Dive Agencies Giving Student Records to the FBI - What do you think?
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The nation’s two largest diver-certification agencies have agreed to give the FBI names of scuba students from the past three years.
Executives of the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) and the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI) said this week they have received very few complaints about sharing the information.
The FBI requested the information as part of an investigation into reports that terrorists may use dive gear to attack ships, nuclear power plants or other waterfront facilities.
"Most folks are not threatened by this request," NAUI Vice President Jed Livingstone said from the group’s Tampa office.
In late May, FBI agents visited dive shops in the Florida Keys and across the nation to ask scuba instructors about "suspicious" students.
A May 23 alert from an FBI-affiliated group warned, "[V]arious terrorist elements have sought to develop an offensive scuba diver capability." The report noted that there is "no evidence" of a specific threat or operation.
After being visited by the FBI, many dive instructors called the certification agencies to ask about obtaining back records.
"Rather than put the onus on the dive stores, we agreed to provide information to the FBI on dive certifications from the last three years," said Jeff Nadler, PADI vice president for industry and government relations.
FBI agents visited many dive shops on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend, one of the dive industry’s busiest times of the year, said Nadler.
"A store owner in one area, not Florida, told the FBI he didn’t have time to go through his records because of the holiday. The FBI was back with a subpoena within hours," Nadler said. "This is information that is going to be gotten, so we decided to take the dilemma away from the dive stores."
PADI insisted its information "be used only for the purpose of investigating terrorism," Nadler said. "It will not be released and the FBI agreed to return it to us when they are finished."
Livingstone said NAUI agreed to supply names and addresses of certification students.
"That’s pretty innocuous stuff," he said. "We’re not talking about medical information or anything that we would consider confidential."
NAUI’s three years’ worth of lists include "well over a half-million records," Livingstone said.
PADI records show the agency issues about 950,000 certifications worldwide annually, Nadler said.
Scuba-diving is a self-regulated sport. Dive certifications are issued by private organizations, not a government agency.
The Keys, with more than 40 businesses that advertise scuba instruction, is the nation’s most popular dive destination.
No big deal. Everyone else can buy this info, I have no problem with the Feds getting it too. The certification agencies provide the same info to the credit companies so we can be pestered by the telemarketers.
I agree wholeheartedly with Daylight...if them getting my (and others) information helps prevent some sort of attack that could result in a loss of life then I am for it.
NO arguement here , if the feds or any other type of security agence wants the records to keep us safer go for it !
as long as they use extreemly good judgement!
but i do wish that they could kick the tele marketers in the nads and get them to leave our private info private
Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't remember seeing any statement from any PADI forms that specifically states that student records will never be released to any entity unless ordered by a court.
Do you suppose PADI sells student information to some marketing firms? If so, granted that there was no mention of protecting the privacy of student infos, would that still contitute a violation of any privacy law?
We pride ourselves as Americans to be a people of laws and our government has been established with a set of laws/rules that it must follow when proving a violation of law. If this search of divers was simply a search of people that had recently come here with a foreign visa I would say that is a reasonable search because we have established requirements for allowing immigration into this country. I personally have nothing to hide but I do maintain a healthy suspicion of what our government does. I feel that if we as citizens do not make sure that the government is not following rules that we as a society have elected to use as the basic operating structure of this society we then allow our freedoms to be eroded from the inside rather than from foreign threats.
To the sentiment of "oh well if this one thing does prevent another attack then it was worth it" is an absolute joke in my mind. Even as average civilians we must accept risks from living in a free society. I gladly accept the risk that I may be somewhere where some nut job wants to make a spectical, it is far better that I should die free than living in a police state that so many are crying for the government to create today.
I feel for those that lost loved ones in the 9-11 attacks and subsequent military actions but we cannot give up our freedom because if we do we then have lost what our country is all about.
The FBI shouldn't be allowed to ask for cooperation from PADI, they should get a judge to give them a subpoena and force PADI to comply, we should never give in to our evil government in any way. Why just he other night a couple of police officers(nazi's) showed up at my door asking to search my house because they had reason to believe an escaped convict had entered through my back door, well they didn’t have a warrant so I told them to go get a judge to issue them one and then, and only then, would I let them into my house. The bad guy murdered me in my sleep an hour later but atleast I died a free man.
Some times people make me sick with this whole "don't give into the big bad government" crap, I am a member of the NRA and a voting republican and I fully understand that point of view in some cases, but come on guys, aren't you taking it a little to friggen far.
"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I KNOW NOT WHAT COURSE OTHERS MAY TAKE; BUT AS FOR ME, Give me LIBERTY or give me death!" --- Patrick Henry
How do you think Adolf Hilter came to power? Do you think it was on a platform of "I am going to round up every jew I can find take their stuff, pack them into concentration camps, and gas 'em"?
Freedoms are eroded rarely are they taken away in one bold move. It often times does take bold moves (overthrowing a regime) to get them back.
It doesn't mean they are going to get it, but they can ask. If you have a problem with your records being released, then please contact your certifying agency. They gave them up without any hesitation. As I understand it, at least ONE agency is not giving up the info.
That being said, I have NO PROBLEMS with the US government knowing that I SCUBA. They should be privy to all of the information that the private sector gets. IF you guys want to experience a corrupt government, then please go to my home country, Columbia for a while. You will find out quickly how quickly freedom evaporates in a corrupt regime.
The man who made the comment about the voters being the fourth branch was dead spot on! You guys criticize when you really have no clue as to what having no freedoms really means.
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