Homeland Security Tracks Information of Travelers

feuerfalke writes "Homeland Security recently disclosed a plan regarding an Automated Targeting System, or ATS, that would generate a 'terrorist risk rating' based on information collected about the traveler. This information would include things such as where they are from, how they paid for tickets, their motor vehicle records, past one-way travel, seating preference and the meals they ordered in-flight. These ratings have now been assigned to millions of international travelers, including Americans, and the ATS is exempt from many provisions of the Privacy Act — one cannot view their rating or the information used to generate it."

Comments

Re:Meals Ordered on Flight??

[Beryllium Sphere(tm)]

Do you think you're exaggerating?

Muslims removed from airplane when passengers found praying to be suspicious

Re:Not trolling but..

[AuMatar]

In the US? By number of attacks, white Christians males are responsible for the vast majority of terrorist attacks. White Christian females come in number 2. Everyone else is a distant 3rd. In yearly deathrate its the same two, but with a blip in 2001.

Re:About Time!

[Beryllium Sphere(tm)]

>how long until your "Good American" score will be used as a factor in court proceedings, federal hiring practices, etc. etc.?

You mean like this?

The government notice says some or all of the ATS data about an individual may be shared with state, local and foreign governments for use in hiring decisions and in granting licenses, security clearances, contracts or other benefits. In some cases, the data may be shared with courts, Congress and even private contractors.

Re:Sounds like....

[__aaclcg7560]

Nah... Remember that the Homeland Security is a front for corporate interests. Marketing departments will pay good money to know what Joe Blow was doing if he wasn't blowing up the plane.

The reason for meal choices

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey guys, just as a little PROTIP regarding the reason for meal choices, oh yeah and liquid bans.
The food someone orders in addition to seat choices and other information can be used in determining the most likely suspect if an aircraft explodes. If someone tries to order a cellulose of some sort such as coffee grinds, a lot of tea, etc, it can be mixed with hydroperoxide to form an explosive compound. It may seem like theres a lot of criterion which are extraneous, but that's only because you don't know what you're talking about. The liquids ban was to prevent similar situation probably based on some sort of intel tipoff. I agree we need to keep a muzzle on these black gloved operations, but please educate yourself first.

Now, in b4 the partyvan comes to take me away for 'providing means or instruction'.

Re:Meals Ordered on Flight??

[OeLeWaPpErKe]

Just for the record.

They came aboard - ok ... no problem
They made a lot of noise - ok ... happens
They ordered - unecessary seatbelt extensions - which are heavy metal objects - ok .. no problem
They stood up and started praying - ok ... no problem ... makes people nervous
They sat back down ONE AT EACH EXIT OF THE PLANE - BIG problem

These people were trying to do one of 2 things
-> terrorist attack
-> get themselves removed from the plane so they could call "racist"

You're not going to tell me these people didn't have this coming.

Re:How can anyone think profiling works?

[drkich]

* In 1986, who attempted to smuggle three pounds of explosives onto an El Al jetliner bound from London to Tel Aviv?

                        a. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
                        b. Michael Smerconish
                        c. Bob Mould
                        d. A pregnant Irishwoman named Anne Murphy

The answer is A. She is an Irishwoman best known as the former girlfriend of the Jordanian terrorist Nezar Hindawi. While she was pregnant with his child, Hindawi convinced her to unknowingly take an explosives-laden bag on board an El Al flight. Nezar was born in 1954 and when this was committed, 1986, he was 32 years old.

I agree, there are other people that want to kill people, just get the facts straight.

STFU: 419 Islamic terror attacks since just 8/1/06

[Anonymous Coward]

And not one of these happened in Iraq or Afghanistan. That's FOUR HUNDRED AND NINETEEN ISLAMIC terror attacks worldwide in IN JUST THE LAST FOUR MONTHS! Once again, not one of these happened in Iraq or Afghanistan.

That's more than THREE MUSLIM TERRORIST ATTACKS PER DAY , you jackass. Not per year, not per month. Not even per week. THREE PER FUCKING DAY .

(courtesy of http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/index.html)

I bet if you really, really work your ass off, you can get the number down below two a day by going after all the events listed below and explaining how they're not all Muslim-inspired terrorism. You might knock it down to maybe only two hundred Muslim terrorist acts in the past four months. Gee, if you put a lot of work at you, you can prove that Muslims worldwide are so peaceful that they only commit two whole terrorist attacks per day.

Yep - you're going to have to work your damn ass off just to prove Muslims are so damn peaceful that they commit only two terror attacks per day, worldwide. Not counting anything going on in Iraq or Afghanistan at all.

Goody for you. We're cheering you on in your quest to prove just how peaceful Muslims really are. After you've done that, why don't you teach yourself just how literally irrational Islamic theology is. And it is, too. Islam is literally irrational. That took hold back around 1200 or 1300, which is why all Muslim contributions to civilization took place before then. Now you know why Islamic societies stopped advancing scientifically around that date, and why their culture is literally stuck in the Dark Ages of women as property.

