerns about privacy are understandable. As we address such concerns, we believe that the public will come to have a higher comfort level in air travel."
Some airport security chiefs welcome the CAPPS II system, saying it will streamline the airport check-in security process.
Reactions from passengers at New York's LaGuardia airport were mixed on CAPPS II screening. Some said that they are in favor of it.
"How can you stand here in New York City and question any attempt to make travel safer?" said Herman Velldor, a New York resident waiting to board a Delta flight. "Shame on you -- the airlines and the government only want to make sure 9/11 never happens again."
"Whatever works, hon," said Beth Ehlers from North Carolina. "I'm willing to give up a little privacy so that we're never attacked again. Besides I have nothing to hide."
Others said they didn't believe CAPPS II would be useful in identifying terrorists and were uncomfortable with the idea of such intensive checks every time they booked an airplane reservation.
"We were once told that we needed to present photo ID for our own safety, which most of us knew was nonsense from a security standpoint and which everyone now knows was nonsense," said Keith Beasley, a New York resident. "We now know terrorists can get (a) photo ID. So how difficult would it be for terrorists to use operatives with the proper CAPPS credentials? This CAPPS thing smells of snoopy government, not real security."
"Explain to me again how this information will be used to spot terrorists?" said David Walker, a New Jersey resident. "I figure it'll work only if you have really dumb terrorists who haven't realized they need local operatives to carry out their murdering plans."
Delta senior marketing vice president Vicki Escarra did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the boycott.
Scannell made his living as a journalist covering foreign politics, and became interested in privacy issues when he returned to the United States a decade ago. He now works as a media representative for a Silicon Valley software company.
He was involved with Sealand, a data haven located on an island seven miles off the coast of Britain, where servers could be used by those wishing to store and transmit electronic files free of government legislation.
By Michelle Delio | Also by this reporter Page 1 of 2 next »
02:00 AM Mar. 05, 2003 PT
NEW YORK -- Hell, no, Bill won't go. And he doesn't want anyone else to go either, if their travel plans involve Delta Airlines.
Bill Scannell, organizer of the successful Boycott Adobe campaign launched when Russian programmer Dmitry Sklyarov was arrested in the summer of 2001, is now calling for a boycott on Delta.
At issue is Delta's test run this month of CAPPS II, the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System. CAPPS II would require background checks on all airline passengers when they book a ticket, including checking credit reports, banking and criminal records.
Passengers would then be assigned a threat level -- red, yellow or green -- which would help authorities determine if they should be subjected to increased security checks at the airport or refused boarding.
Advocates of CAPPS II insist the system will identify terrorists while allowing law-abiding citizens to avoid the airport security shakedown. But privacy advocates like Scannell believe CAPPS II is highly intrusive and ineffective in identifying terrorists.
Delta will be trying out CAPPS II at three as-yet undisclosed airports during the month of March. It's a first step prior to potentially deploying CAPPS II screening throughout the country over the next year.
Scannell hopes that people will join in his boycott to send a message to the airline industry and the government that CAPPS II is not acceptable.
"Delta was first in line to sign up for fascism," Scannell said. "CAPPS II treats all Americans who want to board a plane as if they were thugs. It's a horribly misguided attempt to make flying safer. It's ridiculous and horrible, and it has to stop."
Scannell first heard that Delta would be testing the CAPPS II program last Friday. He immediately registered BoycottDelta.org and worked all weekend to get the site up.
It went live late on Monday, and Scannell sent information about it to several security and privacy mailing lists. He said the site received about 25 e-mails an hour on Tuesday, all but one in complete support of the boycott.
Scannell argues that CAPPS II is ineffective in spotting would-be terrorists, as the system can easily be defeated by watching to see what sort of passengers it targets for special attention.
"CAPPS II threatens our liberty, but its security benefits are far from clear," said Barry Steinhardt, director of the ACLU's Technology and Liberty Program. "It will leave security screeners at sea in an ocean of private data; some of that data will be fraudulent, and much of it just plain wrong."
Scannell also raises the issue of ruined credit ratings as a side effect of CAPPS II screening.
"Every time a credit report is run on you, it hurts your credit rating," Scannell said. "Frequent fliers will not only have a nice thick Delta dossier, but a damaged credit history to boot."
Privacy activists are also concerned that CAPPS II will target less-affluent people, those with bad credit ratings or no credit history at all.
"This system threatens to create a permanent blacklisted underclass of Americans who cannot travel freely,'' said Katie Corrigan, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union. "Anyone could get caught up in this system, with no way to get out."
According to a January Federal Register notice containing some details of the program, CAPPS II will store information about those deemed a yellow- or red-level threat for up to 50 years.
Information from files about those individuals could also be shared with other government agencies at the federal, state and local levels, as well as with intelligence agencies such as the CIA and with foreign governments and international agencies -- all of which could use those designations for many purposes, including employment decisions and the granting of government benefits, according to the ACLU.
Wired News: Staff | Contact Us | Advertising
We are translated daily into Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese
© Copyright 2003, Lycos, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Your use of this website constitutes acceptance of the Lycos Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions
Privacy Activist Takes on Delta
By Michelle Delio
02:00 AM Mar. 05, 2003 PT
Undersecretary of Transportation for Security James M. Loy said in a statement that CAPPS II will respect citizens' privacy.
"CAPPS II is being designed to serve our national security without sacrificing individual privacy," he said. "Concerns about privacy are understandable. As we address such concerns, we believe that the public will come to have a higher comfort level in air travel."
Some airport security chiefs welcome the CAPPS II system, saying it will streamline the airport check-in security process.
Reactions from passengers at New York's LaGuardia airport were mixed on CAPPS II screening. Some said that they are in favor of it.
"How can you stand here in New York City and question any attempt to make travel safer?" said Herman Velldor, a New York resident waiting to board a Delta flight. "Shame on you -- the airlines and the government only want to make sure 9/11 never happens again."
"Whatever works, hon," said Beth Ehlers from North Carolina. "I'm willing to give up a little privacy so that we're never attacked again. Besides I have nothing to hide."
Others said they didn't believe CAPPS II would be useful in identifying terrorists and were uncomfortable with the idea of such intensive checks every time they booked an airplane reservation.
"We were once told that we needed to present photo ID for our own safety, which most of us knew was nonsense from a security standpoint and which everyone now knows was nonsense," said Keith Beasley, a New York resident. "We now know terrorists can get (a) photo ID. So how difficult would it be for terrorists to use operatives with the proper CAPPS credentials? This CAPPS thing smells of snoopy government, not real security."
"Explain to me again how this information will be used to spot terrorists?" said David Walker, a New Jersey resident. "I figure it'll work only if you have really dumb terrorists who haven't realized they need local operatives to carry out their murdering plans."
Delta senior marketing vice president Vicki Escarra did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the boycott.
Scannell made his living as a journalist covering foreign politics, and became interested in privacy issues when he returned to the United States a decade ago. He now works as a media representative for a Silicon Valley software company.
He was involved with Sealand, a data haven located on an island seven miles off the coast of Britain, where servers could be used by those wishing to store and transmit electronic files free of government legislation.