U.S. plan: Threat level for every flier
ACLU objects, calls background checks unconstitutional

Friday, February 28, 2003 Posted: 1:55 PM EST (1855 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Civil liberties groups are objecting to a government plan
for a new system that would check background information and assign a threat
level to everyone who buys a ticket for a commercial flight.

Activists see the potential for unconstitutional invasions of privacy and for
database mix-ups that could lead to innocent people being branded security
risks.

"This system threatens to create a permanent blacklisted underclass of
Americans who cannot travel freely," said Katie Corrigan, a lawyer for the
American Civil Liberties Union.

There also is concern that the government is developing the system without
revealing how information will be gathered and how long it will be kept.

The system, ordered by Congress after the September 11 attacks, will gather
much more information on passengers than has been done previously. Delta Air
Lines will try it out at three undisclosed airports beginning next month, and
a comprehensive system could be in place by the end of the year.

Transportation officials say a contractor will be picked soon to build the
nationwide computer system, which will check such things as credit reports
and bank account activity and compare passenger names with those on
government watch lists.

Advocates say the system will weed out dangerous people while ensuring
law-abiding citizens aren't given unnecessary scrutiny.

Transportation officials say CAPPS II -- Computer Assisted Passenger
Prescreening System -- will use databases that already operate in line with
privacy laws and won't profile based on race, religion or ethnicity.

"What it does is have very fast access to existing databases so we can
quickly validate the person's identity," Transportation Secretary Norman
Mineta said.

Airlines already do rudimentary checks

An oversight panel, which will include a member of the public, is being
formed. The Transportation Security Administration will set up procedures to
resolve complaints by people who say they don't belong on the watch lists.

Transportation Department spokesman Chet Lunner said a Federal Register
notice saying the background information will be stored for 50 years is
inaccurate. He said such information will be held only for people deemed
security risks.

Jay Stanley, an ACLU spokesman, was skeptical.

"When it says in print, 50 years, we'd like to see something else in print to
counter that," he said.

Airlines already do rudimentary checks of passenger information, such as
method of payment, address and date the ticket was reserved. The system was
developed by Northwest Airlines in the early 1990s to spot possible
hijackers.

Unusual behavior, such as purchasing a one-way ticket with cash, is supposed
to prompt increased scrutiny at the airport.

Capt. Steve Luckey, an airline pilot who helped develop the system, said
CAPPS II will help discern a passenger's possible intentions before he gets
on a plane.

Unlike the current system, in which data stays with the airlines' reservation
systems, the new setup will be managed by TSA. Only government officials with
proper security clearance will be able to use it.

Would you be a green, yellow or red risk?

CAPPS II will collect data and rate each passenger's risk potential according
to a three-color system: green, yellow, red. When travelers check in, their
names will be punched into the system and their boarding passes encrypted
with the ranking. TSA screeners will check the passes at checkpoints.

The vast majority of passengers will be rated green and won't be subjected to
anything more than normal checks, while yellow will get extra screening and
red won't fly.

Paul Hudson, executive director of the Aviation Consumer Action Project,
which advocates airline safety and security, is skeptical the system will
work.

"The whole track record of profiling is a very poor to mixed one," Hudson
said, noting incorrect profiles of the Unabomber and the Washington-area
snipers.

Nine to 11 of the 19 hijackers on September 11 were flagged by the original
CAPPS, but weren't searched because the system gave a pass to passengers who
didn't check their bags, Hudson said. People without checked bags are now
included.

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