BW Online | March 27, 2003 | Putting the Blinders Back on Big Brother

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MARCH 27, 2003

PRIVACY MATTERS
By Jane Black

Putting the Blinders Back on Big Brother
[Page 2 of 2]

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COLOR-CODED FLYERS. CAPPS II would zero in more precisely on suspects by matching photo IDs to the names, addresses, phone numbers, and dates of birth collected by credit-reporting agencies, says TSA spokeswoman Heather Rosenker. It would then scan law-enforcement and intelligence files to determine whether the passenger is a security risk. The traveler would then receive a color-coded boarding pass: Green would mean go. Yellow would require the passenger to undergo more intense scrutiny and security checks. Code Red would automatically call in the cops to apprehend the person. The color code would be encrypted so that passengers weren't aware of their status.

TSA also promises an appeals process, so to speak. Passengers who felt they were wrongly selected for extra security checks would be able to file a complaint with an ombudsman, who would determine whether the database needed to be amended. Who the ombudsman would be and how cases would be adjudicated is still undecided. "We are very concerned about transparency," says Rosenker. "That's why we want oversight. We're designing it so someone is always watching."

Privacy advocates complain, however, that no amount of oversight can fix a system whose concept is flawed. For instance, it would be easy enough for a halfway competent terrorist to get an ID that shows a verifiable name, address, phone number, and date of birth, and to purchase an innocent citizen's basic information online. Moreover, commercial databases are filled with inaccurate or out-of-date information that could taint innocent people -- and keep them grounded.

FEWER NEEDLES, MORE HAY. As many consumers can attest, persuading credit agencies to correct erroneous information can be a Kafkaesque nightmare (see BW Online, 8/29/02, "Who's Policing the Credit Cops?"). And with CAPPS II, passengers won't even be able to tell what piece of data flagged them as security risks. "What systems like CAPPS II and TIA propose to do is collect information and draw a portrait that may be accurate or inaccurate, then use it to judge if you are a risk," argues Barry Steinhardt, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's technology and liberty program, who adds: "CAPPS II is based on the belief that you can find a needle in a haystack by adding more hay" (see BW Online, 12/18/01, "Snooping in All the Wrong Places").

Unfortunately, the larger the database, the harder it will be to ensure the accuracy of the information it contains. Which brings into question the FBI's decision on Mar. 24 to exempt the National Crime Information Center database, the granddaddy of all criminal-information repositories, from a key section of the 1974 Privacy Act that guarantees that the database will be "accurate, relevant, timely, and complete."

Privacy advocates say this is just one more example of how the government loves centralized data -- but not the responsibilities that should go with collecting and maintaining it. An FBI spokesman says the agency's move is reasonable, countering that since so much of the information in the database comes from other law-enforcement agencies, it's impossible to know whether everything is 100% accurate -- or whether a potent clue, such as a suspicious foreigner enrolled in a flight school, might be wrongly excluded.

LIFE OF ITS OWN. In times of war, the FBI and the Homeland Security Dept. are right to embrace new technologies that help keep the country safe. But in the Digital Age, they must weigh their decisions more carefully than ever. Unlike a law that can be scratched from the books with a stroke of a pen, high-tech databases, once in place, grow ever larger and can be easily co-opted for new and unwarranted uses.

Before plunging ahead, the TSA -- and any other agency seeking to monitor citizens -- should have to prove that whatever is proposed will both improve security and protect the privacy of the average American.

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Black covers privacy issues for BusinessWeek Online in her twice-monthly Privacy Matters column

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