From yesterday's Chicago Tribune (by the excellent corporate accountability group, ReclaimDemocracy.org) on the proposed Computer-Assisted Airline Passenger Screening Program (CAPPS 2), which requires that every passenger submit information to be compiled and analyzed by government databases:
This promise the government to procure these records at will from the contracted companies (which may retain and sell those records). At a minimum, the government would be creating dossiers of our lifetime travel histories. And though the information the TSA says it will collect initially may seem inoffensive, the registered traveler program would coerce people to "volunteer" much more information in order to avoid second-class treatment and even longer airport lines.
Critics also are alarmed by TSA officials' admission of plans to employ CAPPS II well beyond airports and for broader law enforcement purposes like catching common criminals -- contradicting earlier promises to focus only on aviation security.
The authors go on to make several other compelling arguments against the frightening CAPPS 2 and expose some of the corporate causes behind our weakened security. Full article: <http://reclaimdemocracy.org/civil_rights/capps_2_illusion_safety.html>