Untitled Document
If you flew in June of 2004 the Transportation Security Administration
now has a file on you, amassing such passenger records as our names, phone numbers,
and credit card info.
 |
Jim Hightower |
The Transportation Security Administration is the all-knowing, all-seeing federal
agency in charge of taking our shoes off at airports, and our heroic leaders
there have recently rooted out a treasure trove of invaluable data. Unfortuately,
it's not information about some secret cell of terrorists--it's a trove of your
and my personal information.
If you flew in June of 2004, TSA snoops now have a file on you--even though
Congress specifically told them not to collect such data. Agency officials promised
they wouldn't, but TSA secretly did it anyway, amassing such passenger records
as our names, phone numbers, and credit card info.
Worse, TSA contracted the data tabulation to a private corporation, which used
other databases to compile full profiles on us, including home addresses, spouses,
and--BE VERY WORRIED--the exact latitude and longitude of our homes! There's
a law against secret government databases, and TSA earlier pledged to congress
that it would not store commercial data on air passengers--but there the info
is, stored in TSA computers.
Not to worry, say the Bushites in charge, for this is just a test of a new ID
verification system we're developing. Bad answer. Congress told the agency not
to implement such a system until the Government Accountability Office gave its
approval. The GAO has evaluated the system--and it gave TSA an F, noting that
the ID program failed to meet nine out of the ten criteria that congress had
set.
Well, picky, picky, say the Bushites. Even if we broke our promises, tried to
go around the law, and failed to produce a passable system--hey, you can trust
us with people's personal data because our ID system "is built on an airtight
privacy platform."
This is Jim Hightower saying... Do we have "Sap" written on our foreheads?
These people thumbed their noses at the congress, why would they let some bureaucratic
privacy code stop them from ransacking our personal information? Far from trusted--they
ought to be prosecuted.