JetBlue violates privacy policy

pilot602

If specified, this will replace the title that
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NEW YORK (AP) -- Violating its own privacy policy, JetBlue Airways gave 5 million passenger itineraries to a Defense Department contractor that used the information as part of a study seeking ways to identify "high risk" airline customers.

The study, produced by Torch Concepts of Huntsville, Alabama, was titled "Homeland Security: Airline Passenger Risk Assessment." The apparent goal of the report was to determine whether it was possible to combine travel and personal information to create a profiling system that would make air travel safer.

The New York-based airline sent an e-mail apologizing to angry customers and said it has taken steps so the situation will not happen again. "This was a mistake on our part," JetBlue chief executive David Neeleman said.

Neeleman insisted the data JetBlue provided was not shared with any government agency and that Torch has since destroyed the passenger records.

Details of the study and JetBlue's involvement were reported Thursday by Wired.com, which credited privacy activist Bill Scannell for bringing attention to the issue on his Web site.

Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, said that by violating its privacy policy, JetBlue could be sued for "deceptive trade practices." Rotenberg said his organization was contemplating filing a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.

JetBlue "really should have known better," said Richard M. Smith, an Internet security and privacy consultant based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Torch says the intent of the study was to guide the Pentagon on a project for military base security.

But Smith said the study was basically a prototype for a nationwide computer system being developed by the Transportation Security Administration. The system, ordered by Congress after the September 11 attacks, will check such things as credit reports and consumer transactions and compare passenger names with those on government watch lists.

The TSA, the federal agency in charge of airline and airport security, said Friday it was not involved in the study.

Torch contacted the TSA last summer for airline industry contacts and the agency complied with the request, but "that was the extent of our involvement," TSA spokesman Nico Melendez said.

The Torch study analyzed the records JetBlue provided in September 2002, as well as other demographic data collected about the passengers, including Social Security numbers and information about their finances and families.

Neeleman's e-mail said Torch "developed this information into a presentation, without JetBlue's knowledge, for a Department of Homeland Security symposium" and that he was "deeply dismayed to learn of it."

Neeleman said JetBlue provided passengers' names, addresses and phone numbers to Torch after an "exceptional request from the Department of Defense to assist their contractor, Torch Concepts, with a project regarding military base security."

Torch referred calls to its attorney, Richard Marsden, who did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

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Finally, jetBlue's a** is on fire...

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Dude,

why do you want them to fail? You may be sarcastic but that is very unethical of you.
 
Unethical?? Unfriendly I would agree, but not unethical. I personally have no problem with JB - but if they start removing the airline I am loyal too out of my area then I would certainly not be disapointed to them recieve this press - or vanish.

To be honest, I think what JB did was wrong. The passengers are the customers, and if they want to treat then like this, that is there business. I doubt many of their customers would care, it is the LCC crowd.
 
You doubt their customers would care?? well 100+ people on that list must care because they are now seeking legal representation.. its just a matter of time before they seek a class action lawsuit.

Ryan
 
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I doubt many of their customers would care, it is the LCC crowd.

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What are you implying? The "LCC crowd" I've seen lately has been 75% business men and women, and well-to-do people.

I'm sorry but that came off as a really snobbish comment.
 
The LCC crowd from what I see, are not frequent flyers, do not keep up to date or up to date with the industry news, have little to no loyalty - there only real concern is who can get them there the cheapest.
 
Since its obvious that you dont care if they posted peoples information on the internet, after all they are just out to get money.. So lain why dont you post your name, address, phone number, DOB, and SSN for us all to see.. what do dont think you should have to or seek legal action if someone else did?? isnt that a little hypocritical??

Ryan
 
Pretty elitist comment, there Iain. You're at risk of being labeled a snob, polo pictures notwithstanding and all...
 
The government keeping a list of names?
The TSA able to take away your license for no reason?
Businesses collaborating with the gov't to keep tabs on citizens?

Sounds more like communism everyday I turn on the TV!

If you think this is bad, wait until Bush wins his second term.


By the way, I would be furious if my information was given away like that. Wait a minute, it already is! Zoltan!
 
I do not see where it said that this information was widely available on the internet. I think you guys are taking my comment out of context (admitadly it was not well written). I doubt the majority of these passengers are frequent flyers - would we really care if Amtrak did it, I hardly ever get on the train, am not loyal (first out the station), etc and would not be concerned.
 
