united-states privacy
Are passenger services legally obligated to provide the names of passengers?
<p>By "passenger services" I mean planes, cruise ships, trains, etc. &ndash; any company that transports paying passengers. I ask because a few years ago a friend of mine had a sister who became very ill on a cruise ship, and wanted to get in direct contact with her (she lost her phone) and narrowed down the few possible ships she would be on to get confirmation of her health status.</p>

<p>He intended on contacting the cruise line and cross-referencing his sister's name with the cruise ship identifier (which would designate the cruise ship itself). He never did this since she called, but it does bring up an important question: are passenger services obligated to provide the names of ALL passengers on board in certain circumstances, or is this information private and it can't be given?</p>

<p>Everyone who boards a plane, ship, etc. has their name known by the company.</p>

<p>In the United States for interstate passenger rail, under the Rail Passenger Disaster Family Assistance Act of 2008, the maintenance of a passenger manifest is recommended, but voluntary.  </p>

<p><a href="https://www.google.com/urlhttps://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;source=web&amp;cd=9&amp;rct=j&amp;q=federal%20railroad%20administration%20passenger%20manifest&amp;ved=0ahUKEwim2fvsyN_LAhUEpB4KHTlWDHwQFggqMAg&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ntsb.gov%2Ftda%2FTDADocuments%2FRail%2520Task%2520Force%2520Final%2520Report%2520without%2520Plan.pdf&amp;usg=AFQjCNE7m-_Gp5EME3TpZjTaO3FkTiFj_g" rel="nofollow">NTSB task force document</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Under the Rail Passenger Disaster Family Assistance Act of 2008, the NTSB has the 
  responsibility to assist family members and coordinate public and private responsibilities in the 
  wake of rail passenger disasters. The Board has similar responsibilities for major aviation 
  accidents (under the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act of 1996) and developed the NTSB 
  Federal Family Assistance Plan for Aviation Disasters to serve as the model plan in the provision 
  of family assistance in such accidents. Aspects of this plan are also used in the daily 
  responsibilities of the NTSB Transportation Disaster Assistance Division (TDA) to assist family 
  members in all modes of transportation. Relying of 17 years of transportation accident response 
  experience, the plan focuses on meeting the four major areas of concern for family members: 
  notification about the accident, short and long-term information sharing, victim identification, 
  and management of personal effects. From the NTSB TDA experience, these four areas of 
  concern are consistent across transportation modes. The plan also details the responsibilities for 
  the air carrier, NTSB, American Red Cross, Department of State, and other federal agency 
  partners. Because this plan has worked effectively in major accidents in all modes of 
  transportation, it is well suited to serve as the basis of the rail passenger disaster model plan, with 
  appropriate modifications.</p>
</blockquote>
