Mon, Aug 16, 2004
CAPPS II dead, but new system claims to aim for tighter
focus
Even though Homeland
Security Secretary Tom Ridge has announced the death of CAPPS II,
the computerized airline pax screening system, much to the delight
of privacy advocates, the TSA is still working on a system to sort
terrorists from the average travelling public by sorting through
databases of personal data.
The TSA continues to report that it is developing a system that
will search databases to determine whether or not passengers have
any connection to terrorism or terrorist suspects. Apparently
having learned their lesson from CAPPS II, the agency refuses to so
much as provide the name for the system. Little by little, though,
the details are starting to leak out. According to sources of the
Federal Times, these are some of them:
- Checks against terrorist databases will be performed using
significantly larger datasets and watch lists
- Passenger names may also be checked against criminal
databases
- The concept of a "trusted traveler," in which frequent flyers
voluntarily disclose additional information in exchange for
expedited screening procedures, is still very much alive
- There is a heightened emphasis on reducing "false
positives" as much as possible, for obvious reasons
“We’re
looking at a number of operational factors,” said TSA
spokeswoman Amy Von Walter. The ability to quickly screen
passengers and reduce the number of false positives are near the
top of the list.
The same questions that came up with CAPPS II will haunt this
"new" project. The same contractor that was developing CAPPS II,
Lockheed Martin Corp., is working on this system, but under the
original CAPPS II task order and $12.8 million award. In
fact, the TSA has a line item in its budget proposal to Congress
that would fund CAPPS II in 2005 to the tune of $60 milion. Should
the request be approved, all bets are on the money being spent on
this next system.
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