Feeling like the bottom of an inverted pyramid...

[bunn]

There is a huge monumental governmental project afoot to capture huge amounts of data about anyone who flies outside the UK and submit it to a Monstrous Central database.   There are working parties and coordinators and guidelines and monstrous great teams of highly paid and (I hope) highly trained people working on this. 

But of course, someone has to actually collect that data from the passengers, ensure it is captured and stored  and sent to the Monstrous Database in a timely manner.  That task, for one small airline, is done by me and my airline contact, Steve.

I am somewhat concerned that although we have received an absolute DELUGE of materials, much of it explaining concepts in incredible detail (want a full specification for SFTP...?) or giving brain-numbing descriptions of templates -  we haven't had what I would have thought was the basics.

 Like, 'don't send this data in plaintext  email' - if I had to point out that wasn't a good move, then someone, at some airline somewhere has probably not said it.    And nothing on how the data is to be stored at all, or whether we are supposed to delete it after they have flown...

Apparently the longterm plan is for the system eventually to be responsive: the airline will send off all its passenger data half an hour before the flight takes off, then the Mighty Arm of the State will reply to say who should, and should not, be allowed to fly.  This will happen both in and outbound, so it's possible that someone might fly out of the country, then find that a database glitch makes it impossible for them to get back in.

The potential for mistakes and chaos there strikes me as truly hair raising. 

Oh yeah, and the other thing is, we have to do this for flights to France, but not flights to Ireland. It's supposed to be about security and terrorism, but I'm not entirely clear why Dublin is less of a likely source of terrorists than Grenoble.  Am imagining crack squads of terrorists on skis swooping from the Alps. 

Comments

[kargicq.livejournal.com]

Yikes, that is scary. What sort of info are we talking here? I'm assuming names are not enough for this purposes: you need to know addresses and enough personal data to be able to identify the individual concerned. Am selfishly miffed given that researchers have to take such care with data and rabbit on in ethics applications about who will have access, even when all it consists of is their name and stereoacuity. Whereas the government can toss around names, address, bank account details with abandon.

Can't remember whether I mentioend this in our recent collective rant on CRB forms, but the current CRB form asks for your full name, NI number, work and home phone numbers, home addresses for past 5 years, bank account number, sort code and mother's maiden name (the last 3 actually optional, but the form doesn't make that clear). You have to send them all that along with copies of your passport, driving licence and a recent utility bill. So nothing could possibly go wrong there, then!

Neuromancer

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Ouch, that's a bit horrifying...

This isn't quite so bad (yet) but so far includes passport number, date of birth, journey details and car number plate. For the 'first phase' that strikes me as enough to worry about. :-(

[the-marquis.livejournal.com]

What about those of us who turn up to the airport by train, or even (whisper) who don't have a car? Is this perhaps some wheeze to get us all to say 'fuck it' and drive abroad as that is less noxious than flying*?


*Is that even remotely true?

[bunn.livejournal.com]

* I'm told not, but you can prove anything with statistics. Probably the only really green option is to stay at home wrapped in a blanket knitted from your own hair.

[the-marquis.livejournal.com]

Actually didn't they start off with 'Don't talk, blog, facebook, twitter, or tell Liberty or anything like that to anyone'? That is kind of what I'd expect of something that sounds this 1984 Big Brother-ish.

What on earth are they trying to do? And why? Can't a computerised list of people travelling easily get messed up especially at big busy airports (like the ones that can't even get your luggae with you) resulting in all sorts of people being told, "Get of this airplane" and scaring the crap out of them and everyone one else already onboard.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Not on anything I've been sent, but then I'm a loooong loooooooong way down the pecking order, possibly enough that I'm actually classified as a vegetable of some sort.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

... am wondering if I should have locked this, but that would seem like Giving In in some way I can't entirely pin down.

[foradan.livejournal.com]

Ireland has a free travel treaty with the UK. Which is why Ireland can't join Schengen. Which is a real pain, as I am more likely to be travelling to Ireland from Norway (inside Schengen) than from the UK these days.

[pellegrina.livejournal.com]

I thought it must be something like that, since RoI and Domestic Departures are always a separate part from International.