Feds Rein In Air Passenger Screening Program

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says that it will make a number of revisions to a controversial program that will use personal information to screen airline passengers.

In a statement posted on the agency's Web site, the DHS said it will narrow how a computer system operated by the Transportation Security Administration will use passenger information collected into the next generation of the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System known as CAPPS II.

The agency said it refined language from a January 15 notice published in the Federal Register and signed by DHS Secretary Tom Ridge that explained how the TSA will manage passenger information gathered for CAPPS II.

The new language clarifies what information will be used to confirm a traveler's identity and how it will be gathered.

Gathering Information

Passengers will be asked to provide a name, date of birth, home address, and phone number when making reservations. However, bank records, medical records, and credit reports will not be used in profiling, DHS said.

Personal information will be compared with data stored in commercial databases and national security information to verify the passenger's identity and develop a risk assessment for the passenger--the likelihood that a passenger is a terrorist or has links to terrorist organizations, DHS said.

In addition, information may be used to "flag" violent criminals with federal or state arrest warrants, DHS said.

On the issue of data retention, information used to screen "almost all passengers" will be deleted soon after the safe completion of a flight, DHS said.

DHS is still considering how long to hold onto information for passengers deemed "high-risk" individuals.

Finally, passenger information will not be turned over to commercial data providers, DHS said.

Privacy Concerns

In a review period for the proposed changes to the CAPPS program, DHS and the TSA came under fire from privacy and civil liberties groups concerned that the program would evolve from a terrorism prevention program to a national surveillance program.

On Thursday, some of those groups welcomed the announced changes.

"The announcement is certainly more specific and it gives the public better notice of what [information] is being considered," said Chris Hoofnagle, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

But EPIC is still wary of CAPPS II, saying that the DHS's admission that CAPPS II might also be used to stop violent criminals shows that the program is already being considered as an omnibus surveillance system.

"We're at day one, the program hasn't even started and already [CAPPS II] is being used for other purposes. How long will it be before it's used for drugs, or child support....[to secure] entrances to public buildings and other places," Hoofnagle said.

EPIC recommends using funds earmarked for CAPPS II to improve noninvasive airline security programs like weapons detection, Hoofnagle said.

More Testing Needed

Regardless of arguments for or against CAPPS II, it may take as long as six months to properly test and deploy the system, DHS said.

The TSA must determine whether the system reduces the number of passengers who are wrongly identified as threats, the agency said.

DHS will also call for the creation of a Passenger Advocate Office that passengers can appeal to if they believe CAPPS II contains inaccurate information about them.