Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Canada's Airlines Face a Privacy Dilemma

Posted by timothy on from the our-way-and-the-high-way dept.

Interoperable writes "Canada's airlines are caught between a rock and a hard place in the face of new US regulations that require them to collect and hand over personal information about passengers. Handing over information regarding a passenger's name, gender and birth-date may violate Canadian privacy laws but merely flying over American airspace is conditional on doing exactly that. It seems that the long arms of the TSA are eager to grope at Canadians taking a shortcut to Toronto; no doubt to prevent any terrorist attacks on Lake Huron."

2 of 457 comments (clear)

  1. Doesn't this violate... by msauve · · Score: 5, Informative
    Chaper 2, article 5 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation? I believe both the US and Canada are signatories. (actual document can be found here.

    Each contracting State agrees that all aircraft of the other contracting States, being aircraft not engaged in scheduled international air services shall have the right, subject to the observance of the terms of this Convention, to make flights into or in transit non-stop across its territory and to make stops for non-traffic purposes without the necessity of obtaining prior permission, and subject to the right of the State flown over to require landing. Each contracting State nevertheless reserves the right, for reasons of safety of flight, to require aircraft desiring to proceed over regions which are inaccessible or without adequate air navigation facilities to follow prescribed routes, or to obtain special permission for such flights.

    Now, I suppose the US could legitimately demand that any flights crossing its territory make a landing, hence subjecting passengers to inspection per Article 9(b-c), but that's only supposed to be available on a temporary basis.

    --
    "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
  2. Re:US bullying and demanding other countries.. by Wyatt+Earp · · Score: 5, Informative

    Do you understand what a Third World country is?

    "The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned or neutral with either capitalism and NATO." When the US pulls out of NATO and becomes neutral, then it will be a Third World country.

    As for empire, the US is not imperial, it is a hegemony.