TSA Mulls Using Cell Phone Data for Secuirty Wait Times
One of the more interesting stories from yesterday was a new project from the TSA to calculate security wait times. If you recall, the agency did put security wait times on its website, but it was taken down. For awhile now, the tool has been "under construction," with the TSA saying it was "working to make the tool more user friendly."
Well, apparently the TSA has been working with Purdue University in a trial program to calculate wait times using data from cell phones or other electronic devices. Some of them automatically broadcast their serial number every 15-20 seconds. Readers were installed at the entrances and exits for checkpoints, and then the time spent in the checkpoint was calculated.
On one hand, having accurate security wait times is very useful for travelers, especially when trying to figure out a good time to leave for the airport. But there are very valid concerns about privacy here. Right now, only partial serial numbers are recorded, but some privacy experts are concerned that it could be changed.
Anyway, the work with Purdue was only done in Indianapolis, and the program is still in the very early stages, so we'll have to see how it pans out. But what do you think - is this convenient or a violation of civil liberties?
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March 24th, 2010 - 13:01
I think this is totally acceptable – and much more accurate than previous methods that just measured averages.
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission uses similar technology to estimate driving times. They measure drivers’ FasTrak (electronic toll collection tag) serial numbers at regular intervals along the region’s freeways, and use the data for 511 and 511.org.
Privacy experts were originally concerned that the data could be personally identifiable and available to law enforcement (if I made it from one sensor to another in less time than 65 mph would have allowed, for example) but the MTC has kept the data private and I’m sure the TSA could do the same.
Plus, what could anybody do with your cell phone serial number, anyway? It’s not illegal to stand in long security lines. I think that the benefits this new technology would bring far outweigh the potential privacy infringement.
March 25th, 2010 - 07:38
Adrian, thanks for sharing your thoughts!