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camwynACLU email in my inbox about a proposed airport 'security' system called CAPPS II - Computer-Assisted Passenger Pre-Screening System. According to the details they gave:
"According to the Transportation Security Administration, CAPPS II would involve two distinct phases. First, it would use private sector databases to gauge the likelihood that passengers are in fact who they say they are. Once this check is done, a deeper background search would be conducted using top-secret law enforcement and intelligence databases. This more invasive process would then result in passengers being assigned a color-coded threat level: green for minimal danger, yellow to trigger heightened security measures and red to signify an acute threat."
TSA wants the background search database responsibility to be in the hands of law enforcement/intelligence organizations, not the DoT. Yeah. That would be, oooh, out of the range of any kind of public oversight?
*growl*
Okay, TSA, YOU get to bear the brunt of my irritation at having shattered what little fragile psychological peace I'd managed to construct today. I am fscking SICK of people telling me that being screwed up the ass is good for me! Especially when there's indications that you plan on using 'private sector databases' that hold information like credit histories - what the HELL business is that of yours?
March 25, 2003
[recipient address was inserted here]
[recipient name was inserted here],
As your constituent and a frequent traveller, I am writing to urge you to
oppose the CAPPS II program. I am deeply concerned that this program will
create a permanent blacklist of Americans who cannot travel freely, and
hinder the security at our nation's airports.
Frankly, sir, every time one of these things comes up, I just shake my
head. I have yet to hear authoritatively of any one of these security
measures DEFINITELY preventing terrorists from doing something evil, or
keeping some psychopath from running amuck on a plane. All I hear instead
is of people who have trouble getting to a business meeting on time
because of screening regulations.
I'm still trying to figure out what bright light thought that using
*credit information* as part of this program was a good idea. Excuse me?
What right do airlines have to reject someone at the airport because in
the past they haven't paid their bills? What gives any organization,
private or public sector, the right to say 'hmm, I'm not sure if you
should be allowed to travel - let me have a look at your financial
histories first'? Fabulous. In the name of verifying identities, we're
basically laying people open to scrutiny of every major financial decision
they've ever made in their lives. How long before a system using this
information is turned to the law-enforcement pretext of running deadbeat
dads to ground - or people who've defaulted on car loans - or people who
are having trouble repaying student debts?
I was a victim of identity theft this past February. All I lost was my
bank card number, for a time. I don't think they got my social security
information, but I can't be sure yet. What if I try to buy a ticket to
travel to China this September, and this system is in place - and as a
result of someone stealing my information and using it, the Almighty
Security System thinks I'm some kind of terrorist undesirable? NOT
acceptable, sir, not acceptable at all.
Let's not even talk about people who truly want to blow planes up or
hijack them. They'll find a way to get around security measures in this
system - probably by turning to identity thieves and ruining even more
innocent lives along the way. New York City thought the first iteration of
MetroCard was hack-proof, but they were wrong, and any ideas that this
system will somehow be more difficult to crack should be considered long
and hard.
Not to mention false alarms! How many times in the past several years have
there been reports in the NY Times, or other major news media, about
identity cases gone horribly wrong? Not even thefts, but people who bore
resemblances to genuine wrongdoers and were arrested because of
similarities of name? There's a gentleman in Britain who was arbitrarily
detained by the FBI due to just such a fiasco not long ago. If they hadn't
arrested the real criminal with the same name in Las Vegas, I doubt the
British man would have ever seen his homeland again. What happens when
such cases fall into the hands of mere airport security screeners? They
have neither the time nor the resources to distinguish between mistakes
and genuine positives. This'll only distract them from REAL threats. It'll
be worse than car alarms!
Then there's the most intrusive and dangerous element of the program - the
construction of an infrastructure for conducting background checks and
maintaining dossiers on people who fly. This is supposed to somehow keep
us safe? Right. See my above paragraph about law enforcement using these
databases for what *they* deem legitimate non-terror-related uses - only
take out any chance of public oversight at all. They'd be dancing over any
pretense of Fourth Amendment rights left in this country, even the best of
them.
Frankly, sir, I've had about enough of hearing that this system or that
idea is going to make me more secure. They said similar things in the
1930s. In Germany. I don't approve of this system, I don't think it will
make me any safer, and I don't want it approved. Please, sir, give it a
long hard look and think, and then oppose this system before it's too late.
Once again, I urge you to oppose this invasive and untrustworthy system.
I look forward to hearing from you on this important matter.
