Chertoff Seeks More Air Travelers Data

[Judi Lynn]

Chertoff Seeks More Air Travelers Data

Tuesday August 29, 2006 6:01 AM

WASHINGTON (AP) - The government needs broader access to airline passenger information to identify potential hijackers, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in an article published Tuesday.

``How do we thwart a terrorist who has not yet been identified?'' Chertoff wrote in an op-ed article in Tuesday's editions of The Washington Post.

``One way is by using more of the detailed information collected by airlines and travel agencies when an individual books a flight,'' Chertoff wrote. ``These passenger name records contain information, such as travel itineraries and payment details, that can be analyzed in conjunction with current intelligence to identify high-risk travelers before they board planes.''

The government has collected such data on travelers flying from other countries to the U.S. since the early 1990s, Chertoff wrote. But European privacy concerns have limited the ability of investigators to share such information between agencies or with their counterparts abroad, he wrote.
(snip/...)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6044537,00.html

[grasswire]

1. ridiculous

``How do we thwart a terrorist who has not yet been identified?''

[Judi Lynn]

2. We are not worthy of such a genius protecting us!

That has to be the question of our lifetimes!



It's especially poignant considering we are helpless against the terrorist in the White House, whom we, by god, CAN identify, probably, if one the latest news stories is correct, even with our eyes closed.

[Sherman A1]

3. Hopefully Mr. Chretoff will be

seeking other employment in the next couple of years and his charming ideas will no longer be national issues.

[saigon68]

7. he can go back to being SKELETOR

[krispos42]

4. Time to start driving everyplace.

I'm getting to the point that that sounds good to me. I live in the middle of the country. I can be most places within 24 hours if I have a good book-on-tape to listen to. And the seat is far more comfortable.

[Eurobabe]

6. And you can bring your Snapple and your hair gel!

LOL.

[krispos42]

8. Hell, I got a 64-oz insulated mug!

I'm ready to motor! :-)

Seriously, though, it's like public transportation is so much more efficient than private cars. So let's all do it. Oh, by the way, public transportation is a terrorist target, so we're going to paw through all of your stuff, restrict your carry-ons, probe your body orifices, check you for warrants, investigate your previous travel, and question you. And the terminals are rife with security cameras and face-recognition software.

So, even for a bus or a train, you are still forced to go into a building crawling with survellience, and you have no clue what they are doing with that information or what kind of conclusions and extrapolations they are performing.

At least sitting in my car I still have some privacy rights.

[Norrin Radd]

9. Wow. I hadn't thought about it that way, until I read your post.

They make public transportation an invasive hassle, and then people buy more gas for their private vehicles. Or am I just paranoid?

[leftchick]

12. I road Amtrack last year

nobody checked any of our bags. Or asked any questions. :shrug:

[crikkett]

14. private car does not equal privacy

:tinfoilhat: Cops are allowed to search your car without a warrant - in OK they can draw your blood on the spot.
:tinfoilhat: Highways are under survelliance
:tinfoilhat: Amber Alert isn't just for kids anymore
:tinfoilhat: OnStar system doesn't have to be activated to be used to listen in on conversations in the vehicle.

[Jawja]

24. "At least sitting in my car

I still have some privacy rights."

Until you get OnStar or a GPS navigation system. Won't be long until GPS is used to identify and track movement in an auto. Imagine all new cars coming with an identifier chip that GPS can track and perhaps even bill you for violating speed limit laws....

[AnneD]

25. you forgot to mention....

many cars have black boxes on them now and there is a law afoot to make them mandatory. I use to think some conspiracy theory folks were paranoid fools, but they are looking wiser every day :tinfoilhat::hide:

[Jawja]

26. Oh, yes, that's right!

Unless you walk or ride a bicycle, you will soon NOT have freedom of movement in this country.

[radfringe]

5. I spy with my little eye....

``Indeed, more data sharing leads to more precisely targeted screening, which actually improves privacy by reducing questioning and searches of innocent travelers.''

This goes on my ORWELLIAN list... the more we know about YOU the more privacy you will have?

[treestar]

10. What data would have identified the 911 hijackers?

That they were Muslim?

I thought that was supposedly easy for the DHS to figure out.

:sarcasm:

[crikkett]

16. I heard they bought pizza with credit cards.

:P

[dbt]

11. So our Homeland $ecurity Tsar looks like SATAN.

J'ever notice how every fucking MEMBER of the Holy Christian bu$h Regime is so thoroughly EVIL in appearance? I keep expecting to see a forked tongue dart out at a press briefing and I am LIVING for the moment when bu$hler loses the ability to maintain his human form--on live TV.

:evilgrin:
dbt
Remember New Orleans

[truthisfreedom]

13. and it will come down to: "Lilly-White people may fly nude."

anyone close to brown who attempts to buy a ticket will be sent to Gitmo.

[crikkett]

15. Looks like another renamed TIA

Wasn't it Chertoff that set up 'Total Information Awareness' that Congress said couldn't happen, so the program was moved to the Pentagon and given a new name or something? Or was that Poindexter? Too early for me to keep my Defenders of Freedom(tm) in line.

[HuffleClaw]

17. they just don't care about people's rights at all do they?

such a casual approach to it too. brrrrrr.

[MaineDem]

18. But they didn't stop the kids with water

I flew last week and a group of kids leaving Maine camps got on the plane. No one checked if they were carrying water, which they plainly were. So I can't imagine how thorough the search for liquids and gels can be around the country.

So what is a high-risk traveler?

[w4rma]

19. To cover up for their incompetence at their job they demand more and more

information about everyone. It will never stop. They will want to know every tid bit about you and then they'll complain that they have too much information to sort through and if they only had more police to do the sorting or a computer to sort they will catch them the next time and then they'll complain that they don't have access to some other aspect of peoples' lives, etc. etc.

People who think illogically will usually be incompetent in managerial positions.

[leesa]

20. No. He doesn't need this information. He already has everything he

needs to do his job.

[pinniped]

21. These assholes want to be able to access people's credit card....

transactions and shit like that.

In other words, fuck your privacy. An asshole like the rest of the cabal.

``Protecting personal privacy is a part of responding to the post-Sept. 11 world, but it should not reflexively block us from developing new screening tools,'' Chertoff wrote.

[Evergreen Emerald]

22. They take every opportunity they can to erode civil rights

in their quest to undermine our system of government.

[jfkraus]

23. Don't you get it yet: Spying is Privacy...K&R

“Protecting personal privacy is a part of responding to the post-Sept. 11 world, but it should not reflexively block us from developing new screening tools,” Chertoff wrote. “Indeed, more data sharing leads to more precisely targeted screening, which actually improves privacy by reducing questioning and searches of innocent travelers.”

So...spying now improves privacy...uh...uh...my...head...is...exploding...

[Sven77]

27. Chertoff is a

dual Israeli citizen. his father was one of the founders of the mossad. not saying that Israel controls this country, its just unusual how many Bush government officials have dual citizenship.

[Contrary1]

28. How about this?

They should just ban all profiled "non-terrorists" from flying. :eyes:
Then rounding up the bad guys should be easy enough...even for them.

C'mon fellow Murkins, what say you?