U.S. to make travellers jump more hoops
Canadians could be denied boarding passes, even when flight doesn't land in United States
By: Kevin Dougherty and Robert Sibley
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| Passengers bound for the United States wait for security screening at Toronto's Pearson Airport. |
Federal Transport Minister John Baird says he wants to hear from the federal privacy commissioner regarding new American security rules that require Canadian airlines flying over the United States to give U.S. authorities the names of passengers as part of anti-terrorism efforts.
"We're going to consult the privacy commissioner," the minister said Thursday. "There has to be consent for the information to be shared."
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's new Secure Flight policy, which takes effect in December, stipulates that passengers who raise the suspicions of U.S. authorities can be prevented from boarding flights that traverse American airspace even if the flights are not on U.S. carriers and do not originate or land in the U.S.
Baird said the U.S. officials aren't looking for detailed information on passengers. "When they say they want personal information they are not looking for health information or income tax information. What they are looking for, as I understand it, is your name and your birthdate."
Nevertheless, Baird said he expected the Americans to be reasonable and expressed understanding for the American concerns.
The Secure Flight policy is a broadening of existing policy which already allows the U.S. to keep aircraft out of American airspace if authorities believe a person on a U.S. government terrorism watchlist is aboard.
For example, at least twice last year, Air France Flight 438 between Paris and Mexico City was prevented from entering U.S. airspace because one of its passengers was on a such a list.
Secure Flight applies to flights to, from or over the United States, from Canada to another country. Flights between two Canadian cities that travel over U.S. airspace are excluded, but about 80 per cent of Canadian flights to the Caribbean and other southern points and to Europe fly over the U.S.
Will the introduction of this new security protocol make travelling even more complicated for Canadians?
Each year, about 108 million travellers pass through Canadian airports. Of that total, 40 million are trans-border and international passengers. Another 21 million are going to or coming from the United States.
In his annual report for 2009, inspector-general Glenn A. Fine of the U.S. Justice Department disclosed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Terrorist Screening Database contains 1.1 million "terrorist identities."
Fine also said that "in certain circumstances," a person's name could be included on the Terrorist Screening Database even if the FBI doesn't consider that person a terrorism suspect. After analyzing "68,669 known or suspected terrorist identities" from the database, he found 35 per cent were named because of terrorism cases that were closed, or for reasons "unrelated to terrorism." He did not specify what those reasons were.
Under Secure Flight, Canadian airlines flying over the United States -- without ever landing there -- will be required to provide the U.S. Transportation Security Administration with personal information on all passengers.
Homeland Security will decide whether a Canadian airline should issue or deny a boarding pass.
Canadian airlines can also issue a qualified boarding pass with an SSSS code, which stands for Secondary Security Screening Selectee. This will require additional interrogation before the passenger is issued a boarding pass.
The basic TSA watchlist, supplied from the larger FBI list, contains 16,000 names from around the world. Among those, 2,500 would be denied boarding and arrested, and 13,500 people would be flagged for secondary security screening.
It is not known how many Canadians are on that list.
Here's how it might play out for a would-be Canadian traveller whose name is flagged under the Secure Flight system.
For example, a passenger with a ticket from Montreal to Varadero, Cuba, would get her first hint of a problem if she could not print out a boarding pass on her home computer or at an airport kiosk.
Secure Flight Final Rule, the U.S. government regulation defining the program, states that the "aircraft operator may not issue a boarding pass to the passenger, and the passenger must come to the airport for resolution."
And interrogation. Someone designated a "selectee" or a "potential match" on the watchlist will be subjected to enhanced screening by Canadian law enforcement officers.
Bruce Schneier, a computer cryptography expert and author of the blog Schneier on Security, dismisses the no-fly list as "counterterrorism silliness." In an e-mail exchange he said the screening process has captured "zero terrorists."
Schneier was a consultant for Secure Flight when it was first proposed in 2004. He found it an improvement on the no-fly list, but "riddled with security holes," and easy to work around using false ID.
According to the U.S. government, Secure Flight cost $300 million to develop.
