But, Last Week, TSA Told ANN, "There is no CAPPS II."
Delta's new slogan: "We love to spy, and it shows?"
[Note: since the boycottdelta.org folks exposed
the collaboration between Delta and the TSA, we've been trying to
get a more-definitive explanation. Neither Delta nor the TSA's
director of truth and enlightenment would say whether Delta had
volunteered, or was told by the TSA, to participate as the guinea
pig for the TSA's information-gathering/profiling program. The
TSA's top communications guy went so far as to say to us,
"There is no CAPPS II --yet. That shows you how far
off-base these [boycottdelta.org] people are." Well, that
was last Thursday, when there was no CAPPS II [?]. Now, apparently
there is such a program, and the TSA, trying to save Delta's
public-image bacon, is doing its best to explain it. We assign the
appropriate credibility to this statement, and bring it to you as a
public service --ed.]
What the TSA Says, Now that Delta is in Hot Water for Helping
the New Police State:
Privacy and security are equal priorities of the Transportation
Security Administration (TSA) as it develops the next generation of
the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS II),
James M. Loy, TSA administrator, said today [Wednesday].
CAPPS II is an enhanced system to confirm the identities of
passengers and to identify foreign terrorists or persons with
terrorist connections before they can board U.S. aircraft. The
carefully limited system is being developed in compliance with the
Aviation and Transportation Security Act, which Congress passed in
response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
TSA officials continue to meet with stakeholders to discuss
privacy and civil liberties issues related to the security program.
All views will be carefully considered as TSA develops the
protocols that define the system as well as the privacy
strategy. In addition, briefings are held regularly with
congressional leaders regarding CAPPS II development.
"TSA has sought to meet the urgent need to heighten security at
airports as we press the war against terrorists. We will
accomplish this without compromising the privacy and civil
liberties enjoyed by every American," the pensioned Coast Guard
Admiral said.
Lockheed Martin Management and Data Systems is assisting TSA in
developing CAPPS II, which in less than five seconds will confirm a
passenger's identity and score any potential terrorism-related
threat to aviation.
[Maybe you'll get ahead a little, if
everybody's privacy is compromised...]
Once
CAPPS II is in operation, travelers may well notice that fewer
passengers will be selected for additional screening after they go
through the security checkpoint; "enhanced" screening of
individuals who clearly pose no threat of terrorism will be
eliminated. TSA expects to test CAPPS II this spring and implement
it throughout the U.S. commercial air travel system by the summer
of 2004.
As part of the pre-screening system, every U.S. commercial air
carrier would provide TSA only with the information all airlines
will collect during the normal reservation and ticketing
process.
Subsequently, TSA's CAPPS II will receive scores generated from
commercial databases which are routinely used millions of times a
day by private enterprises in connection with job candidates or
market research and which are already subject to legal and privacy
protections. TSA will not see the data used to generate those
scores. Further, once a passenger's travel is complete, TSA will
not retain any information whatsoever about that traveler.
Some critics have erroneously contended that a parking ticket or
late credit card payment would keep someone from flying. This
is simply inaccurate. Indeed, credit ratings -- bad or good -- will
not lead to enhanced scrutiny at the airport. [Then why collect
them? --ed.]
The
vast majority of passengers identified by CAPPS II will score
"green" and need only normal screening, dramatically reducing the
number of travelers who undergo additional screening at the
security checkpoint. A small percentage of passengers with scores
in the "yellow" range will need to have some additional
scrutiny.
Few of the close to two million passengers who fly each day will
trigger "red," blocking them from flying and drawing the attention
of law enforcement.
"Except in cases where terrorist connections are found, the
government, including TSA screeners, will never see or hold the
commercial information used to conduct a analysis, which will be
discarded when the flight is over," Loy said. "CAPPS II will
dramatically enhance customer service by identifying the vast
majority of air travelers as innocent passengers who deserve to be
screened efficiently and protected as they fly. The privacy rights
of all passengers will be honored."
When
CAPPS II is implemented, an independent ombudsman will be available
to address concerns of individuals who believe they have been
incorrectly singled out for additional screening.
TSA asked Delta Air Lines to provide assistance during the early
development of the system's infrastructure to be certain that TSA
can obtain the necessary passenger reservation and ticketing data
from airlines. This (sic) data will be limited to name, address,
telephone number and date of birth of the passenger. It will not be
used to generate risk scores in this initial infrastructure test.
Delta has no role in directing or supervising the CAPPS II program,
nor is it conducting any sort of background checks on behalf of
TSA.
"We are grateful for the assistance provided by Delta Air
Lines," Loy said. "Delta is not only sophisticated in terms of
technology and data security, but has been consistently sensitive
to privacy issues, as we have been."