The practice of the US Government in collecting and using airline passenger data is becoming known and meeting with resistance in several quarters. Any person flying within or to and from the USA is risking exploitation of their personal privacy. Dozens of...
Dozens of clearly defined data elements including the Social Security Number (SSN) for US citizens and email addresses is being collected and used by various government agencies. If you want to fly, then you must agree to the data collection.
Cases of crass abusive, like JetBlue Airlines who gave personal passenger data for 5 million customers to a private defense contractor are just the tip of the iceberg.
We referenced in another article the difference in personal privacy issues between data that Government bodies hold on an individual and the data held by private corporations. The former is often covered by Data Protection laws, but the latter frequently not.
Anita Ramsastry, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Washington notes that JetBlue might not have violated the 974 US Federal Privacy Act. However, JetBlue appears to have violated their own privacy policy. The undertaking may have also caused other privacy violations according to Prof. Ramsastry in her article "Airline Passenger Profiling Based on Private Sector Data: Why It Raises Serious Privacy Concerns."
Despite careful wording, like "CAPPS II may still seriously invade privacy", Prof. Ramsastry wisely asks but "what if the data is misused, or contains errors?" Furthermore, she concedes that "misuse of data could be disastrous - hampering an individual's ability to travel, and possibly falsely implicating the individual in criminal activity." "Once the [personal] data has left its private sector home, it may be hard to trace, and may end up in improper places." Concluding, the law professor states, "If we do not safeguard these [privacy] rights, we will doubtless lose them."
It took a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to bring this deplorable privacy violation to light, as reported by Fox News.
We clearly need more companies like Isolier-Wendt to respect the personal privacy of customers and employees and fight over-eager government departments as a matter of honor.
For those who are not as powerful as this frequent traveler or who must fly within or to the US, it looks like fishbowl tactics must meanwhile be accepted.
This is a good reason for privacy conscious people living overseas to avoid flying via the USA. If that results in American airline carriers suffering, then so be it.
Privacy conscious people living overseas might want to plan their travel to avoid flying via the USA. If that results in American airline carriers suffering, then so be it.
I chuckled to read a Grad Student politely writing that JetBlue should be spanked. I would prefer to insist that David Neeleman, CEO of JetBlue be spanked in the public square of the town where he lives. Then David Neeleman and JetBlue may start to understand what personal privacy means.
To be continued.