You ignorant fucking jackass. Only now, you can't claim ignorance any more. Will actual knowledge impact your awareness?

STFU, you moron.

Here's the list. Have fun whittling it down.

11/30/06 Somalia Baidoa 4 5 A botched suicide bombing attempt leaves at least four people dead, not including the bombers.
11/30/06 Thailand Pattani 0 1 A 75-year-old man is beaten in his home and set on fire by Muslim radicals.
11/30/06 Thailand Narathiwat 1 0 A 44-year-old man is murdered by Islamic gunmen.
11/30/06 Thailand Narathiwat 1 1 Thai Islamists gun down a woman in a tea house, severely injuring her daughter as well.
11/28/06 Thailand Yala 2 0 A Buddhist husband and wife are murdered by Islamic gunmen as they return home.
11/27/06 Chechnya Gudermes 1 2 A Russian is killed by Jihad gunmen while traveling in a car.
11/27/06 Pakistan Makeen 1 0 A moderate cleric is assassinated by Taliban supporters, who pin a note to the body.
11/26/06 Thailand Yala 2 0 Islamic militants approach two police officers at a food market and shoot them at point-blank range.
11/26/06 Thailand Narathiwat 1 1 A 46-year-old Buddhist man is shot off the back of a motorcycle while riding with his wife.
11/26/06 Thailand Narathiwat 1 0 A 24-year-old villager is shot to death by Islamic terrorists.
11/26/06 Thailand Pattani 1 1 A Buddhist rubber-tapper is murdered by radical Muslims.
11/25/06 Thailand Yala 1 2 Muslims fire into a Buddhist-owned store, killing the owner and injuring two others.
11/25/06 Thailand Yala 3 0 Three Buddhist pig hunters are shot and hacked to death by Muslim radicals.
11/24/06 Pakistan Sharif Chachar 1 0 A 15-year-old girl is hacked to death with an axe in an honour killing by her father, who suspected her of illicit relations.
11/24/06 Thailand Narithiwat 1 0 Islamists break into a man's home and kill him.
11/24/06 Thailand Pattani 1 0 A school administrator is shot and then burned to deat

Re:Meals Ordered on Flight??

[cold fjord]

Do you think you're exaggerating?

Muslims removed from airplane when passengers found praying to be suspicious

The Star Tribune article that you link to is appallingly bad. Practically speaking it is closer to disinformation about the incident and why the Imams were removed from the plane.

How the imams terrorized an airliner

Muslim religious leaders removed from a Minneapolis flight last week exhibited behavior associated with a security probe by terrorists and were not merely engaged in prayers, according to witnesses, police reports and aviation security officials. ....

Passengers and flight attendants told law-enforcement officials the imams switched from their assigned seats to a pattern associated with the September 11 terrorist attacks and also found in probes of U.S. security since the attacks -- two in the front row first-class, two in the middle of the plane on the exit aisle and two in the rear of the cabin.

        "That would alarm me," said a federal air marshal who asked to remain anonymous. "They now control all of the entry and exit routes to the plane." .....

According to witnesses, police reports and aviation security officials, the imams displayed other suspicious behavior.
        Three of the men asked for seat-belt extenders, although two flight attendants told police the men were not oversized. One flight attendant told police she "found this unsettling, as crew knew about the six [passengers] on board and where they were sitting." Rather than attach the extensions, the men placed the straps and buckles on the cabin floor, the flight attendant said.
        The imams said they were not discussing politics and only spoke in English, but witnesses told law enforcement that the men spoke in Arabic and English, criticizing the war in Iraq and President Bush, and talking about al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.
        The imams who claimed two first-class seats said their tickets were upgraded. The gate agent told police that when the imams asked to be upgraded, they were told no such seats were available. Nevertheless, the two men were seated in first class when removed.
        A flight attendant said one of the men made two trips to the rear of the plane to talk to the imam during boarding, and again when the flight was delayed because of their behavior. Aviation officials, including air marshals and pilots, said these actions alone would not warrant a second look, but the combination is suspicious.
        "That's like shouting 'fire' in a crowded theater. You just can't do that anymore," said Robert MacLean, a former air marshal.
        "They should have been denied boarding and been investigated," Mr. MacLean said. "It looks like they are trying to create public sympathy or maybe setting someone up for a lawsuit."
        The pilot with another airline who talked to The Washington Times on condition of anonymity, said he would have made the same call as the US Airways pilot.
        "If any group of passengers is commingling in the terminal and didn't sit in their assigned seats or with each other, I would stop everything and investigate until they could provide me with a reason they did not sit in their assigned seats."

   

Marshals decry imams' charges
THE FAKING IMAMS