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Ever feel like you’re being watched?  Well, you are.  According to reports, the TSA plans to use your personal information and patterns of behavior to determine the level of screening you receive at airports.  (How “Arizona” is that?)  Experts note, however, that whether this system is successful depends on the ability to collect your relevant information from governments and airlines.  (Insert maniacal laughter and hand-wringing here.)  To date, the European community has made a big issue of releasing any personal data to the U.S., even from that collected from the airline passenger data.

The “inevitable” screening process will not focus on your race or religion.  Instead, the information will be coupled with characteristics that arise from patterns of behavior, such as your travel history and the manner in which you acquire your travel, particularly anything egregious that would “make for more careful scrutiny.”

Here’s some more travel news you can use:

  • Developers are being sought for plans that would turn the vacant TWA terminal at New York’s Kennedy Airport into the centerpiece of a boutique hotel.  The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey envisions a 150-room hotel in the space between the old TWA terminal and the new JetBlue building.  Bet that will offer a good night’s sleep.
  • A man who abandoned his dog on an airport curb in Texas has been arrested and charged with cruelty to animals.  A man was boarding a flight to Michigan from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Friday when he found out he did not have the proper documentation to fly with his dog – so he called a friend to come get the dog, but did not wait for the friend to show up and left the animal crated outside the airport in 21-degree temperatures.  Not a good idea.  He boarded his flight on Frontier Airlines, but was arrested before the plane took off.