government filing
 

December 13, 2006

The Honorable Michael Chertoff
Secretary
Department of Homeland Security
Washington, D.C. 20528

Dear Secretary Chertoff:

We the undersigned travel industry associations, corporate travel buyers, travel management companies and other industry participants from around the world write to you to express our agreement with the filing on December 3 by the Business Travel Coalition regarding the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Automated Targeting System (ATS). We represent millions of business travelers.

We are deeply concerned that such a far reaching and invasive screening of millions of business travelers entering and exiting the U.S. could do significant personal harm to them, and reduce the productivity of the organizations that field business travelers.

ATS is a truly monolithic and disturbing data-mining program which allows for the aggregation of personal information on business travelers; forbids travelers from accessing and correcting inaccuracies; provides for the sharing of such information with foreign governments and third parties; and retains travelers’ personal information in a dossier for 40 years.

Of particular worry is that ATS was widely thought to be strictly for cargo screening. It was discovered only recently that data on travelers have been collected for at least four years without the awareness of the U.S. Congress or foreign governments whose citizens are being profiled. What's more, a dossier is being maintained on these travelers without their knowledge or consent.

We Signatories to this letter urge you to suspend the ATS program immediately; provide substantially more details on the program to us and our elected representatives; and proceed with ATS only through an official rulemaking with a significant public comment period, per requirements of the U.S. Privacy Act of 1974.

Sincerely,

Association of Canadian Travel Agencies, Christiane Théberge, Vice-President, Public Affairs
Association of Retail Travel Agents, Pat Funk, Executive Director
Business Travel Coalition, Kevin Mitchell, Chairman
Guild of Travel Management Companies, Philip H. Carlisle, Chief Executive
Institute of Travel Management, Paul Tilstone, Executive Director
International Association of Exhibitions and Events, Steven Hacker, CAE, President
Netherlands Association for Travel Management, W.I.Dayles, Chairman
Travel Management Alliance, LLC, Chris Dane, Executive Director 
A Plus Travel Adventures, Dan Lanser, President
Air Liquide USA LLC, Sharon Gammell, Director of Supply Management
Austin Travel, Larry Austin, Chairman & CEO
Aviation Consultants Inc., C. Sam Benson, President
Brown Jordan International, Clay Cooksey, Director of Procurement and Logistics
Butte Travel Service, Henry Woudstra, Manager
Caldwell Travel, Inc., William O. Caldwell, President
Colpitts World Travel, Alan Krensky, President & CEO
Condado Travel, Jose’ Targa, President
Executive Travel Associates, Raiford Pierce, Chairman & CEO
Fujitsu Travel, Fujitsu America, Inc., Karin Vonderach, Manager
Liberty Travel, Gil Haroche, President 
Linden Travel, Barbara Gallay, President 
Lumbermens Merchandising Corp., Kathleen M. Butcosk, Vice President, Corp. Meetings & Travel
Management Alternatives, Inc., John Heilner, Vice President
MDM Communications, Inc., Michael T. McDonell, President and Chairman
Rich Products Corporation, Jean Covelli, Travel Administrator
Serbin Partnership, Ltd.,Richard Serbin, President
Siemens VDO, Peggy Medeiros, Regional Commodity Manager, NAFTA
The American Experience Foundation, William A. Hanbury, President & CEO
Tower Travel Management, John Smith, President
TUI 4U GmbH, Hartmut Heering, Managing Director
Vision 2000 Travel Group, Tim Anevich, Sales Manager, Meetings & Events
Washington, DC Convention & Tourism Corporation, William A. Hanbury, President & CEO