Is passenger-behaviour observation appropriate?

Canada's Privacy Commissioner is raising concerns about a new plan to bolster airport security. 

 

Responding to the federal government's intention to use passenger-behaviour observation to look for terrorists, Jennifer Stoddart expressed concern that the program is potentially unfair to passengers.

 

"There is a huge possibility for arbitrary judgments to come into play," she said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

 

In the program, airport security officers watch for suspicious behaviour like travellers wearing a heavy coat on a hot day, or sweating profusely.

 

Stoddart's office closely monitored a trial run of the system concluded this past July in Vancouver. 

 

Internal Transport Canada acknowledges the complexity of passenger behaviour, but insist the methodology is based on decades of research that shows there are "certain involuntary, subconscious actions that can be indicative of deception."