Submitted Comments
466 comments total, 397 to display, page 19 of 40, 10 at a time (most recent first)
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263. 22 October 2004, 09:55:42 AM PST
Privacy, please.
261. From Karen M, Or, 22 October 2004, 09:42:34 AM PST
Secure Flight is yet more money and time spent on screening american travelers. I've seen little old ladies pulled out of a check point line at the airport only to have their pill boxes taken from them. The millions of tax dollars that will be spent on 'Secure Flight' would be better spent on things we know will work, such as cargo screening, better training for TSA employees, and point-to-point baggage matching. Let's put less effort into illegal search and seizure of our citizen and more money into programs that would actually protect us.
260. From Vern G, Phoenix, AZ, 22 October 2004, 09:29:50 AM PST
It is very disturbing to think that the President, or any member of the Executive Branch of Government, could have the ability to stop a United States Citizen from boarding an airplane. In this time of ever-increasing violations of civil rights and civil liberties, it is important for the government to remain detached from the accusations being leveled. The privacy violations that run rampant in the TSA are a blistering example of why we need to practice restraint, instead of increasing the powers allocated.
259. 22 October 2004, 09:22:31 AM PST
Secure Flight is wrong for more than the following points:
Since when did the Executive Branch have the right to stop Americans from traveling?
More than 120,000 names are on terrorist watch lists that the TSA will use to screen fliers. Nowhere does the TSA mention testing the right of passengers to seek redress of an error. It is also mute on how a flier who is wrongly placed on the watch list could have his or her name removed.
No one who flew in June of 2004 gave their permission for their information to be turned-over to the government. This appears to be an illegal data dump as no Privacy Act notice was given.
The TSA has a horrible record on privacy. During the past two years, the TSA secretly obtained millions of travel records from several airlines and airline-reservation systems and passed these records on to private contractors.
TSA already has millions of travel records and ran testing on these records. Why do they need more records? What were the results of the earlier testing?
No one within the TSA has been punished for the earlier, secret privacy invasions.
The inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), still hasn't completed their investigation into all of TSA's previous privacy violations.
The terrorist watch lists are a mess. TSA will use lists that have been proven to be inaccurate in order to test a system that has no proven effectiveness: garbage in, garbage out.
The millions of tax dollars that will be spent on 'Secure Flight' would be better spent on things we know will work, such as cargo screening, better training for TSA employees, and point-to-point baggage matching.
This is America, not Communist China. Internal border controls are un-American.
257. From Marcy H, Santa Clara, CA, 22 October 2004, 09:10:34 AM PST
Dear Sir or Madam,
It makes me sad the way our country is going these days. We have gone from The Land of The Free, where people are innocent untill proven guilty, where we have the freedom to say and do what we want without fear of the government, to a country where these mass screenings of innocent americans are happening and who knows how this information is being/will be used. This is not America.
I have gone through airport security that seems lax and unorganized. If you really want to stop terrorists from flying, I suggest spending time on improving the quality of airport security staff. Give them more training, make them more efficient. But gathering information of mass amounts of American citizens and using it for undisclosed reasons is inexcusable. We cannot let the fear of terrorism interfere with our constitutional rights to privacy and freedom.
Thank You,
Marcy Hogan
33. From Miles B, 22 October 2004, 08:55:47 AM PST
I am a computer security professional, and as such have a good understanding of how to secure systems. Any system.
Everything from the Office of Homeland Security has been classic WOFTAM, inclduing this latest effort to keep CAPPS alive. It won't work. It will cost a lot of money and take a lot of time. Spending time and money pursuing a course that cannot work only makes the problem worse.
Before you disinfect a computer you remove it from the network. Before you can secure any system you have to first secure the borders. Only after securing the border can you begin to work internally.
29. From Jon W, Austin, Texas, 22 October 2004, 08:55:44 AM PST
CAPPS II, Secure Flight, TIA, whatever... they are all invasions of the privacy of Americans. Do not do this. Do not spy on Americans. Do not collate databases of activity. Don't scrutinize millions of innocent Americans just to find that needle in a haystack terrorist - it isn't worth it. The abuse of privacy, of freedom, and of civil liberties is a far greater threat than the occasional terrorist. Democracies may have to fight with one hand tied behind the back, but they have the upper hand.
28. From Michael S, Hilliard, OH, 22 October 2004, 08:55:42 AM PST
I understand and respect the need of the TSA and the government to identify and catch terrorists. I recognize the value that air travel information has to investigations to catch such individuals. But I do not agree that the wholesale accumulation of all air travel data of all passengers is necessary, appropriate, or desirable in this endeavor. I'm in favor of airlines being required to turn over data on specifically named suspected terrorists in a hurry, but not the "average" air passenger. That is simply an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy for American air travelers. Worse, the "Secure Flight" program has no method for passengers who are wrongly listed as terrorists to be removed from the "watching" activity. The TSA has an abysmal privacy record already, and has yet to indicate if past examination of air travel records had provided even a single terrorism suspect's name. There have to be better ways to collect the necessary air travel information, and better ways to protect the American public than accumulating travel records.
26. From Justin A, Chapel Hill, NC, 22 October 2004, 08:55:39 AM PST
The protection of civil liberties is essential to the democratic process. How can we in good faith continue to "promote" democracy throughout the world, while at the same time repressing it here at home? We need to lead by example.
21. From KJ T, Blue Springs, MO, 22 October 2004, 08:55:36 AM PST
Insane. It's time our government started working for us instead of against us. Sign me up as against this silly deal.
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