Wednesday, January 26, 2011

The Lesson of Domodedovo: Find the Bombers, Not the Bombs


On January 6th, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) hosted a conference titled “The Stripping of Freedom—a Careful Scan of TSA Security Procedures.” I was honored to speak at this event. It was an inspiring demonstration of people with divergent political views coming together on an issue of national importance. Each speaker had a unique perspective, but I joined the likes of Ralph Nader, Stanford law professor Chip Pitts, and security expert Bruce Schneier in saying one thing--the new TSA measures are wrong.

The FlyersRights.org position has always been clear. As we’ve stated in press releases and countless media interviews over the last few months, air travel security is essential, but requires measures designed to enhance security that are effective, safe, and constitutional. I joined with all the other conference speakers in pointing out that none of those things are true of the present measures.

And now, another terror attack has killed 35 innocent people and injured nearly 200 more. To those of you who are even now reaching for your keyboard to write “How will you feel when the next airliner crashes because of your views,” I say this: How do you feel now that terrorists have struck again, sidestepping the very kinds of security measures that you insist will secure your safety? If you had been at Domodedovo today, how safe would you have been?

The lesson we must learn from the Moscow tragedy is the point made by Bruce Schneier in his recent NY Times op-ed piece. Here’s what he said:

A short history of airport security: We screen for guns and bombs, so the terrorists use box cutters. We confiscate box cutters and corkscrews, so they put explosives in their sneakers. We screen footwear, so they try to use liquids. We confiscate liquids, so they put PETN bombs in their underwear. We roll out full-body scanners, even though they wouldn’t have caught the Underwear Bomber, so they put a bomb in a printer cartridge. We ban printer cartridges over 16 ounces — the level of magical thinking here is amazing — and they’re going to do something else.

That “something else” happened in Moscow on January 24th. Let me say it again: of course we want security, but we need security measures that are actually effective, not measures that are simply security theater.

We need to find the bombers, not the bombs. The DHS needs to learn that most of us are honest citizens and stop treating each and every one of us as a potential terrorist. We need to honestly face up to the complex, daunting task of actually protecting ourselves, and we must stop grasping for solutions based on questionable technology. We need the DHS to apply the more than a third of a billion dollars we’ve thrown at them to actually finding solutions to this problem.

The DHS and TSA have met with almost every stakeholder in this issue, save one—airline travel consumers. FlyersRights, Ralph Nader’s Center for Study of Responsive Law, and the Electronic Privacy Information Center stand ready to work with the TSA to develop effective procedures that take into account the concerns of all flyers, and to help them understand the discontent their actions to date have caused in the flying public. FlyersRights.org runs a full time hotline where we handle issues for all air travellers. We do this free of charge. It is a great honor to help all air travellers to navigate the very hostile waters that both TSA and air travel present for us all.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

0 Tarmac Delays of over 3 hours for November!

0 Tarmac Delays of over 3 hours for November!
Two months of 0 Tarmac Strandings for Domestic Flights, isn’t it time Passengers on International flights have the same rights?


Napa, CA (January 11, 2010)—Flyersrights.org: Today newly released data from U.S. Department of Transportation clearly demonstrates significant success for the DOT’s 3 Hour Tarmac Rule for domestic flights, enacted in April 29, 2010. The commercial airlines continue to claim that the 3 Hour Rule, which requires that commercial aircraft return to the gate after a period of 3 hours of delay on the tarmac, would cause mass cancellations and virtual Armageddon for airline passengers. This ignores the fact that international flights, which are currently not subjected to the Rule, were stranded en masse at JFK airport two weeks ago for up to 12 hours on the tarmac because they aren’t afforded the protections that our domestic flights are afforded.

“The horrifying stories of stranded international flights over the holidays, with passengers in some cases being forced against their will to sit on aircraft for 12 hours after a 14 hour flight, were completely avoidable. said Kate Hanni, Executive Director FlyersRights.org. “The rights that people in this country enjoy are not based upon their point of origin but rather on principle and values of common decency—denying people access to food, water and medications over long periods of time is just plain wrong and must be stopped regardless of where a flight originates.”

