press statement
 

BTC CONDEMNS MASSIVE DHS SCREENING PROGRAM

Urges Congressional Intervention and Hearings

RADNOR PA., December 3, 2006–The Business Travel Coalition (BTC) today filed comments with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security regarding its proposed Automated Targeting System (ATS), which is slated for official implementation on December 4, 2006. BTC’s filing can be downloaded at http://businesstravelcoalition.com/statements/157.html.

By notice published on November 2, 2006 in the Federal Register, the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, acknowledged the existence of a system-of-records known as the ATS that will assign risk assessments to millions of U.S. and non-U.S. travelers who enter and exit the U.S. ATS has apparently been in an operational testing mode for 4 years without the knowledge of Congress or the traveling public.

ATS represents a historically unparalleled, massive data-mining initiative the parameters of which: a) allow for the collection of all manner of personal information on innocent citizens without their prior consent; b) forbid citizens from accessing and correcting inaccuracies in their personal government dossiers; c) provide for the sharing of such information with foreign governments and third parties; and d) retain individuals’ information for 40 years.

BTC chairman Kevin Mitchell stated, “Evolving ATS from a publicly-supported cargo screening program begun 4 years ago to a secretively implemented global traveler screening program represents “Exhibit A” in the case against Mission Creep and government abuse of authority. What’s more, DHS seeks to exempt ATS from virtually all relevant provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974, and in so doing, dismisses the intent of Congress.”

In its DHS filing the Coalition pointed out that according to security experts, databases are notoriously prone to inaccuracies. ATS will no doubt cause delays for innocent travelers, unwarranted interferences and the risk of arrest in a foreign country due to an inaccurate dossier. BTC questions how DHS could have been implementing ATS in secrecy even as Congress was conducting CAPPS II hearings and raising serious concerns in the spring of 2004 about the accuracy and privacy protections of such programs.

DHS observers and privacy watchdog groups were stunned to learn of DHS intentions to near-secretly implement such a massively intrusive program behind the backs of Congress and the public. Adding supreme insult to injury, while U.S. citizens will not be able to access their dossiers, foreign governments and third parties will be able to do so. Will ATS be applied next to all domestic U.S. air travel on the justification that millions of illegal, unregistered aliens living in the U.S. could do us harm, questioned the BTC in its filing. How about ferry, bus and rail transportation?

BTC calls on the relevant Congressional Committee Chairs to schedule hearings on ATS, and urges all Members of Congress to compel DHS to a) abandon its December 4, 2006 ATS implementation; b) provide substantially more details on the program to the public; and c) proceed with ATS only through an official rulemaking with a significant public comment period, per requirements of the Privacy Act.

“Such government recklessness as represented by the ATS program implementation erodes trust and confidence in government and its credibility as an effective guardian of citizens’ interests. In a democracy citizens need to understand and support government policies if long-term success is to be achieved. When policies go straight to the first-principle of personal liberty, then the requirement for transparency, participation and support is at the very highest level, ‘Code Red,’ if you will. DHS is currently failing in this most precious of missions, concluded BTC."