• EU proposes recording all data on airline passengers, including their meals

    To help combat terrorism, the United Kingdom hopes to join a European Union information sharing database; under the proposed program, dubbed the Passenger Name Record directive, authorities will collect detailed information on airline passengers including their phone number and how they paid for their ticket as well as a credit card details and billing addresses; a passenger’s information will be stored up to five years and after the first thirty days the details will be made anonymous; any European Union member state can search through the database as it conducts counter-terrorism investigations; the proposal has yet to be approved and has generated its fair share of critics

  • Schumer wants more security funding for railroads

    Following revelations that Osama bin Laden had been considering attacks on American railroads, Senator Chuck Schumer (D - New York) is requesting additional funding for security measures to protect U.S. train infrastructure; Schumer wants to use the money to conduct more comprehensive track inspections and to monitor railway stations throughout the United States; he has also called for the creation of an Amtrak “No Ride List” similar to the “No Fly List” that is designed to keep suspected terrorists from boarding airplanes

  • TSA pats down eight-month-old baby

    A photo of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents patting down an eight-month old baby at Kansas City International Airport is the latest viral internet sensation in the ongoing criticism of TSA security procedures; the photo shows TSA screeners searching the baby while the mother holds the child in her arms; the photo was posted on Twitter on 7 May and since then has been viewed more than 200,000 times; after reviewing the incident TSA said it followed proper protocol