The TSA is planning to require Canadian airlines to give them the names of Canadians who fly through American airspace en route to the Caribbean and Latin America. However, the major Canadian airlines are somewhat cool toward this program because they think it's an invasion of privacy.
Canada's major airlines say they will be forced either to break privacy laws or to ignore new American air security rules unless the federal government comes up with a response to U.S. demands for passenger information.
The National Airlines Council of Canada, which represents the four largest Canadian carriers, is pleading with the government to find "a permanent solution" to the dilemma posed by the U.S. Secure Flight program.
Under Secure Flight, the TSA would collect the name, gender and birthdate of all Canadians flying over American airspace and check them against security watch lists. Anyone appearing on the lists could face extra screening or even be denied boarding. Canada's Big Four airlines--Air Canada, Air Canada Jazz, WestJet and Air Transat--think that they can't comply without violating Canadian privacy laws.
I can't help but think this is a bit of an overreach. I could understand this requirement for people whose flights end in the States, but merely flying over American airspace? The threat potential simply doesn't justify such a sweeping requirement.
The Canadian Department of Public Safety, the Canadian counterpart of the Department of Homeland Security, hasn't officially weighed in yet. However, an internal Public Safety document written last year says that sharing this information violates the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, the law which governs corporate sharing of personal information. The document also raises other concerns about the program as well.
"It is possible that Canadians overflying the United States could be denied boarding based on U.S. no-fly lists that were developed based on lower U.S. risk tolerance," said the January 2009 assessment.
"There are also no guarantees how the U.S. will use the information it obtains from carriers overflying its territory."
Canadian airlines are open to a homegrown security screening system, as long as it doesn't cost too much. I would hope we give Canada ample time to implement such a system, if it comes to this. It could be a guideline to implement laws of our own that are less invasive.
Update: Chacounne points out in the comments that Canadians who were rendered on suspicion of terrorism and later acquitted can still be snared in these requirements if they're on the no-fly list. The most egregious example--Maher Arar.