Shostack + Friends Blog Archive

 

Dear TSA, How Do We Contact Thee?

Phil Schwan [http://off.net/diary/], who was able to read to the end of “Homeland Security tracks travelers’ meals” [link to http://www.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/11/30/traveler.screening.ap/index.html no longer works] without blowing a gasket, noticed that they said they’d only gotten 15 comments:

I tried for 30 goddamn minutes to figure out how to comment. That’s
why there are only 15 comments. All I could find was a Privacy
Impact Assessment, authored by their “Chief Privacy Officer”, which
was a total whitewash.

If you can figure out where to send it, I’ll comment. Otherwise, the
terrorists win again.

Can someone help? Where do we send comments about this crap?

We’ll have more, and cheerier, from Phil over the weekend.

Originally published by adam on 30 Nov 2006
Last modified on 30 Nov 2006
Categories:   Air Travel   privacy   Uncategorized  

5 comments on "Dear TSA, How Do We Contact Thee?"

  • Greg Broiles says:
    1 Dec 2006 at 12:38 am

    According to the notice published in the Federal Register on November 2 –

    DATES: The new system of records will be effective December 4, 2006,
    unless comments are received that result in a contrary determination.
    ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number, by one
    of the following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
    Follow the instructions for submitting comments via docket number DH6-2006-0060.
    Fax: 202-572-8727.
    Mail: Comments by mail are to be addressed to the Border Security Regulations Branch, Office of Regulations and Rulings, Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. (Mint Annex), Washington, DC 20229. Comments by mail may also be submitted to Hugo Teufel III, Chief Privacy Officer, Department of Homeland Security, 601 S. 12th Street, Arlington, VA 22202-4220.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the
    agency name and docket number for this rulemaking. All comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov,
    including any personal information provided.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background
    documents or comments received go to http://www.regulations.gov.
    Submitted comments may also be inspected during regular business days between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the Regulations Branch, Office of Regulations and Rulings, Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, 799 9th Street, NW., 5th Floor, Washington, DC. Arrangements to inspect submitted comments should be made in advance by
    calling Mr. Joseph Clark at (202) 572-8768.

  • phik says:
    1 Dec 2006 at 12:58 am

    Thanks!
    Unfortunately — please try to contain your disbelief — both the Federal Register entry that you accurately quote, as well as the details on the site itself once you find the docket, contain an erroneous docket number.
    The correct docket number is DHS-2006-0060, not DH6.
    I found the docket once I figured out the mistake, but was unable to read any of the “public” comments. Hopefully the system that lets me post will work better.
    Thanks again.

  • Chris says:
    1 Dec 2006 at 4:04 pm

    This has happened before:
    http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-WATER/2002/July/Day-17/w18146.htm
    http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/06jun20041800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2004/04-25254.htm
    I knew this smelled familiar. Turns out Bob Blakely blogged about it about a month ago http://notabob.blogspot.com/2006/11/in-crosshairs_03.html
    He’s got a cool blog, which I only recently discovered.

  • Anonymous says:
    16 Dec 2006 at 5:36 am

    Very good blog!

  • Anonymous says:
    16 Dec 2006 at 5:43 am

    Very good blog!

Comments are closed.