Passenger in United States

Passenger Definition

One who has taken a place in a public conveyance for the purpose of being transported from one place to another. One who is so conveyed from one place to another. Though the relation of passenger and carrier is in a sense a matter of contract, on account of the duty of the carrier to receive all persons without discriminations, the implications of contraot are broader than in other cases. Therefore, one is a passenger on a train which he took by mistake. 64 Tex. 536; 40 Ind. 37. One who is carried gratuitously is a passenger, as is one who has not yet paid his fare (57 N. Y. Super. Ct. 348; 46 Mo. App. 665), but not one who designs … payment of fare (157 Mass. 877), even by using a pass issued to another (J07 Ind. 442). An employe of the carrier not engaged in the management of the particular train is a passenger (69 Ga. 715; but see 95 N. Y. 267), as is an employe of another carrier under contract, as an express messenger (56 Ark. 594), or a postal clerk (95 N. Y. 562; 57 Fed. 165). The relation of passenger and carrier begins the moment one goes on the carrier’s premises to take passage on one of its trains (58 Ga. 461; 36 Fed. 72; 40 Barb. [N. Y.] 546), and is not ended until the passenger leaves the conveyance and the carrier’s premises (55 Kan. 682; 146 Mass. 241; 9 Tex. Civ. App. 599).

Cause of Action Against Cruise Line/Tour Operator for Injury of Passenger/Customer: an Overview

This section examines this type of action. This subject identifies the various elements of the Cause of Action Against Cruise Line/Tour Operator for Injury of Passenger/Customer, offering a practical approach to the litigation issues of this cause of action. See also the entry about legal risks.

Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System

Over 639 million passengers pass through airports annually in the United States in the first years of the XX centrury. See Samidh Chakrabarti and Aaron Strauss, Carnival Booth: An Algorithm for Defeating the Computer-Assisted Passenger Screening System, Law and Ethics on the Electronic Frontier, MIT/Harvard Law School Student paper, May 16, 2002. As part of its efforts to increase air travel security, the United States Transportation Security Administration (TSA) plans to develop a profiling system that uses a network of “supercomputers” intended to instantly assess every passenger´s background to identify potential ties to terrorism.

CAPPS II, which is short for the second-generation Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System, will analyze passengers´ travel reservations, housing information, family ties, credit reports and other personal information in order to determine if they are a potential threat. See Center for Defense Information, CDI Fact Sheet: Transportation Security Agency (TSA), January 21, 2003.

The new system builds upon an existing profiling system known as the Computer Assisted Passenger Screening (CAPS) system. Operational industry-wide in the United States since 1998, CAPS was in use on September 11, 2001. See Michigan Advisory Committee, Civil Rights Issues Facing Arab Americans in Michigan: A Report to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Chapter 6.

CAPS involved the collection of data on passengers prior to their boarding a plane. The information was entered into a computer database that determined whether the passenger posed a potential security risk and, as a result, should be subjected to heightened security procedures. Different profiles were to be employed depending upon whether the travel was domestic or international. See also, in relation to this, Michigan Advisory Committee, Civil Rights Issues Facing Arab Americans in Michigan: A Report to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Chapter 6.

Post-9/11, CAPS was seen as suffering from several critical weaknesses including the fact that while it could inform authorities of a passenger´s travel pattern, there was no mechanism for a more detailed evaluation. Industry security analysts saw the need for a next-generation version of CAPS that included a central data warehouse. See Bret Kidd, “Taking Aviation Security to the Next Level,” EDS Global Transportation Industry Group.

According to TSA and industry sources, the system will be designed to conduct “real-time preflight background threat evaluation” of airline passengers by using names and personal information taken from passenger manifests. It will compare information from manifests with information collected and analyzed from “numerous databases from government, industry and the private sector” to determine whether any passengers pose a security threat. See William Matthews, “TSA System would dig up passenger info: Privacy advocates warn of “extensive profiling” by agency,” Federal Computer Week, September 2, 2002

CAPPS II will be accessible at all points of passenger processing: booking, ticketing, check in, security screening and aircraft boarding. It also will serve as a repository for information such as biometric data for registered passengers and airport employees. See also Bret Kidd, “Taking Aviation Security to the Next Level,” EDS Global Transportation Industry Group.

Transportation and intelligence officials intend to extend the use of CAPPS II to screen truckers, railroad conductors, subway workers and others whose transportation jobs involve the public trust. Robert O´Harrow Jr., “Air Security Focusing on Flier Screening Complex Profiling Network Months Behind Schedule,” Washington Post, September 4, 2002, p. A01

This September 2002 report in the Washington Post indicated the project had been slowed down by the complexity of the task. However, at the beginning of March 2003, it was reported that Delta Air Lines was to begin testing “a new government plan for air security” that will “check background information and assign a threat level to everyone who buys a ticket for a commercial flight.” Delta will try the system out at three undisclosed airports. See “Delta to Test New Airport Security Plan,” Christian Broadcast Network, February 28, 2003.

Resources

Notes

This definition of Passenger is based on The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary.