Northwest Airline Gave Passenger Data to Government

Northwest Airline Gave Passenger Data to Government: "Northwest Airline Gave Passenger Data to Government
by Jon Swartz

For the second time in four months, information-privacy groups have discovered that a large airline provided passenger records to the government without telling its customers."
Northwest Airlines supplied millions of names to the government for a project on aviation security in late 2001, according to records obtained by a privacy-rights group under the Freedom of Information Act.
JetBlue Airways last year acknowledged it forked over computer data on 1.1 million passenger names in 2002 to a Pentagon contractor investigating security issues. Privacy advocates assailed the admission, and JetBlue apologized to its customers. JetBlue is being sued by passengers in class-action lawsuits.
Northwest, the world's fourth-largest carrier, confirmed a Washington Post report Saturday that it gave NASA information on passengers who flew from October through December 2001.
Northwest would not say how many passengers' records were shared, but the Transportation Department estimates that more than 10 million passengers traveled on Northwest flights during that time.
NASA kept Northwest's passenger name records — which usually include credit card numbers, telephone numbers and addresses — until September 2003, NASA documents show.

Northwest Airlines supplied millions of names to the government for a project on aviation security in late 2001, according to records obtained by a privacy-rights group under the Freedom of Information Act.