Fixes Promised for Planned Airport Screening System

The Transportation Security Administration, acknowledging criticism of its proposed computerized system for screening airport passengers, promised Congress on Thursday that it would make changes before any new program was implemented.

Agency officials vowed to work toward screening travelers in a way that would not target minority groups for unfair and unnecessary delays. In a report Thursday, the General Accounting Office said it had found serious flaws in the program.

“We acknowledge and agree with much of what is in the report from the GAO,” Tom Blank, an assistant TSA administrator, told the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s aviation subcommittee. But the agency was “taking the time to get it right,” he said.

The current screening system, operated by airlines, identifies as many as 300,000 passengers daily, out of 1.7 million, for screening beyond the minimal scrutiny that all travelers receive.

The new system would be operated by the federal government and would reduce the number of passengers receiving heightened attention to between 68,000 and 85,000.

The GAO report cites inaccurate data and potential privacy violations as well as the new system’s vulnerability to computer hacking. The existing system is called the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System, or CAPPS. The proposed new system is named CAPPS II.

The new procedures also met with criticism after Thursday’s hearing from lawmakers, the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People. Critics called for the structuring of an entirely new plan and charged that the CAPPS II system was racially biased and shrouded in secrecy.

“The stakes are too high to rush forward with such an underdeveloped and risky program,” said Sen. Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, the leading Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

NAACP spokesman Hilary Shelton said the new screening program would unfairly identify African Americans for extra screening because a recent name change could trigger extra screening. African Americans who convert to Islam, Shelton said, are more likely to change their names than are other racial groups.

Bob Barr, a former Georgia congressman, called for the cessation of development of the CAPPS II program because of the lack of a comprehensive government database and its vulnerability to computer hackers and identity theft.

“This is not the type of program that will have high likelihood of catching terrorists,” Barr said.

The currently used National Crime Information Center database is too broad, Barr said. He called for the creation of a database exclusive to terrorists, suspected terrorists and known associates.

Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.), subcommittee chairman, criticized progress on the CAPPS II screening regimen meant to replace the original program, which he said has been “harassing millions of innocent travelers.”

But Mica stopped short of suggesting that the CAPPS overhaul be abandoned, instead calling on security administrators to address problems identified by the GAO report.

“We just don’t have it together, and it’s pretty disturbing at this stage,” Mica said.