New Passenger Screening Plan

The Department of Homeland Security hopes to begin testing a revised air passenger screening program soon, after hundreds of complaints that the original proposals would be an invasion of privacy, officials said Wednesday.

The proposals for the new Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System, known as CAPPS II, will be published in the Federal Register today so tests can begin to evaluate the system’s speed, accuracy and efficiency.

The department suspended the development of the program about seven weeks ago after it drew fire from business travelers, civil liberties advocates and some lawmakers who feared that it gave the government too much license to pry.

Officials said the new proposals answer many of the concerns voiced after the initial plan was presented.

“The proposed program increases passenger security and strengthens civil aviation in our country, while respecting the privacy of persons affected by the system,” said Nuala O’Connor Kelly, the department’s chief privacy officer.

CAPPS II will take routine information that people provide when making reservations and run it against commercial databases to confirm a passenger’s identity. It will comb watch lists and other national security data to determine if a passenger has any links to terrorist groups.

Under the new plan, information on the passenger will only be retained by the government for a few hours after travel is complete, rather than for 50 years as proposed in the initial plan.

In addition, commercial data providers who assist the government in confirming a passenger’s identity will not be allowed to retain the information. CAPPS II will not use bank or credit data or medical records.