Will it fly? CAPPS II update.

• Author: Doherty, Brian
• Position: Citings - Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System II - Brief Article

THE TRANSPORTATION Security Administration (TSA) still plans to launch the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System II (CAPPS II) this year. But in February the General Accounting Office (GAO) issued a report pointing out that the program has not yet met seven of the eight standards Congress set for it.

CAPPS II will take the full name, home address, home phone, and birth date of every airplane traveler and check them against an unidentified array of existing public and private databases to generate a "risk category." This rating will determine whether passengers go through our now-standard screening, get set aside for especially exacting searches, or get turned over to police forthwith.

As of January 2004, the GAO reports, the TSA had not yet "determined and verified the accuracy of the databases to be used," "completed a security plan to reduce opportunities for abuse," or "developed ... a process under which passengers impacted by CAPPS II can appeal decisions and correct erroneous...