[IP] I am glad he is not worried djf Chertoff: Privacy fears not justified
Begin forwarded message:
From: EEkid@xxxxxxx
Date: August 11, 2005 3:39:05 PM EDT
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Chertoff: Privacy fears not justified
Chertoff: Privacy fears not justified
By Thomas Frank, USA TODAY
Wed Aug 10, 7:26 AM ET
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Tuesday
that Americans need to ease their concerns about turning over
personal information to the government - especially if they want to
fly safe from terrorism.
Chertoff said there is too much worry over a plan by the
Transportation Security Administration to collect passengers' full
names and birth dates before they board.
"The average American gives information up to get a CVS (drugstore
discount) card that is far more in-depth than TSA's going to be
looking at," Chertoff told reporters and editors at USA TODAY's
headquarters in McLean, Va. "But I actually make that case that
giving up a little bit more information protects privacy." (Related:
Chertoff interview)
"Would you rather give up your address and date of birth to a secure
database and not be pulled aside and questioned," he said, "or would
you rather not give it up and have an increased likelihood that
you're going to be called out of line and someone's going to do a
secondary search of your bag and they're going to ask you a lot of
personal questions in the full view of everybody else?"
Chertoff vowed to implement Secure Flight, a plan by the federal
government to screen out potential terrorists by scrutinizing the
backgrounds of passengers. Under the plan, passengers will be
encouraged - but not required - to give their full names and birth
dates when reserving a seat. The TSA hoped to begin testing Secure
Flight this month but that timetable is in doubt.
The current system, in place since before the 9/11 attacks, requires
airlines to do the background checks. Passengers must give only their
last name and first initial to book a flight.
American Civil Liberties Union legislative counsel Tim Sparapani
said collecting more information from passengers is a waste of time
and money.
"The public does not get any advanced security by giving up more
information," Sparapani said. Would-be hijackers can easily foil
background checks, he said, by either keeping a clean criminal record
or by stealing someone's identity. Money would be better spent on
machines that detect plastic explosives on passengers or in bags, he
said.
Chertoff acknowledged that "the privacy issue has become so
sensitive," but he added that "we're still in a very primitive model
of how we screen people." Millions of passengers get extra airport
scrutiny or are barred from flights each year when their names
resemble terrorism suspects.
"We need to start to move to ... a more precise model ... which I
think would protect privacy more," Chertoff said. Personal data "can
be very helpful in screening out false positives" that lead
passengers to be questioned or searched.
Chertoff also strongly backed a program that gives special ID cards
to people who provide extensive personal data and are certified by
the government as having no terrorist ties or criminal warrants. "I
would hope that eventually a large number of people find their way
into a trusted or vetted traveler program that allows them to move
much more readily in and out of the country and within the country,"
he said.
Secure Flight is the TSA's second effort to collect more information
from fliers. Last summer, the agency killed a program known as CAPPS
II amid concerns, some from within the TSA, that it was too intrusive.
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