Homeland Security Department
Rates Travelers for Terrorism
with
Automated Targeting System (ATS)

MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN / AP / Washington Post 30nov2006

Mindfully.org note: As determined by ATS, these people are obvious terrorists and should probably be detained for grilling under hot lights in a dark room by really tough HSD guys in order to protect democracy and the "American way." Cont. below

For the past four years, without public notice, federal agents have assigned millions of Americans and other international travelers computer-generated scores assessing the risk they pose of being terrorists or criminals.

The travelers are not allowed to see or directly challenge these risk assessments. And the government intends to keep them on file for 40 years.

Earlier in November, the government disclosed the existence and details of the Automated Targeting System (ATS) for the first time in the Federal Register. Privacy and civil liberties lawyers, congressional aides and even law enforcement officers said they thought the ATS had been applied only to cargo.

The scores are assigned to people entering and leaving the United States after computers assess their travel records, including where they are from, how they paid for tickets, their motor vehicle records, past one-way travel, seating preference and what kind of meals they ordered.

The Homeland Security Department notice called it "one of the most advanced targeting systems in the world" and said U.S. ability to spot criminals and other security threats "would be critically impaired without access to this data."

Still, privacy advocates view ATS with alarm. "It's probably the most invasive system the government has yet deployed in terms of the number of people affected," David Sobel, a lawyer at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties group devoted to electronic data issues, said in an interview.

A similar DHS data-mining project for domestic air travelers — now known as Secure Flight — caused a furor two years ago in Congress, which has barred its implementation until it can pass 10 tests for accuracy and privacy protection.

source:  30nov2006

Mindfully.org note continued: Besides being almost totally ineffective, these "high-tech" methods create wealth for the manufacturers. Hopefully they will dissuade many tens of thousands of people from flying altogether.   Most likely it will not do so, but we can be hopeful because it would be a very good thing for the air if most air travel were to cease immediately.     Whatever your reason or excuse is, just stop travelling by air. Think about the germs you come into contact with while being stuffed in a cramped cabin re-breathing a total stranger's exhaled breath. Think about the delousing pesticides used regularly throughout the interior cabins on all planes.   Think about the effects of being x-rayed each time you pass into a new zone.  Think about the link between cosmic radiation acquired during flying and cataracts. The water in the holding tanks of planes is quite often contaminated. The attendants are rude. In spite of being rude themselves, they can have you restrained and removed.   Also consider that the time it takes to drive to the airport, pass all required tasks, get to all the check points and finally get on your flight can sometimes approach the amount time of just driving to the destination in the first place.  The noise from jets disturbs everyone's sleep patterns and contributes to lost time at work and illness.  That loss of sleep also contributes to motor vehicle accidents, as well as short tempers throughout everyone's day.  It would be no stretch to say jet noise contributes to deaths through all sorts of secondary causes.  After reading this, don't you just want to get on a jet an go somewhere?

Also see: Brandon Mayfield: U.S. Will Pay $2 Million to Lawyer Wrongly Jailed - New York Times 20nov2006