Guard against invading privacy
Big Brother can now use Big Data to pry into people’s backgrounds. Scanning databases for evidence of malfeasance is particularly advanced at Canada’s airports, where border services agents are using so-called “Scenario Based Targeting” to automatically screen travellers entering the country. And federal privacy watchdog Daniel Therrien is right to express concern.
Canada’s privacy commissioner has warned that this new system could result in an unfair profiling of passengers.
“Travelers may now be targeted for increased scrutiny if they fit the general attributes of a group — and individuals may be subjected to recurring and unnecessary attention at the border because of characteristics they cannot change, such as age, gender, nationality, place of birth, racial and/or ethnic origin,” Therrien wrote in his recent annual report.
He called for more open and public information about Scenario Based Targeting, including evidence that it is necessary for identifying threats, as well as regular reviews of its effectiveness and its impact on human rights. Therrien is entirely justified in issuing these recommendations.
The Canada Border Services Agency moved to Scenario Based Targeting as part of a “perimeter security” agreement reached with the United States in 2001.
Canadian border agents had long used information collected by airlines to watch for people who may be connected to terrorism, involved in drug trafficking, or pursuing other organized crime. The new Scenario Based Targeting system speeds up this process and is meant to make it more efficient. Information held in a variety of databases is automatically scanned and subjected to a “risk scoring methodology” that spotlights high-risk travellers.
This could be employed, for example, to immediately identify all male passengers who are18 to 20 years old, Egyptian nationals, and who have visited both Paris and New York, to use a case described by Therrien. Once flagged in this way, these people could be drawn aside and subjected to extra scrutiny.
According to the border services agency, Scenario Based Targeting promotes “efficient movement of legitimate people” by concentrating agents’ attention on “a smaller segment of the travelling population who represent a potential high risk.”
Terrorism and international crime are very real concerns, no doubt. With globalization and the immense popularity of air travel, airport security and border checks have become a monumental challenge. It’s reasonable to employ technological innovation to help cope with that task. But it’s essential for any new screening system to avoid racial and ethnic profiling, and to spare travellers from excessive and unwarranted invasions of their privacy.
It’s not entirely clear that Scenario Based Targeting meets those tests.
Simply harmonizing Canada’s screening system with that of the United States isn’t reason enough to adopt the system. That’s why Canada Border Services should take steps to “demonstrate the necessity of Scenario Based Targeting,” Therrien wrote in his year-end report.
The agency should also make public “the types of scenarios that might be used to identify potentially high risk travellers.” And it should track the system’s effectiveness while carefully examining its impact on civil liberties and human rights.
Therrien wrote that Canada Border Services officials have “responded positively” to these recommendations, with more disclosure about the program expected in the coming fiscal year. They must be held to that commitment.
If the border services agency falls short in addressing Therrien’s concerns, it will be up to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s new government to ensure that travellers’ rights are protected in this new information age.
Privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien warns about the risk of unfair profiling at our airports