EFF wants answers on ATS
p2pnet.net News:- The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) is demanding, “immediate answers” from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), “about an invasive and unprecedented data-mining system deployed on American travelers”.
In November, the DHS said the program would launch on December 4, “but Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff later admitted that the program had already been in operation for several years,” says the foundation.
Under discussion is the Automated Targeting System (ATS) which creates and assigns “risk assessments” to tens of millions of people from around the worlkd as they enter and leave the US.
The EFGF is calling for an, “urgent and expedited response to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed earlier this month, including all Privacy Impact Assessments for the ATS, all records that describe redress for individuals who believe the system includes inaccurate information, and all records that discuss potential consequences for travelers as a result of the system”.
People listed have no way to access information about their “scores” or to correct any false information about them, says the EFF, going on:
“But while you cannot see your score, it will be made readily available to untold numbers of federal, state, local, and foreign agencies” and, “The government will retain the data for 40 years.”
And there’s more, says the story. The government didn’t disclose many critical details.
“For example,: says the EFF, the DHS hasn’t announced what the consequences might be of a “risk assessment” score, “that indicates an individual might be a threat”.
Go here for the FOIA complaint filed against the Department of Homeland Security:
If your Net access is blocked by government restrictions, try Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk Centre for International Studies. Go here for the official download, here for the p2pnet download, and here for details. And if you’re Chinese and you’re looking for a way to access independent Internet news sources, try Freegate, the DIT program written to help Chinese citizens circumvent web site blocking outside of China. Download it here.
Also See:
EFF – Lawsuit Demands Answers About Government’s Secret ‘Risk Assessment’ Scores, December 19, 2006
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