CAPPS II Delayed by Privacy Concerns

[BovineOne]

http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,64201,00.html

David Stone, acting administrator for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), told a Congressional committee this week that concerns over protection of personal privacy have delayed the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS II) and that the system would not begin screening airline passengers this summer as scheduled. CAPPS II, which screens passenger information to try to assess the risk they pose, is intended to replace an existing passenger-screening system and to increase the security of airline travel. Critics of the system, however, have long argued that it will not be effective at identifying terrorists and that it is unnecessarily intrusive. Stone told the committee that the TSA sees protection of personal freedoms as "first and foremost" and that CAPPS II would be delayed until such protection can be assured. Stone offered no specifics on how or when the system would be modified, though he said he expects "a decision on the shape of the new program" in the coming weeks.

- Wired News, 14 July 2004

[BovineOne]

Now instead of just delayed, Wired is reporting that it is dead.

http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,...tml?tw=rss.POL

A controversial and much-delayed proposed airline screening system may face further delays as the Transportation Security Administration restructures the system to better protect privacy and civil liberties, a senior homeland security official told Congress on Tuesday.

Adm. David Stone, acting administrator for the Transportation Security Administration, told members of the Senate Commerce Committee that the Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-Screening System II, known as CAPPS II, "is not going forward as previously briefed." He said the rethinking was in response to a February report (PDF) critical of the program, as well as the TSA's own privacy concerns.