Originally Posted by GradGirl
Wrong. There is travel data contained in the systems of many airlines that was collected in the E.U. Nothing distinguishes E.U. data from the rest of the records, and E.U. law says that people have to be notified of all uses to which their travel data will be put. The EU-US "agreement" you've heard so much about is directly contradictory to E.U. law, and hopefully will soon be invalidated by the EC which is hearing the matter.
There are other legal precedents which might be used and have been used to argue that CAPPS-II/Secure Flight is illegal. Since this program is identical to CAPPS-II, I'm sure that the many activists on this issue won't waste any time in bringing the arguments before a judge.
MAYBE it will be invalidated. Don't forget the European Commission AUTHORIZED the test of CAPPS-II.
You are assuming that DHS is going to start using the SF system tomorrow. The information given is that it could take up to 60 days to get the system running for a TEST. I would not be surprised if the test began on airlines that did not serve EU destinations. (YX, B6, WN, etc.) A negative ruling from an EU court would have virtually zero impact on a company that did not do business in the EU. Either that, or airlines will start giving an EU privacy notice in the fine print within the next 2 months. That's all that's required.
If it's more privacy protection in the U.S. that you want--and I'm not arguing that that's bad policy--that's a matter for Congress to take up. (I doubt a GOP-controlled Congress will make any headway on the matter.)
On a slightly different point...are you a member of a frequent flyer program? (Is there anyone on this board who isn't?) I see as somewhat disingenuous the stinkification over "travel privacy" when your voluntary FF participation puts your entire travel history and other demographic information in the hands of virtually EVERY business partner with the airline. Saying that the government checking my name against a terrorist database to see if I am a threat to other passengers is WRONG but Avis Rent-A-Car checking my name against my travel history to send me valuable coupons is OK just doesn't sit right with me.