Aren't you in law enforcement? Can you pull a person's social security records on the grounds that they have a commercial driver's license? Would a judge give you a warrant to search if you told him "This guy is a suspect because he has a driver's license?"  Do you really want *anyone* having access to all your personal & financial information simply on demand, with no checks & balances?

The British are holding signs saying "We Are Not Afraid" while we bleat like sheep & believe the lie that if we only surrender our privacy & our right to defend ourselves we will be protected by our 'benevolent' government.

Sorry, but these are perilous times for much more sinister reasons than a few crazy Muslims.

Charlie

David Staten wrote:

In the initial investigation, they simply matched social security numbers of pilots in the database with social security numbers of persons recieving disability benefits. Nothing more, nothing less.

On the "HITS" they obtained, those are the ones who's records got pulled.. and from a probable cause standpoint, I'd have to agree that was appropriate. Given that this was a CRIMINAL investigation, they are under no obligation to notify you that you (or your medical records that YOU HAVE ALREADY VOLUNTARILY sumbitted to the government) are under investigation and then one day they show up and serve you with an indictment.

This isnt "big brother".. this is long overdue. These are people who are concurrently claiming disability AND renewing/obtaining medicals.

Dave

Bill Dube wrote:

I wouldn't get so excited about this sort of thing yet, Dave.  First off, they only found 48 problems in 40,000.

        An important issue that most folks haven't noticed is that they searched the medical records of everyone that holds a pilot's license and reported a disability. Were any of us notified that our private medical records had been searched? How many folk's private medical records were searched without probable cause? Does holding a pilot's license somehow give the FAA permission to search your private medical records without even telling you about it? Apparently, it does.

        Disability comes in many flavors. A person can be disabled because they are allergic to some chemical at work. A person could lose a foot or a hand. A person could have arthritis, or carpel tunnel syndrome. There are plenty of disabilities that would prevent you from doing a specific job, but have no influence on your ability to fly an airplane.

        Under the Patriot Act, they can search your medical records without telling you EVER. Your doctor is not even allowed to ask his lawyer if he must comply with the search or find out what records can be excluded. Your doctor is forbidden from telling you that your records have been searched, ever.

        Scary, huh....???>>>
        Bill Dube'

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