U.S. Requests Foreign Fliers' Criminal Records
The government is pushing foreign countries and airlines to deliver personal and criminal information about people planning to fly into the U.S., but the efforts have met with resistance.
This comes after bombing suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab boarded a flight in Amsterdam bound for Detroit on Christmas Day. Police allege he tried to detonate an explosive in his underwear. The bomb failed, and the plane landed safely.
The Homeland Security Department is seeking better information about the 23 million people a year who fly to the U.S. from Europe, potentially including their phone numbers, frequent flier numbers and credit card numbers. Those details, which can link people to terrorists, are given to Homeland Security for some U.S.-bound passengers but not all.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said she has pressed Europeans and airline executives for "standardizing the information we get so it's the most useful in identifying" passengers with terrorist ties.
Airlines worry about the potential cost of revising reservation systems to make passenger information routinely available. "Even the smallest change in our databases can take thousands of hours and cost a lot of money," said Steve Lott of the International Air Transport Association, which represents 230 airlines. The extra information could help identify terrorists before they fly into the U.S. "This is far more important than airport scanning," said Susan Ginsburg, an expert on terrorist travel and former 9/11 Commission lawyer.
Under a 2007 agreement with the European Union, Homeland Security has access to airline reservation records that show passenger information such as phone numbers. The department can see 19 categories of information for everyone flying to the U.S. from the European Union. Some airlines do not collect data in all 19 categories. That leaves Homeland Security without details on many passengers, former Homeland Security policy chief Stewart Baker said.
"There's an enormous amount of valuable counterterrorism information in there," Baker said. Reservation records can be compared to watch lists and to other databases with information about terrorists. "It's very helpful in connecting unknown people to known people," said Baker, who is writing a book about travel data. Obama officials are renewing a George W. Bush administration effort to share information with individual European countries showing criminal records and terrorism links for international travelers. The U.S. has agreements with at least 13 countries, including Germany, Spain and Italy, but wants accords with about 20 others whose citizens can travel to the U.S. without a visa.
Napolitano said the failed attack Dec. 25 is "a catalyst ... to see if we can get agreements made that we have not been able to get before." Some countries fear exchanging information will violate their citizens' privacy. "There are hesitations on the part of some countries," said Frank Schmiedel of the European Union's Washington delegation.
The Dec. 25 attempt could weaken that resistance, Baker said. If a terror attack "happens on a flight out of their territory, and they haven't shared all the information that might have helped identify the attacker, the backlash will be direct and devastating."
Many Oregon employers would be prohibited from using a job applicant's credit history as part of the pre-employment screening process if a bill being considered by the Legislature becomes law.
The Senate Commerce and Workforce Development Committee held a hearing Wednesday on Senate Bill 1045, which would limit employers' use of credit checks unless the information is relevant to the job.
Banks and public safety agencies would still be able to consider an applicant's debts and financial history, under the bill. There are also allowances for employers required by state or federal law to consider credit histories for employment purposes.
