JetBlue Handed Over Passenger Info & Itineraries
JetBlue Airways has infuriated many customers by releasing 5 million passenger records to a Defense Department contractor, which used the information to see if it could identify "high risk" customers.
The contractor, Torch Concepts of Huntsville, Ala. produced a study titled: "Homeland Security: Airline Passenger Risk Assessment," using information from JetBlue and then combining it with social security numbers, home ownership, economic status, criminal history and occupations, obtained through various data sources. The report sought to determine which passengers were deemed "high risk" and which ones were not.
The Forest Hills-based company apologized Friday for providing the names, address and phone numbers of passengers from 2000 to mid-2002 at the request of the Department of Defense, in violation of the airline's privacy policy.
Nearly 5 million names were provided for military base security, said Gareth Edmondson-Jones, a spokesman for JetBlue. He did not elaborate.
"This was a mistake on our part," JetBlue chief executive David Neeleman said in an apologetic e-mail sent to angry customers. But privacy experts say the company should taken greater care with customer information.
JetBlue "really should have known better," Richard M. Smith, an Internet security and privacy consultant based in Cambridge, Mass., told the Associated Press. Smith said the study's content raises serious questions about whether it was really aimed at military base security.
JetBlue said it was not aware that Torch was using its information for this purpose. Furthermore, JetBlue says that Torch has assured it that the data has been destroyed and that none of the information was passed along to the Department of Defense or any other government agency.
The lawyer representing Torch Concepts, Rich Marsden did not respond to repeated phone calls.
JetBlue, a low-cost airline, has created a loyal following during a period when other airlines have suffered.
In his email, Neelelmaninsisted that the data was not part of the so-called Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System, or CAPPS II, which is being formulated by the government to screen out likely terrorists on passenger planes.
Yet the proposed CAPPS II looks much like Torch's study, using passenger names and then databases to check their financial and criminal pasts. Peggy Estes, a spokeswoman for Atlanta-based Delta Airlines, said that it had "agreed to help the TSA test CAPPS II," though the TSA hasn't yet taken Delta up on its offer.
This has raised concerns among privacy advocates.
"These passengers have a right to be concerned," said Michael Boyd, an airline consultant with the Boyd Group, in Evergreen, Colo. CAPPS II is the brainchild of the Transportation Security Administration.
News of the incident was greeted mixed reaction from passengers at Kennedy Airport Friday.
Ellen Young, a Manhattan resident on her way to Oakland, said, "I'm all for classifying passengers," adding that she wouldn't want to be on the same plane with people who make frequent trips to Afganistan. Meanwhile, Ed Williams said that his "credit information is something beyond private."
JetBlue Airways has infuriated many customers by releasing 5 million passenger records to a Defense Department contractor, which used the information to see if it could identify "high risk" customers.
The contractor, Torch Concepts of Huntsville, Ala. produced a study titled: "Homeland Security: Airline Passenger Risk Assessment," using information from JetBlue and then combining it with social security numbers, home ownership, economic status, criminal history and occupations, obtained through various data sources. The report sought to determine which passengers were deemed "high risk" and which ones were not.
The Forest Hills-based company apologized Friday for providing the names, address and phone numbers of passengers from 2000 to mid-2002 at the request of the Department of Defense, in violation of the airline's privacy policy.
Nearly 5 million names were provided for military base security, said Gareth Edmondson-Jones, a spokesman for JetBlue. He did not elaborate.
"This was a mistake on our part," JetBlue chief executive David Neeleman said in an apologetic e-mail sent to angry customers. But privacy experts say the company should taken greater care with customer information.
JetBlue "really should have known better," Richard M. Smith, an Internet security and privacy consultant based in Cambridge, Mass., told the Associated Press. Smith said the study's content raises serious questions about whether it was really aimed at military base security.
JetBlue said it was not aware that Torch was using its information for this purpose. Furthermore, JetBlue says that Torch has assured it that the data has been destroyed and that none of the information was passed along to the Department of Defense or any other government agency.
The lawyer representing Torch Concepts, Rich Marsden did not respond to repeated phone calls.
JetBlue, a low-cost airline, has created a loyal following during a period when other airlines have suffered.
In his email, Neelelmaninsisted that the data was not part of the so-called Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System, or CAPPS II, which is being formulated by the government to screen out likely terrorists on passenger planes.
Yet the proposed CAPPS II looks much like Torch's study, using passenger names and then databases to check their financial and criminal pasts. Peggy Estes, a spokeswoman for Atlanta-based Delta Airlines, said that it had "agreed to help the TSA test CAPPS II," though the TSA hasn't yet taken Delta up on its offer.
This has raised concerns among privacy advocates.
"These passengers have a right to be concerned," said Michael Boyd, an airline consultant with the Boyd Group, in Evergreen, Colo. CAPPS II is the brainchild of the Transportation Security Administration.
News of the incident was greeted mixed reaction from passengers at Kennedy Airport Friday.
Ellen Young, a Manhattan resident on her way to Oakland, said, "I'm all for classifying passengers," adding that she wouldn't want to be on the same plane with people who make frequent trips to Afganistan. Meanwhile, Ed Williams said that his "credit information is something beyond private."
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