[IP] Privacy Complaint Against Airline Dismissed
Privacy Complaint Against Airline Dismissed
By Sara Kehaulani Goo
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 15, 2004; Page E03
Northwest Airlines did not violate its own privacy policy and did not
mislead customers when it shared passenger records with the government
as part of a secret airline security project after the terrorist
attacks in 2001, the Department of Transportation has ruled.
The department dismissed a complaint filed this year by a Washington
privacy rights organization, Electronic Privacy Information Center, and
the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union alleging that the carrier committed
unfair and deceptive trade practices in sharing the information with
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration without informing its
customers. The agency has the authority to review business practices of
companies in the transportation industry, for example, such as whether
an airline actually provided fares to customers as advertised. It was
the first time the transportation agency had reviewed a case involving
an airline's privacy policies, the Sept. 10 decision said.
Northwest's policy posted on its Web site said the airline would not
sell information about its customers to third parties and that it
shares information about its passengers only in limited, specific
cases. Northwest shared three months' worth of travel records with
NASA's Ames Research Center, following a December 2001 request by the
agency.
The Transportation Department said it dismissed the complaint because
the language of the policy says only that the airline won't sell the
information and it did not address sharing information with the
government. "Ultimately, and most convincingly . . . there does not
appear to have been any actual or likely harm to Northwest's
customers," the decision said.
Northwest was one of several airlines found to have shared millions of
passenger records with the government or federal contractors after the
terrorist attacks. Such records typically contain a passenger's name,
address, phone number, e-mail address and credit card information.
Two lawsuits filed on behalf of Northwest passengers for violating
privacy laws were recently dismissed in courts in North Dakota and
Minnesota. One lawsuit is outstanding in Tennessee, the carrier said.
American, JetBlue, Delta, Continental, America West and Frontier
airlines also said they shared passenger records for similar purposes.
JetBlue and American have also been sued.
Marcia Hofmann, staff counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information
Center, said her organization would ask for a review of the decision by
the Transportation Department. "This [decision] calls into question the
legitimacy of any privacy policy -- certainly any airline privacy
policy," Hofmann said.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A21559-2004Sep14?
language=printer>
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