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By Dr. Kendall Stewart |
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK (April 1, 2004): Chair of the Immigration Committee at the City Council, Councilman Dr. Kendall B. Stewart said that the proposed new passenger screening system is a new and "major threat to the privacy of all Americans" and will do little to protect the country from terrorism. The Brooklyn Democrat said that the program called, Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-Screening II (CAPPSII) if enacted as is will "elevate racial profiling to national policy" and create a "top-heavy bureaucracy" that will become cumbersome, awkward and a major hindrance to travelers.
"I am all for measures that prove effective in the war against terror. What I can't deal with is the institution of another untested program that simply will not protect us from terrorism. All that a terrorist has to do in this case is to steal someone's identity and this multi-million dollar system becomes useless. All that it will ultimately achieve is to profile specific immigrant groups and single them out for particular treatment. This is not how to fight the war on terror," Dr. Stewart said.
The Transportation Security Agency recently issued a new description of its Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-screening System II (CAPPS II) program, a frightening system designed to perform background checks on the 100 million Americans who fly each year to determine their "risk" to airline safety. TSA received fierce criticism for the sweeping nature of its first proposal, which was published in the Federal Register in January 2003 as required by the Privacy Act of 1974. As a result, TSA on August 1, 2003 issued a new notice, informing the public of its intent to begin testing the CAPPS II program and attempting to address some of the criticisms the agency had received.
They failed. The new version of CAPPS II is all dressed up in the language of privacy and concern for freedom, but it fails to address the core problems with the concept, and continues to pose an enormous threat to American freedom and privacy. It will make Americans neither safe or free. Dr. Stewart said that the end result will be a further erosion of American civil liberties and that in cases where there are genuine errors innocent individuals could be subjected to some of the harshest treatment under the law.
"This is really scary stuff. People who get themselves tied up in this system will be in for a very, very tough time. There will be no right to "Due Process." Individuals will not be entitled to Notification, No Correction, No Appeal. Because the core security evaluations at the heart of CAPPS II are completely secret, individuals singled out by the program will have no way of knowing why they have been targeted. They will not know if they are the victim of the widespread inaccuracies that riddle government and private databases, and will have no way to correct such errors if they are. They will have no way of knowing if they have been falsely accused of wrongdoing by someone, or have been discriminated against because of their religion, race, ethnic origin, or political beliefs," Dr. Stewart said.
Dr. Stewart said that he was particularly concerned about the potential for this system to be used as another "tool of discrimination" that unjustly and unfairly targets particular races of people. He said that given the prevailing climate since September 11, 2001 it was not "rocket science" to deduce that Arabs and Muslims will come under even more scrutiny and that certain immigration and security officials will "rush to judgment" with a preconceived bias that "everyone who wears a turban or looks Arabic is a likely terrorist."
"There is massive potential for abuse of this system. I urge all our federal representatives to oppose this measure in its present form and to fight for meaningful reform of the system. We do not need another tool that will unnecessarily stereotype and stigmatize entire races of innocent people who travel to and from this country. We must be very mindful about terrorism and be eternally vigilant, but CAPPS II is the wrong way to go. It's expensive, burdensome and will not deter or stop terrorism. At best its projected success in this regard is simply accidental or hit and miss," Dr. Stewart said.
The TSA, facing mounting criticism about the system, has admitted it still lacks a proper infrastructure to protect privacy, and the airlines are not even set up to collect the data that the program will rely on, such as full name, address, phone number, and date of birth. A conservative estimate of the cost to business in delays and denied boardings would be $2 billion, and estimates of the direct cost to businesses of implementing the program have been put at another $1 billion.
"This is just part of the costs and come at a time when our education system desperately needs an infusion of cash. But the biggest cost will be to our traditional freedoms and the invasive and "Big Brother" nature of this regime. I hope that good sense will ultimately prevail," Dr. Stewart said.