TSA Disputes Claim That It Will Spy On Air Travelers’ Social Media, Credit Card Activities

TSA Disputes Claim That It Will Spy On Air Travelers’ Social Media, Credit Card Activities
by Wochit 0:56 mins

The Transportation Security Administration says language included in a draft agreement that was to allow private contractors to scour air travelers’ social media activities and credit card purchases before approving them for expedited travel under the agency’s PreCheck program was included “inadvertently.” The TSA recently filed a request for proposal which included the draft agreement with third-party vendors the agency plans to hire to pre-screen PreCheck applicants. Under the agreement, companies hired by TSA would plug “commercial data” into algorithms to determine whether travelers qualified as “low-risk,” and, thus, eligible for PreCheck boarding at airports. According to the agreement, commercial data would include criminal and real estate records as well as “other publicly available information, such as directories, press reports, location data and information that individuals post on blogs and social media sites.”
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