JURIST - Paper Chase: US to adopt new airport screening measures

From the anchor desk...The Washington Post reports today that the US plans to introduce new airport screening measures that could be in effect by next month. Under the system, all travelers passing through a US airport are to be scored with a number and a color that ranks their perceived threat to the aircraft. The proposed program, known as CAPPS 2, would revise the airlines' existing computer screening system, which the TSA believes is based on old assumptions about terrorists, and flags passengers who pay with cash, or buy one-way tickets. The new system will collect a traveler's full name, home address, telephone number, date of birth and travel itinerary. The information will be fed into large databases, such as Lexis-Nexis and Acxiom, that tap public records and commercial computer banks, such as shopping mailing lists, to verify that passengers are who they say they are.

The two-step process will result in a numerical and color score for each passenger. A "red" rating means a passenger will be prohibited from boarding. "Yellow" indicates that a passenger will receive additional scrutiny at the checkpoint and a "green" rating paves the way for a standard trip through security. Also factored into one's score will be intelligence about certain routes and airports where there might be higher-rated risks to security.

In response, the ACLU has denounced the measures, arguing that the system needlessly puts every passenger through a "dragnet" instead of focusing on suspects based on real evidence of wrongdoing. The group also points out that Americans who are falsely tagged as terrorists have no effective legal recourse. In addition, the ACLU notes that implementing such a system would require the computer reservation systems used by airlines around the world to be rebuilt, at a cost that has been estimated to be as high as $1 billion.

UPDATE: The Washington Post offer this video report.