“Airline Passengers are human beings, not cargo, and they must be afforded certain basic human rights when traveling by air,” added Hanni.

The Air Travel Consumer Report can be found on DOT’s World Wide Web site at http://airconsumer.dot.gov. It is available in “pdf” and Microsoft Word format.

November was the second month in a row that the nation’s largest airlines reported no flights with tarmac delays of more than three hours, while the carriers reported only a slight increase in the rate of canceled flights during the month, according to the Air Travel Consumer Report released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). This past October and November were the only months with no tarmac delays of more than three hours by the reporting carriers since the Department began collecting more comprehensive tarmac delay data in October 2008.

“The DOT has hit a home run for travelers with the 3 hour rule. We hope they move swiftly to announce their new rule further enhancing airline passengers rights by giving International flights the same protections afforded our domestic flights.”

“While the Regulation is an important protection, its vital that the new Congress move quickly to both include the airline passengers bill of rights in the FAA Modernization Bill and pass it quickly so that airline passengers have permanent, enforceable and sustainable rights.” said Kate Hanni

You do the math: Following link is a Ranking of Airline Performance since 1995: http://www.flyersrights.org/table.pdf
FlyersRights.org with a full time 24/7 FREE hotline; volunteers ready to help 24/7 1-877-359-3776.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

The Stripping of Freedom: A Careful Scan of TSA Security Procedures"

"The Stripping of Freedom: A Careful Scan of TSA Security Procedures"


WHEN: Thursday January 6, 2011, 8:30 am Registration

WHERE: The Carnegie Institute for Science – 1530 P St. N.W. Washington, DC

WHO: Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), Center for the Study of Responsive Law (CSRL)

WHAT: The press is invited to a one-day public conference devoted to an assessment of the TSA airport security procedures.

Experts in law, aviation security, and health safety, advocates for flyers rights, privacy protection, and religious freedom, as well as lawmakers and policy advisors will participate in the event. The event will also include a rich media display, with images from airport protests, YouTube videos, and campaign materials.

A link to the live stream of the conference will be available on the event website at http://epic.org/events/tsa/. Remote viewers will be able to ask questions and participate via twitter by tweeting #ScanTSA

Speakers include:

Ralph Nader, consumer advocate
Nadhira Al-Khalili, CAIR
David Greenfield, New York City Councilman
Kate Hanni, Flyers Rights
Jim Harper, CATO
Michael Roberts, Airline Pilot
Prof. Jeffrey Rosen, GWU
Marc Rotenberg, EPIC
Bruce Shneier, Security Expert

For more information:

http://epic.org/events/tsa/ and http://twitter.com/ScanTSA

Registration:

http://epic.org/events/tsa/registration.php

CONTACT:
Amie Stepanovich
National Security Fellow
Electronic Privacy Information Center
stepanovich@epic.org
202-483-1140 (Ext. 120)

Sunday, January 2, 2011

The Stripping of Freedom: A Careful Scan of TSA Security Procedures

January 6, 2011

The Carnegie Institute for Science
1530 P St., NW
Washington, DC

Featured Speakers:

■Ralph Nadar
■Rep. Jason Chaffetz (invited)
■Rep. Rush Holt (invited)
■Nadhira Al-Khalili
■David Greenfield
■Kate Hanni
■Prof. Jeffrey Rosen
■Bruce Schneier
Michael Roberts

This one-day public conference will be devoted to an assessment of the TSA airport security procedures and recommendations for reform. Experts in law, aviation security, and health safety, advocates for flyers rights, privacy protection, and religious freedom, as well as lawmakers and policy advisors will participate in the event. The event will also include a rich media display, with images from airport protests, YouTube videos, and campaign materials.

Advance registration is preferred.