British trade union opposes fingerprinting for airline passengers

This video from the USA says about itself:

George Washington University law professor Jeffrey Rosen discusses the challenges technology presents to conventional notions of privacy and civil liberties.

From British daily News Line:

Monday, 10 March 2008

FINGERPRINTING AT TERMINAL 5 – for all internal and external flights

‘It’s unacceptable and totally undemocratic. We are having security decided by the private sector with no reference to parliament,’ Sharon Holder, GMB national officer, told News Line yesterday.

She was speaking in response to British Airways’ announcement that all passengers, both international and domestic, using Terminal 5 when it opens, will be subject to mandatory fingerprinting and biometric checks.

Holder said: ‘Although there is no compulsory scheme for the UK public, clearly the airlines have taken security into their own hands.

‘Anybody travelling in or out of Britain will be subject to compulsory biometric checks.

‘No one was told about this when Terminal 5 was being built.

‘I think there will be comments made by the unions on the matter.’

US airlines escalate attacks on workers as losses mount: here.

USA: On Friday, the Intercept published a leaked document outlining the criteria used by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to flag airline travelers for interrogation and possible detention as terror suspects. The document makes clear that the TSA’s screening program has nothing to do with its nominal purpose of keeping travelers “safe,” but is in fact a pretense for arbitrary searches and interrogations: here.

YOU DON’T WANT TO READ THIS EXPOSE ON AIRPLANE MAINTENANCE “In the last decade, most of the big U.S. airlines have shifted major maintenance work to places like El Salvador, Mexico, and China, where few mechanics are F.A.A. certified and inspections have no teeth.” [Vanity Fiar]