Passenger Profiling 'Could Be Used in Britain', Says Alan Johnson
So passenger profiling could be introduced. And about bloody time, too! – © Mark
THE TELEGRAPH: Controversial passenger profiling techniques could be used in response to the attempted Detroit plane bombing, the Home Secretary has announced.

Home Secretary: Body scanners in three weeks
Alan Johnson said he was looking at whether ''additional targeted profiling'' was needed to beef up airport security.

Passengers could be searched according to their race, ethnic background, age and gender, a decision that is likely to face opposition from civil rights groups.

Announcing a series of new security measures, Mr Johnson warned passengers would face further delays as more were searched before they board planes.

As well as body scanners, which will be brought in at Heathrow by the end of this month, passengers will see more sniffer dogs.

By the end of the year all British airports will be required to have trace equipment in place to detect explosives in the air.

In a House of Commons statement, Mr Johnson accepted no one technology would be ''100% effective''.

He acknowledged there were civil liberties concerns about profiling, but said ministers also had an ''overriding obligation'' to protect lives.

''We are examining carefully whether additional targeted passenger profiling might help to enhance airport security,'' Mr Johnson said. >>> | Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Government Wants personal Details of Every Passenger
THE GUARDIAN: Passengers travelling between EU countries or taking domestic flights would have to hand over a mass of personal information, including their mobile phone numbers and credit card details, as part of a new package of security measures being demanded by the British government. The data would be stored for 13 years and used to "profile" suspects.

Brussels officials are already considering controversial anti-terror plans that would collect up to 19 pieces of information on every air passenger entering or leaving the EU. Under a controversial agreement reached last summer with the US department of homeland security, the EU already supplies the same information [19 pieces] to Washington for all passengers flying between Europe and the US.

But Britain wants the system extended to sea and rail travel, to be applied to domestic flights and those between EU countries. According to a questionnaire circulated to all EU capitals by the European commission, the UK is the only country of 27 EU member states that wants the system used for "more general public policy purposes" besides fighting terrorism and organised crime.

The so-called passenger name record system, proposed by the commission and supported by most EU governments, has been denounced by civil libertarians and data protection officials as draconian and probably ineffective.

The scheme would work through national agencies collecting and processing the passenger data and then sharing it with other EU states. Britain also wants to be able to exchange the information with third parties outside the EU.

Officials in Brussels and in European capitals admit the proposed system represents a massive intrusion into European civil liberties, but insist it is a necessary part of a battery of new electronic surveillance measures being mooted in the interests of European security. These include proposals unveiled in Brussels last week for fingerprinting and collecting biometric information of all non-EU nationals entering or leaving the union. Government wants personal details of every traveler: Phone numbers and credit card data to be collected under expanded EU plan >>> By Ian Traynor

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