Sincerely,
[insert me]
Not exactly 'watch out for civilians' or 'quit harassing American Muslims', but dammit, it's at least something I can do.
"According to the Transportation Security Administration, CAPPS II would involve two distinct phases. First, it would use private sector databases to gauge the likelihood that passengers are in fact who they say they are. Once this check is done, a deeper background search would be conducted using top-secret law enforcement and intelligence databases. This more invasive process would then result in passengers being assigned a color-coded threat level: green for minimal danger, yellow to trigger heightened security measures and red to signify an acute threat."
TSA wants the background search database responsibility to be in the hands of law enforcement/intelligence organizations, not the DoT. Yeah. That would be, oooh, out of the range of any kind of public oversight?
*growl*
Okay, TSA, YOU get to bear the brunt of my irritation at having shattered what little fragile psychological peace I'd managed to construct today. I am fscking SICK of people telling me that being screwed up the ass is good for me! Especially when there's indications that you plan on using 'private sector databases' that hold information like credit histories - what the HELL business is that of yours?
March 25, 2003
[recipient address was inserted here]
[recipient name was inserted here],
As your constituent and a frequent traveller, I am writing to urge you to
oppose the CAPPS II program. I am deeply concerned that this program will
create a permanent blacklist of Americans who cannot travel freely, and
hinder the security at our nation's airports.
Frankly, sir, every time one of these things comes up, I just shake my
head. I have yet to hear authoritatively of any one of these security
measures DEFINITELY preventing terrorists from doing something evil, or
keeping some psychopath from running amuck on a plane. All I hear instead
is of people who have trouble getting to a business meeting on time
because of screening regulations.
I'm still trying to figure out what bright light thought that using
*credit information* as part of this program was a good idea. Excuse me?
What right do airlines have to reject someone at the airport because in
the past they haven't paid their bills? What gives any organization,
private or public sector, the right to say 'hmm, I'm not sure if you
should be allowed to travel - let me have a look at your financial
histories first'? Fabulous. In the name of verifying identities, we're
basically laying people open to scrutiny of every major financial decision
they've ever made in their lives. How long before a system using this
information is turned to the law-enforcement pretext of running deadbeat
dads to ground - or people who've defaulted on car loans - or people who
are having trouble repaying student debts?
I was a victim of identity theft this past February. All I lost was my
bank card number, for a time. I don't think they got my social security
information, but I can't be sure yet. What if I try to buy a ticket to
travel to China this September, and this system is in place - and as a
result of someone stealing my information and using it, the Almighty
Security System thinks I'm some kind of terrorist undesirable? NOT
acceptable, sir, not acceptable at all.
Let's not even talk about people who truly want to blow planes up or
hijack them. They'll find a way to get around security measures in this
system - probably by turning to identity thieves and ruining even more
innocent lives along the way. New York City thought the first iteration of
MetroCard was hack-proof, but they were wrong, and any ideas that this
system will somehow be more difficult to crack should be considered long
and hard.
Not to mention false alarms! How many times in the past several years have
there been reports in the NY Times, or other major news media, about
identity cases gone horribly wrong? Not even thefts, but people who bore
resemblances to genuine wrongdoers and were arrested because of
similarities of name? There's a gentleman in Britain who was arbitrarily
detained by the FBI due to just such a fiasco not long ago. If they hadn't
arrested the real criminal with the same name in Las Vegas, I doubt the
British man would have ever seen his homeland again. What happens when
such cases fall into the hands of mere airport security screeners? They
have neither the time nor the resources to distinguish between mistakes
and genuine positives. This'll only distract them from REAL threats. It'll
be worse than car alarms!
Then there's the most intrusive and dangerous element of the program - the
construction of an infrastructure for conducting background checks and
maintaining dossiers on people who fly. This is supposed to somehow keep
us safe? Right. See my above paragraph about law enforcement using these
databases for what *they* deem legitimate non-terror-related uses - only
take out any chance of public oversight at all. They'd be dancing over any
pretense of Fourth Amendment rights left in this country, even the best of
them.
Frankly, sir, I've had about enough of hearing that this system or that
idea is going to make me more secure. They said similar things in the
1930s. In Germany. I don't approve of this system, I don't think it will
make me any safer, and I don't want it approved. Please, sir, give it a
long hard look and think, and then oppose this system before it's too late.
Once again, I urge you to oppose this invasive and untrustworthy system.
I look forward to hearing from you on this important matter.
Sincerely,
[insert me]
Not exactly 'watch out for civilians' or 'quit harassing American Muslims', but dammit, it's at least something I can do.
