DHS says one thing, does another. Film at 11.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Privacy Office conducted a review of the
Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) collection and use of commercial data
during initial testing for the Secure Flight program that occurred in the fall 2004 through spring 2005. The Privacy Office review was undertaken following notice by the TSA
Privacy Officer of preliminary concerns raised by the Government Accountability Office
(GAO) that, contrary to published privacy notices and public statements, TSA may have
accessed and stored personally identifying data from commercial sources as part of its
efforts to fashion a passenger prescreening program.
Secure Flight Report (DHS)
Declan McCullough broke the story which led me to this document. He notes that:
The report, and a second one critiquing a government database called Matrix, was released on the last business day before Christmas, a tactic that federal agencies and publicly traded companies sometimes use to avoid drawing attention to critical findings.
Perhaps one way to prevent things like this would be to curtail the ability of private companies (the providers of the Secure Flight information) to collect and resell it in the first place without the express permission of those to whom it pertained. Probably a quaint, pre-9/11 notion, but let a guy dream on Christmas Eve, will you?
Dream all you want, Chris, but how’s Santa supposed to figure out who’s naughty or nice? He’s outsourced all that, and passes the savings onto you.