Senators question TSA role in transfer of passenger records

Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Susan Collins and ranking Democrat Joseph Lieberman have asked the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to explain its role in obtaining sensitive data on airline passengers from JetBlue Airways for a Defense Department database project.

In a Friday letter to Asa Hutchinson, the Homeland Security Department's undersecretary for border and transportation security, the senators said media reports have indicated that TSA was involved in the transfer of millions of passenger records to the Army contractor and said despite TSA's claim that its involvement was minimal, "it has come to our attention that this may not have been the case."

Army officials told committee staff that airlines sought and received TSA approval before releasing the data.

Collins, R-Maine, and Lieberman of Connecticut said obtaining public trust in the new Computer-Assisted Passenger Prescreening System depends upon TSA being open about its involvement in the JetBlue transfer.