Eye in the sky: Big Brother likes to travel, too

[Bravo Zulu]

Eye in the sky: Big Brother likes to travel, too
Monday, October 08, 2007
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Air travel isn't as fun as it used to be. What's worse, it isn't very private either.

A chilling account in The Washington Post recently revealed the federal government is collecting more details on the personal habits of more American travelers than previously acknowledged. Through electronic records, the government is compiling files on average Americans that show not only where they fly, drive or cruise abroad, but also with whom they travel, where they stay and sometimes what personal items they bring along.

If that's the case, Congress needs to nose around as to whether the Bush administration is violating the Privacy Act, which forbids the collection of information related to a person's exercise of First Amendment rights. Civil libertarians with the Identity Project, a group of privacy advocates in California and Alaska, fear that has already happened.

It's hard to see how this extensive plumbing of law-abiding citizens' travel habits is making America any safer. Yet DHS officials, including Secretary Michael Chertoff, say they need the data to help connect the dots on potential threats.
Such a large dragnet only makes every American with a file a suspected terrorist. It's time government security agents focused on the real bad guys, not garden variety tourists.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07281/823661-192.stm

[PDJane]

1. To this administration,

Any dissent is an actionable offense.

If you don't believe me, you haven't been paying attention.