The Automated Targeting System or ATS made public last month by the U.S. government on travelers coming and leaving to America is facing tremendous furor of American and foreign travel agencies. Seven major travel industry associations insist government to remove computerized system for assessing international travelers as potential terrorists.
The associations expressed their apprehensions in a written letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.
We are deeply concerned that such a far-reaching and invasive screening of millions of business travelers entering and exiting the U.S. could do significant personal harm to them, and reduce the productivity of the organizations that field business travelers.
However, Homeland Security department countering its views says that the ATS is essential to the national security and it’s not devised to harass rights of travelers. Some members of Congress also back the travel associations.
The ATS system was in existence since 1990s but it was stringently implemented after the 9-11 terrorist attacks. In November, the public first time discovered it. The travelers could not see their assessments to challenge them, and Homeland security department will sustain the assessment for 40 years.
Via: MSNBC
