Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Advisory

EFF Privacy Coalition Presses Congress for Hearings on Air Traveler Privacy

Controversial Passenger-Screening System Fails Government Review

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, February 17, 2004

San Francisco, CA - In the wake of a government report that gives the controversial CAPPS II passenger-screening program a failing grade for protecting passenger privacy, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and a diverse coalition of advocacy groups today asked the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure to hold Congressional hearings on the threat posed to privacy and civil liberties by the government\'s collection and use of passengers\' private information.

"The amount of data -- potentially incorrect data -- that the government is asking to access before permitting you to fly is simply astounding," said Lee Tien, a senior staff attorney at EFF. "Doing background checks on every American who chooses air travel doesn\'t seem like a logical way to keep bombs and weapons off of planes."

In its CAPPS II report issued late last week, the General Accounting Office (GAO) states that transportation authorities have failed to address Congress\' concerns about the system\'s accuracy, effectiveness and impact on personal privacy. Further, the GAO shares EFF\'s concerns that the CAPPS II mission may "creep" beyond its original purpose of keeping terrorists from boarding flights and that there is no adequate redress for passengers mistakenly tagged as terrorists.

"Despite TSA\'s public claims that CAPPS II will be ready to roll this summer, the report to Congress clearly shows that the hard questions about CAPPS II have yet to be answered," said EFF Staff Attorney and Bruce J. Ennis / Equal Justice Works Fellow Kevin Bankston. "It\'s time for Congress to hold hearings to demand answers about CAPPS II and to ensure that travelers\' privacy and civil liberties will be respected."

The request for hearings comes on the heels of the release last week of an open letter by a group of House Representatives asking President Bush to suspend CAPPS II until a specific government policy is adopted that "makes clear the role of airlines in sharing consumer information with the federal government."

EFF previously initiated a nationwide letter-writing campaign urging members of Congress to take a hard look CAPPS II and to investigate the reportedly ad hoc transfer of passengers\' private information from the airlines to the government.

The groups joining EFF in the call for Congressional hearings on travel privacy are (in alphabetical order):

American Civil Liberties Union
Americans for Tax Reform
Business Travel Coalition
Center for Democracy and Technology
Common Cause
Don\'t Spy on Us
Electronic Privacy Information Center
Free Congress Foundation
People for the American Way

Contact:

Lee Tien
   Senior Staff Attorney
   Electronic Frontier Foundation
   tien@eff.org

Lisa Dean
   Washington Policy Liaison
   Electronic Frontier Foundation
   lisa@eff.org

About EFF:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil liberties organization working to protect rights in the digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and challenges industry and government to support free expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported organization and maintains one of the most linked-to websites in the world at http://www.eff.org/