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01/19/2005: Strange security procedures at American Airlines
Over at Boing Boing, Cory Doctorow reports on some strange questions American Airlines posed on a recent trip from England to the US.
The security officer then handed me a blank piece of paper and said, "Please write down the names and addresses of everyone you're staying with in the USA."
I actually began to write this out when I was brought up short. "Wait a second -- since when does AA compile a written dossier on the names and addresses of my friends? Why are you asking me this? Do you have a privacy policy and a data-retention policy I can inspect prior to this?"
The security officer told me that this was a Transport Security Agency (TSA) regulation. I asked for the name or number of the regulation, its text, and the details of the data-retention and privacy practices in place at AA UK. The security officer wasn't able to answer my questions, and she went to get her supervisor.
After several minutes, her supervisor appeared and said, after introducing himself, "Sir, this is for your own protection."
Brock on 01.19.05 @ 07:58 PM CST
