CAPPS II: What's New

March 2, 2003 - Backgrounder

CAPPS II (Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-Screening) is a system that profiles all airline travelers, using a massive secret database of information to assign "threat levels". Recent news includes the announcement that testing will begin in March; agreement by the EU that European airlines would share passenger data with the US; and responses by PrivacyActivism and many other privacy and civil liberties organizations to the proposal to exempt the proposed database from the Privacy Act. See the full story for some recent press coverage of various aspects of CAPPS II.

Another set of comments, on another aspect of the Department of Transportation's proposal, are due on March 17. On March 10, PrivacyActivism will have full details on how you can submit comments, as well as a sample comment letter that you use as a starting point or submit directly.

Testing of CAPPS II to begin in March

TSA prepares passenger screening system

The Transportation Security Administration next month plans to start testing a controversial computer system that will perform background checks and risk assessments on airline travelers.

[February 26, 2003; Federal Computer Week]

<http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2003/0224/web-tsa-02-26-03.asp>

Feds Testing Air Passengers Check System

The government is getting ready to test a new risk-detection system that would check background information and assign a threat level to everyone who buys a ticket for a commercial flight.

[February 27, 2003; Associated Press]

<http://www.austin360.com/aas/news/ap/ap_story.html/Washington/AP.V3203.AP-Airport-Securit.html>

Delta to test new security program

The government is moving closer to revamping how it "profiles" airline passengers for closer scrutiny, and there might be a local connection to the new program.

[February 27. 2003; Cincinnati Enquirer]

<http://enquirer.com/editions/2003/02/27/loc_tsa27.html>

Massive Database to Track Air Travelers

TSA proposes database to track all airline passengers

Flight information from all airline passengers, including financial data, can be collected and analyzed under a little-seen regulation proposed by the Transportation Security Administration to track potential terrorists.

[February 26, 2003; Washington Times. Good quotes from former Representative Bob Barr (R-GA), now director of the 21st Chair for Privacy and Freedom at the American Conservative Union, and Chris Hoofnagle of EPIC.]

<http://washingtontimes.com/national/20030226-73777264.htm>

PrivacyActivism and Coalition of Civil Liberties Groups Criticize US DoT Plans for Massive Surveillance Database as "Eviscerating Civil Liberties"

PrivacyActivism, in coalition with Electronic Frontier Foundation, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse and advisor Mike Stollenwerk, the Cyber Privacy Project, and CASPIAN, has filed comments with the U.S. Department of Transportation, strongly opposing a proposal for a database containing extensive information about every air traveler. Highlighting the extremely broad scope of the proposal, and its neglect of fair information practices such as adequate notice, access, and safeguards, the comments argue that the system would eviscerate civil liberties and that it is unconstitutional.

[February 24, 2003; PrivacyActivism Media Release]

<http://www.privacyactivism.org/Item/71>

CAPPS II Data-Mining System Will Invade Privacy and Create Government Blacklist of Americans, ACLU Warns

A secretive new system for conducting background checks on all airline passengers threatens to create a bureaucratic machine for destroying Americans' privacy and a government blacklist that will harm innocent Americans, the ACLU said today.

[February 27, 2003; ACLU Press Release]

<http://www.aclu.org/Privacy/Privacy.cfm?ID=11956&c=130>

Hasbrouck Reports on Unsettling Proposals regarding Passenger Privacy

The U.S. Department of Transportation has proposed to establish an extraordinarily wide-ranging system of records on all airline passengers, to be maintained for up to 50 years.

[February 26, 2003; eyefortravel.com]

<http://www.eyefortravel.com/index.asp?news=35077>

European Airlines to share passenger information with U.S.

These two articles present the same story from the European and American points of view.

Airlines invade personal privacy - Your rights in the hands of the US

In a move that seems to mark a huge breach of personal privacy, US customs will have direct access to all European airline databases from 5 March after the European Commission finally agreed last week to hand over all passenger information to US authorities.

[February 27, 2003; PC Advisor (UK)]

<http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/index.cfm?go=news.view&news=3119>

EU Agrees to Give Passenger Data to U.S.

The European Union reached a deal Wednesday for sharing passenger information on trans-Atlantic flights that satisfies both Washington's new anti-terrorism measures and EU data privacy rules, officials said.

[February 19, 2003; Associated Press]

<http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20030219_573.html >

Other news

Air Network Security Advances

The Transportation Security Administration has hired Lockheed Martin Corp. to build the backbone of a vast electronic passenger-screening network to assess the background and potential threat of everyone who makes a reservation to fly, officials said yesterday.

[February 28, 2003; Washington Post. The author, Robert O'Harrow, has covered CAPPS II.extensively.]

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18601-2003Feb28.html>

Civil-Liberties Groups Fight To Stop Airline-Security Plan

Article comparing CAPPS database with TIA.

[February 26, 2003; Wall Street Journal (subscription required).]

<http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1046042427202134463,00.html>

More information is available at <http://www.privacyactivism.org/Topic/CAPPS>.

Last updated March 3, 2003