Bad Smell From Association With Feds Prompts Additional Safeguards

Folks, you know what this is about: we told you last week; and there's a followup today. JetBlue is having its security procedures audited -- don't you wish the government were as careful with your private information?

JetBlue Airways has retained Deloitte & Touche to assist the airline in its analysis and continued development of its privacy policy following the airline's release of customer data to Torch Concepts, a contractor for the Department of Defense, for a project concerning military base security.

At the special request of the Department of Defense, the airline shared passenger itineraries but did not provide payment or credit card information to Torch Concepts. "The information given to Torch contained name, address and phone number, along with flight information, but absolutely no payment or credit card information," said David Neeleman, CEO of JetBlue Airways. "While this is a concern, we want to let our customers know that we are fully committed to their privacy and are working with the assistance of Deloitte & Touche to further develop our internal processes and procedures to address the protection of personally identifiable customer information."

Torch's outside legal counsel has confirmed to JetBlue that no identifiable customer data was released to any third party, including the Department of Defense or the Transportation Security Administration, and that all the data has [sic] been destroyed. JetBlue does not sell customer information to any third parties and the airline received no payment from Torch.

The airline also confirms that it will not be a test airline nor has it ever shared customer information for the TSA's CAPPS II program and will not do so unless required by law. While, in the interests of the safety and security of its customers, JetBlue had entered into discussions with the TSA regarding the CAPPS II program and had agreed initially to participate in its development, the airline decided against further participation unless federally mandated due to concerns for customer privacy and the uncertainty of the final structure of CAPPS II.

"We support the TSA and the important work they do to ensure the safety and security of all airline passengers but we decided not to be involved in CAPPS II testing given the unresolved issues regarding privacy protection," said David Neeleman, CEO of JetBlue Airways. "Along with other airlines, we look forward to continuing our partnership with the TSA to improve airline security while being respectful of customer privacy concerns."

FMI: www.jetblue.com