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Canada Plan to Gather Travel Data Criticized December 12, 2002 By THE NEW YORK TIMES TORONTO, Dec. 11 - Canada's new system for collecting detailed information about airline passengers is gathering increased criticism from privacy advocates, who say the system violates Canadian law. The system, first announced two years ago and made operational in October, uses information collected from the airlines to screen all passengers on incoming flights as potential security threats. A similar system that integrates with Canada's is scheduled to be operational in the United States by next spring. But some Canadian officials, privacy advocates and legal experts say the system's scope is too broad and violates the country's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That criticism intensified in late October after the government confirmed news reports that it planned to expand the system next year to include all forms of mass transportation, including buses, trains, ferries and cruise ships. "What this creates is a huge expansion, in terms of data collection from citizens or individuals coming into the country, that didn't exist before," Ann Cavoukian, Ontario's information and privacy commissioner, said. The Advance Passenger Information/Passenger Name Record, or API/PNR, system collects detailed information about air travelers, including travel itinerary, seat location, ticket price and method of payment, the identity of travel companions and even what meals were ordered. After passengers check in for flights to Canada, the information is submitted to the system at the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency and is screened while the plane is in flight. If a passenger is deemed a security threat, he or she will be refused entry to Canada and sent back to the point of origin. Passengers on domestic flights are not screened. "Free and democratic societies do not generally tolerate the creation of databases of personal information on vast numbers of innocent citizens for general law enforcement purposes," Gérard La Forest, a retired Supreme Court justice, wrote in a legal argument sent to Canada's privacy commissioner, George Radwanski. "The fact that the C.C.R.A.'s proposed database relates to international air travel does not justify departing from this principle." Colette Gentes-Hawn, a spokeswoman for the customs agency acknowledged that the system collects more information than it needs. "Some of the information it collects doesn't matter," she said. "We don't use it for anything, but we store it anyway. It's just easier for the airlines to send us everything." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/12/international/americas/12CANA.html?ex=1040787270&ei=1&en=0f3fdadb7270f3e4 HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
