WASHINGTON – Passenger records of anyone who took a flight in June 2004 must be turned over to the Transportation Security Administration for a test of a new profiling system to identify suspected terrorists, federal authorities said Tuesday.
Security officials will consolidate information from the airlines’ “Passenger Name Records” into a database that can be compared against names appearing on terrorist watch lists maintained by the Department of Homeland Security, said Justin Oberman, the the agency’s national risk assessment officer.
June was chosen for its high level of air traffic, he said.
From the information provided for the test program, known as Secure Flight, security officials will whittle a more streamlined list of vital information.
The airlines have 30 days to comment on the transportation agency’s order. If airlines do not turn the information over voluntarily during the comment period, they will be ordered to do so in November. Laws passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks give the agency the authority to order airlines to turn over passenger information.
The test of the system is expected to begin in mid- to late November and will last 30 days.
The testing period, Oberman said, will help define what categories of passenger information the government will use, and it will provide a testing ground for collection technology.
Under the current system, airlines check passenger names against watch lists maintained by the government. However, because of fears of leaks, not all the names of suspected terrorists are included on the watch lists provided to the airlines. The bipartisan commission that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks recommended that the government take over the screening functions.
Barry Steinhardt, director of the technology and liberty program at the American Civil Liberties Union, said Secure Flight is too intrusive.
“Why is it necessary for the TSA to know that you’ve ordered a kosher meal, or who you’re sleeping with in your hotel room?” he said.
Passenger data
The amount of data in passenger records varies by airline, but it typically includes name, address, telephone number, flight origin, flight destination, flight time, duration of flight, seat location, travel agent and form of payment.
It also can include credit card numbers, travel itinerary, hotel or car rental reservations, and airline meal requests.
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