CAPPS II: Even Serious US Paranoids Didn't See It Coming

i think you are correct nessie. all of these laws, PATRIOT Act I and II, all of these new technologies, TIA, and all of these new profiling systems, such as CAPPS, are directed at ALL americans.

as far as i know, there are NO limitations in any of these laws and technologies that limits them exclusively to cases involving terrorism by foreign nationals.

all should dissavow the notion that these laws and technologies will be brought to bear only on men with brown skin speaking arabic or persian.

when thinking of these laws, it is more accurate to think of them as rewrites of u.s. criminal law, which will apply to ALL u.s. citizens and can be used in ALL criminal cases, from stolen property to gangs to drugs or maybe even domestic cases, under the pretense of "fighting terrorism".

these things have no sunshine laws, they have no limits on their use or jurisdiction, and they were instituted in a blatently disingenuous way, under the cover of 9-11. these reforms are damaging and eroding civil liberties in a way foreign terrorists could never have dreamed of. these laws allow the terrorists to win.

http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,59252,00.html

CAPPS II Testing on Back Burner
By Michelle Delio
June 13, 2003

Plans to continue testing the controversial Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System, or CAPPS II, on commercial airlines have been temporarily suspended, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

CAPPS II would require background checks on all airline passengers after they book their airline tickets. Passengers' credit reports, banking and criminal records would be reviewed as part of the checks.

Privacy advocates have opposed the system, saying that probing every passenger's criminal, financial and credit records was a draconian measure without any verifiable security benefits.

Brian Turmail, a TSA spokesman, confirmed Friday that the agency has decided to delay futher public testing of CAPPS II until a privacy policy specifying exactly what the system will do, and what databases it will access, can be drafted and implemented. A draft could appear as early as mid-week. Turnmail said CAPPS II will be thoroughly reviewed for privacy problems, and the inner workings of the CAPPS II program would be detailed further, through public notices in the Federal Register, before any future testing of the program (that would involve public deployment of the system) is conducted.

But he stressed the CAPPS II program's original testing and deployment timeline was still in effect, and the TSA has no plans to permanently scrap it.

Advocates of CAPPS II insist the system is needed to help law enforcement officials identify terrorists while allowing law-abiding citizens to avoid the current airport security shakedowns.

The TSA said it would use financial records and other data to determine whether people had developed a history that would indicate they were established residents in their communities -- whether they had, for example, established credit, opened bank accounts and owned homes.

But since the TSA did not reveal exactly which databases it would tap for CAPPS II screening information, privacy advocates expressed concerns that information, such as credit reports, that might be used to determine if someone was a terrorist threat could be incorrect or outdated.

In March, the American Civil Liberties Union released a statement saying that CAPPS II will target less-affluent people, those with bad credit ratings or no credit history at all, creating a permanent blacklisted underclass of Americans who cannot travel freely.

Delta and the Transportation Security Administration were to test (http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,57909,00.html ) CAPPS II at three undisclosed airports during the month of March. It was billed as a first step prior to potentially deploying CAPPS II screening throughout the United States over the next year.

There was no word Friday from the TSA about the results of those tests or when they would be resumed.

A spokesman from Delta did not respond to calls for comment.

Bill Scannell, organizer of theBoycott Delta Campaign (http://boycottdelta.org/), launched in response to the airline's decision to test the CAPPS II system, applauded the move to delay further testing until privacy issues could be worked out.

"A little glimmer of faith in the U.S. government has been restored to me," he said. "It's nice to know that there are now people within Homeland Security that have taken the time to read the Bill of Rights."

He added, "They are going back to square one and are doing now what they should have done before: to see if it's even possible to devise a passenger screening system that will not only work, but not destroy our rights as Americans in the process."

>The TSA said it would use financial records and other data to determine whether people had developed a history that would indicate they were established residents in their communities -- whether they had, for example, established credit, opened bank accounts and owned homes.<

i fail to see how these characteristics in any way define a terrorist as separate from someone else who isn't a terrorist. might as well be as arbitrary as possible, and check for what size of shoes people wear, and whether they have glasses or not. that's "sure" to tell us a lot...

I don't like invasions of privacy but then I don't have to fly, no-one does.

Click here:

http://www.dontspyon.us/