Canada’s new air passenger screening system singled out thousands
Posted Jan 14, 2016 06:24:22 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA – The agency protecting Canada’s borders says more than 2,300 air passengers arriving in the country were singled out for closer examination under a new screening system during a recent three-month period.
The Canada Border Services Agency says the passengers were flagged for possible links to serious crimes including terrorism under the so-called scenario-based targeting system.
The agency says the number represents a tiny fraction of the millions of passengers who arrived.
Still, privacy and civil liberties watchdogs want to know more about the targeting system, which is already used in the U-S, to ensure individual rights are not being trampled.
Under the system, travellers may be targeted for extra screening if they fit the general characteristics of a group due to factors they cannot control.
Those factors include age, gender, nationality, birthplace, and racial or ethnic origin.