I havn't seen anything about posting the information on the internet either. It is my impression that the government and their contractor only used the information for themselves, not disseminated it elsewhere.
 
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Furthermore, Torch Concepts (now doing business as Torch Technologies obtained the Social Security number, date of birth, and associated credit histories of many of the 5 million passengers in the JetBlue database. Some of this information, including SSNs, was posted by Torch Concepts to the Internet. The document was freely available for download on the Internet for over six months and was taken down on the 17th of September, 2003. The full document is available for download here.


[/ QUOTE ] Sounds to me like it's available on the internet.
 
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It is my impression that the government and their contractor only used the information for themselves,

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What gives the government the right to do that?

All the government is a bunch of PEOPLE that WE elect. NOT GOD's as they portray themselves to be.

Thats what gets me, most people dismiss their rights being violated when its being done to them by the government.
 
That is a really good point! Why IS the gov't off the hook from so many things that "non-gov't" would get in trouble for?
 
Because people don't care. Ever since the War of Northern Aggression, the federal government has expanded its role in our lives slowly but steadily to the point that people expect it.

It is the divine right of government to be in charge right???
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War of Northern Aggression

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It's called the U.S. Civil War and it was started by the succession of southern states from the union.

But at least I now get your whole "Federal Government" is bad take on things.

Dude the South lost. It won't rise again. Get over it.
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HEHEHE I wondered which one of you darned ole fancy pants Yankees would respond. (Said in best redneck drawl)

I am over it. I could care less although I do think the behavior of the federal government during the war set the tone for most of its violations of the constitution in the years following it. I am not hoping the south will rise again. But it still remains the War of Northern Aggression or War for Southern Independence if you want. Hell, if you want to belive the war was fought to liberate slaves then call it the War of African-American Liberation. There really isn't anything civil about war, especially that one. I suppose you call it the Korean conflict and it was a police action in Vietnam too???

I don't think the federal government is bad. I think that they screw alot of things up because every issue they touch becomes a political issue. I would just like to see all of the positive things that our society could be if we had the same country that was originally fought for over 200 years ago.


PS
We would rise again too if all those damn tornados would quit destroying our trailers. I swear I am sick of having my cousin/wife have to move Mary Lee, Kathy Lee, Susan Lee, Michael Lee, and the rest of our 12 kids into a house!
 
If you could care less you wouldn't call it the War of Northern Aggression.
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The south succeded from the union. This was something the U.S. could not survive nor was it something the constitution allowed for. The act of succession was and aggrressive act. If anything the war should be calledthe war of Southern Aggression.

A rebllious act by a group of people aimed at destroying the government generally brings about a conflict. The South, by succeeding, started the Civil War. It's called civil because it was a domestic war amongst ourselves and did not involve combat with a foregin nation. Not because it was "nice."
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You knew that, though.

The war was not about slavery directly. It was involved insomuch that nearly the South's entire economy was based on "free" labor and the North's changing attitudes towards slavery endagered the South's economy -read that as rich white dudes' personal weath. Licoln did not set out to free the slaves he set out to keep the country from imploding. The emancipation proclimation was more strategy than human rights and it could be argued that the former slaves had a much rouger time after teh Civil war to about 1960 than they did when they were enslaved. And a large part of that problem was due to Lincoln's assination. The next administration was not dedicated to reconstruction and in light of that only half-assedly put effort into repair the damage (physical and emotional) the war caused.

We need a Federal goverment. And a strong Federal government. Without it there are no standards. For example. Look at currency. Prior to the Civil war every state had their own paper currency. Counterfeitting was rampant and it was nearly impossbile to sell goods between states. Licoln - in part because of hte coming war - initiated the "greenback" to help standardize our currency. And today it is the defacto "global" cureency. Why? Because it's trusted and standardized.

Does this mean the Fed should have controll over everything? Of course not. But in yet another act of utter stupidity GW and Crew wants to PRIVATIZE the national parks systems (parks, workers, etc.). WTF will that accomplish other than opening our parks systems (and firefighting abilities) up for rape and plunder and mismanagement beyond anything the government is capable of.

There is a need for Federal governemnt as well as state government. Too much of either is a bad thing.


(edit) Now about those trailers .... they are on wheels ya know. Haven't you guys figured out how to hook 'em up to your Ford-F30000000s and tow them to safety?
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