Transportation

Maryland transportation chief halts audio surveillance plans
Maryland Transportation Administration considered using listening devices on its buses and trains for recording conversations of passengers and employees; acting director of the agency suspends plan
- Read more
Arizona politician charges Napolitano uses no-fly list for political payback
Arizona state treasurer charges his name was added to DHS’s no-fly list because of his history of political fights with Janet Napolitano — former governor of Arizona and now DHS secretary; DHS denies charges
- Read more

U.S., Colombia in a deal for surveillance of drug trade, terrorists
The Pentagon has to find a new site for anti-drug flight operations after Ecuador declined to extend the lease at Manta
- Read more
U.S. may seek more data on people flying in from E.U.
DHS indicates that an agreement with the Spanish government on a pilot program that identifies high-risk travelers before they board aircraft bound for the United States may serve as a model for similar arrangements with other EU countries
- Read more

Virtual border system ineffective, out of cash
Both supporters and opponents of the effort to enlist citizens to keep an eye on Texas’s border with Mexico agree that, so far, it has not worked; the question is whether to scrap the plan or continue to fund it
- Read more
Officials complain about northern border policy
Five-hundred government officials, policy experts, and business leaders from the United States and Canada gather to discuss the impact of security measures along the U.S.-Canada border on commerce; their conclusion: What is good for the U.S.-Mexico border may be unsuitable for the U.S.-Canada border
- Read more

RFID-enabled official IDs raise privacy fears
More and more government documents which U.S. citizens are now required to present at border crossings and entry points — e-passports, electronic PASS cards, enhanced driver’s licenses — are equipped with RFID tags so they can easily be scanned by readers; trouble is, they can be scanned through a pocket, backpack, or purse from thirty feet, opening the door for a digital identity pickpocketing
- Read more
Mexican drug violence threat major concern to U.S.
DHS assistant secretary Alan Bersin: “We take the threat of spillover violence very seriously… We’re prepared to deal with it in the event it occurs. There are contingency plans to respond”
- Read more

First six months of 2009 see double the number of pirates' attacks
The total number of pirates’ attacks rose to 240 in the first six months of 2009 from 114 incidents in the same period a year ago
- Read more
DHS IG: SBI lacks effective oversight
DHS Inspector General Richard Skinner says the CBP is using contractors to do what should be inherently governmental work; “With continued heavy reliance on contractor support services, CBP risks losing control of program decisions while remaining accountable for mission results”
- Read more

Technological integration offer best means to protect Canada-U.S. border
The integration of several technologies — remote sensing, motion activated imaging sensors, below ground sensors, and thermal cameras — when coupled with policy coordination, offer the best means to enhance the security of U.S.-Canada border
- Read more
Local flexibility required to ease border crossing, facilitate commerce
Canada and the United States are the world’s two biggest trading partners — with $596 billion in trade in 2008; new report says that tight U.S.-Canada border rules are bad for business
- Read more

IBM signs U.K. biometric passport deal
IBM signs a £265 million contract with the U.K. Border Agency’s (UKBA) to provide UKBA with fingerprinting capabilities and run the database that will store the facial images and fingerprints needed to keep the passport in line with international standards
- Read more
Senate increases DHS 2010 budget by $300 million
Senate DHS budget version highlights difference with House over immigration; among other things, the Senate bill would require the Obama administration to complete 700 miles of reinforced fencing along the Mexican border by the end of 2010 — disallowing using only virtual fencing and vehicle barriers for border protection
- Read more
Autonomous submarine to patrol shallow waters
BAE show latest in its Talisman line — an autonomous underwater vehicle specializing in securing shallow waters near or inside ports, coastal waters, and rivers
- Read more

More headlines