Submitted Comments
466 comments total, 397 to display, page 23 of 40, 10 at a time (most recent first)
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230. From Christian H, Philadelphia, PA, 21 October 2004, 02:15:15 PM PST
An unaccountable agency, violates privacy, and Constitutional rights to free travel - sounds like the worst of the Soviet Union. Any dictatorship should be so lucky as to have the unlimited powers to which you aspire. Democracy can not last long with such stewardship.
227. From Daniel B, Albuquerque, NM, 21 October 2004, 02:07:25 PM PST
The TSA's record on privacy protestion is absymal. There is absolutely no reason for airlines to share with the TSA passenger list information. The protection of privacy is guaranteed in our Consititution, hopefully a document the TSA is vaguely familiar. There is absolutely no reason why the TSA should have this information, no reason the airlines should provide it, and no reason to trust the TSA with any information.
226. From C V, Fort Collins, CO, 21 October 2004, 02:05:12 PM PST
Speaking as someone who travels for business and who has personally witnessed coworkers get delayed to the point of missing flights, all because their name might have been one of the names on the super-secret watch list, I'm apalled that the TSA is now seeking to expand its list by a highly questionable grab of data from the airlines. How do innocent people get off the list? I'm told it takes a call to the TSA Ombudsman, after which a letter may arrive in 8 weeks. So far, no one I know has received their letter, so they always plan on getting to the airport 4 hours early, so they can be searched and questioned YET AGAIN about their travel.
Also, data from most commercial businesses that don't have rigorous data entry standards is notoriously inaccurate, incomplete, and incompatible with other systems. Are we supposed to trust the TSA to somehow clean it up before adding yet another innocent person's name to the dreaded watch list? If you believe that, I have a bridge in Arizona you might be interested in buying...
224. From Ed M, Charlotte, NC, 21 October 2004, 02:00:09 PM PST
"Secure Flight" is as un-American as World War II Japanese internment camps! I guess it is true that the terrorists have won. They hate our lifestyle and they have succeeded in changing it much for the worse. We Americans need to wake up and realize that there is no "absolute security" but there is "absolutely no freedom". "Secure Flight" is another step toward "absolutely no freedom". Stop this madness by stopping "Secure Flight" and the "Patriot Act"!
223. From Clifford H, Philadelphia, PA, 21 October 2004, 01:59:02 PM PST
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 that 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.
222. From Michael M, Santa Barbara, CA, 21 October 2004, 01:53:05 PM PST
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.
221. From Otto H, Oceanside, California, 21 October 2004, 01:50:44 PM PST
The basic problem here is that a no-fly list will do precious little to deter terrorism, but will inconvenience a whole lot of law abiding citizens with no reasonable recourse. Can't we accomplish the same goal in a less obtrusive way that will not trample on (dwindling) civil rights?
220. From Eric H, Folsom, CA, 21 October 2004, 01:47:50 PM PST
The TSA has been assigned the very difficult task of protecting Americans as they travel by air, and I have no doubt that TSA officials and employees are hard-working and dedicated to my safety.
However, it is not right for them to have carte blanche access to private records for which they have not yet demonstrated an ability to keep private.
It is understood that no system is full-proof, and that a small number of mistakes must be tolerated in the name of security. However, the no-fly lists have proven to be very faulty. TSA must NOT proceed with a plan that does not address the high error rate. It MUST provide a fast and efficient way for errors to be corrected once they are reported.
219. From Robert G, Minneapolis, MN, 21 October 2004, 01:45:39 PM PST
I would like to urge you to reconsider your testing plans for "Secure Flight." I understand that you are trying to safeguard the American public, but the American public needs its privacy safeguarded, in addition to its physical safety. I am very concerned about your plans to release a great deal of confidential personal information to contractors. Without some real teeth in your contracts with these parties, and a demonstrated willingness to use those teeth, I am concerned that they will be sloppy with their data practices, and allow information to leak out that could result in identity theft, or worse. I am also concerned, given the recent problems with Teddy Kennedy, that there is still no way for people who are falsely flagged to clear themselves.
218. From Liam W, Cherry Valley, Ny, 21 October 2004, 01:45:12 PM PST
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 that 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.
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