U.S. to color-code air passengers
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WASHINGTON -- The United States is pushing ahead with plans to screen and color-code all passengers flying in the country despite resistance from airlines and privacy groups.
The U.S. Transport Security Administration (TSA) could start implementing the new security measures as early as the northern hemisphere summer.
The scheme involves screening all passengers boarding at a U.S. airport and conducting background checks from a security database.
In order for the system to work, the TSA is asking airlines and ticket bookers to hand over all their passenger records -- a move that is encountering some resistance.
TSA on officials said Tuesday they are preparing to roll out the so-called Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System -- or CAPPS II. They say they still have not determined which airlines or airports will be the first to get it.
Under CAPPS II, TSA will obtain the passenger's full name, home address, home telephone number, birth date and some information about that passenger's itinerary.
That information is then checked against commercial databases solely to verify the person's identity, TSA spokesman Mark Hatfield said.
Once the person's identity is verified, the name is then run through federal law enforcement databases to see if the traveler is a known or suspected terrorist, or has been convicted of a violent felony.
The passengers will then be assigned a security color-coding based on their potential risk to the flight.
All passengers will receive a numeric and a color code.
Those designated as "red" will be prohibited from flying. "Yellow" coded passengers will face secondary screening, similar to that now given to some passengers, and "Green" passengers will be allowed access to the plane.
The system should significantly reduce the number that are pulled aside for secondary screening under the current process, Hatfield said.
The current CAPPS system flags about 15 percent of passengers; the new system should flag about 5 percent, he said.
The new system promises to flag fewer, not more, passengers for extra security checks.
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CAPPS II follows on the heels of the current CAPPS system, which singles out some passengers for additional scrutiny because of certain factors -- such as whether they paid cash for their tickets, or purchased one-way tickets.
Because the CAPPS criteria are so well known, TSA officials acknowledge, terrorists can easily circumvent the system.
"Right now, it (CAPPS) is random," said Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary at the Department of Homeland Security.
"It's based upon faulty assumptions and it's effective to determine who might pose a risk. This improves that system, reduces the number that might have secondary inspection, and so I do not see any discriminatory impact."
The TSA also is working on a "parallel" program for people who voluntarily undergo lengthier background checks.
Under the registered traveler program, also known as the "trusted traveler" program, people who submit to background checks will be issued an ID card with a biometric identifier, such as a fingerprint.
Those travelers will also go through the initial screenings at airports, but will not get picked for secondary screening. Hatfield said the program is in the early development stages.
'Plain wrong'
Both programs have detractors.
"Never before in the history of our nation has government permission been required to travel freely in our country. It's un-American. It's unconstitutional. It's just plain wrong," said Bill Scannell, whose Web site dontspyonus.com is dedicated to getting rid of the CAPPS II program.
Hutchinson said CAPPS II is "not even to the testing phase."
"If it meets our expectation and is a benefit to the passenger as we expect, we hope we'll be able to proceed," Hutchinson said.
"We'll work with the privacy groups. We believe they'll be fully complied with all the privacy laws."
The planned enhanced security checks come just a week after the U.S. introduced fingerprinting and photographing of travelers arriving in the United States.
Other nations are also stepping up passenger checks, but not to the same extent as the U.S.
Last week, in response to U.S. moves, the Brazilian government ordered all U.S. passengers entering the country to be fingerprinted, causing hours of delays.
But on Monday a Brazilian federal judge ordered a halt to the fingerprinting, a decision that was soon countermanded by an executive order by the government to reinstate the procedure.
The government order said the requirement would remain in place for 30 days while an inter-ministerial group studied the issue.
It was not immediately clear which measure took precedence.
Even government lawyers had differing opinions over whether the judge's order or the government decree took precedence, The Associated Press reports.
In Australia, the government has also stepped up the collecting of information about travellers entering or leaving Australia.
Since January 1 airlines have been expected to record and pass on details to the Department of Immigration, including the first four letters of a passenger's name, their travel documents, flight numbers, check-in time and date and expected port of arrival and departure as well as transit details, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Copyright 2004 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
