More on CAPPS II



Oh, and remember that CAPPS II thing I wrote about, that would screen airline passengers using private databases and criminal records? Well, the Transportation Security Agency didn't get any volunteers, so now they're going to ram it down our throats:

TSA May Try to Force Airlines to Share Data (washingtonpost.com)

The Transportation Security Administration's top official yesterday threatened to compel U.S. airlines to cooperate in handing over data about their passengers for a new government computer screening system, which has been widely criticized as violating privacy rights.

James M. Loy, the TSA's administrator, said yesterday that he has the power to issue a security directive, similar to other orders the agency issues to airports and airlines during times of heightened security, to force airlines to hand over passenger information so the government can screen reservation records for possible terrorists.

Loy said he intends to step up pressure on the nation's carriers to 'stand up and be counted' to help with government testing of the program, which could begin now if the airlines would cooperate.

'The potential always exists for me to issue a security directive to say we need the data,' Loy said to reporters gathered yesterday at the agency's Arlington headquarters.

Loy's push to move ahead with the program comes a week after JetBlue Airways Corp. apologized to customers for violating its privacy policy by turning over data about its passengers to a military contractor and said it will not cooperate with the TSA's tests.

The agency's Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-screening System II, or CAPPS II, has been slow to start because of technological problems and privacy concerns. Earlier this year, Delta Air Lines Inc. backed out of plans to serve as the test airline after privacy advocates set up Web sites urging passengers to avoid Delta because of its role in the program.

TSA spokesman Brian Turmail said the agency has had difficulty getting a single airline to cooperate. Instead, the agency is going to pressure the Air Transport Association to get commitments from several airlines at once to assist with tests. The ATA represents major carriers such as American Airlines, United Air Lines Inc., Delta, Continental Airlines Inc., Southwest Airlines Co. and Northwest Airlines Inc.

'What we saw in terms of Delta, what we saw in terms of JetBlue, there shouldn't be one airline to jump into the bonfire,' Turmail said.

The ATA said it supports the government's effort to improve security. 'We also think it's very important to make sure our customers' private information is kept private and that CAPPS II should be run and managed by federal law enforcement and not government contractors,' said Doug Wills, an ATA spokesman.

Under CAPPS II, airlines are to give the federal government information about everyone who books a flight, including full name, home address, home telephone number, date of birth and travel itinerary.

The TSA will match each passenger's name and information against databases to verify the passenger's identity. That passenger's information will then be compared with government intelligence and outstanding local and state warrants for violent felonies.

'Delta and JetBlue served as a warning shot across the bow,' said Barry Steinhardt, director of the technology and liberty program at the American Civil Liberties Union, which opposes CAPPS II. The airlines 'recognize many of their passengers regard this as a betrayal of their confidence and of their privacy.'"

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