Cory Doctorow wrote an open letter to American Airlines, asking them some pertinent questions after a security official requested that he fill out a form naming all the friends he would be staying with after his flight to the US. He didn’t have to in the end, nominally because we was a frequent flyer, more likely because he challenged them to give details about the TSA regulation they claimed was behind the request (they couldn’t).

This sort of nonsense has a serious side, it requires travlerers to make a false choice between their privacy and their ability to move around the world for no particular security gain. Occasionally it happens to someone with the rare time and resources (or celebrity) to resist it (John Gilmore, Rohinton Mistry, John Perry Barlow, Cat Stevens, Farley Mowat, Cory Doctorow), but we can only assume that the vast majority of people affected won’t or can’t resist or publicize their case. Quite possibly it happens all the time.

I’ve written American Airlines a letter (yes, a letter, I was going to write email but they don’t give out their email address, instead they give you a form that counts down the number of words you can use) asking them to answer Cory’s questions to me as well. I don’t know how much impact this sort of thing has, but I imagine in aggregate it’s actually the most effective tool at our disposal. At the minimum, it must irritate the hell out of somebody somewhere in their organization.

Click “read more” for the full letter.

1500 Remount Rd
Front Royal VA 22630

19 January 2005

American Airlines Customer Relations
P.O. Box 619612 MD 2400
DFW Airport, TX 75261-9612

To Whom it May Concern,

I have read an open letter to American Airlines from Cory Doctorow regarding your security personnel’s request that he submit a copy of the names of all of the people he would be staying with after his flight. I am now confused and concerned by American’s security and privacy policies. As an occasional flyer on American Airlines I am worried that the airline is introducing policies with no real security impact and considerable privacy concerns. If in fact the TSA is mandating these policies then I am worried that the same problems will apply to all airlines.

Could you please answer for me the same questions that Mr. Doctorow asks in his open letter. Specifically:

1. What is the AA privacy and data-retention policy?

2. Do non-Platinum flyers have to provide dossiers on their friends on demand from an AA officer? Why?

3. Is there a TSA regulation that requires you to gather this information? What is the number or name of that regulation and where can I get a copy of it?

It is important that security policies be public, transparent and consistent. When they are introduced at the ticket counter or the gate, travelers have few options to respond since they have already invested in their ticket and usually have few options for rescheduling their trip. When security policies are opaque or inconsistently applied, traveler’s ability to plan for and understand those policies is undermined, and some travelers may in effect have their access to the important right of free movement discriminately limited.

I have enclosed a copy of Mr. Doctorow’s open letter. I await your response.

Sincerely,

Hugh Stimson