NYTimes.com Article: Minneapolis to Test Airport Security Plan

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Minneapolis to Test Airport Security Plan

June 16, 2004
 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS





Filed at 11:49 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Frequent fliers will be able to avoid
extra security inspections at airports by submitting to
background checks as part of an experiment that begins in
Minneapolis later this month, the Transportation Security
Administration said on Wednesday.

Congress ordered the agency to come up with such a program,
called ``registered traveler,'' more than two years ago
when it created the TSA in the aftermath of the Sept. 11,
2001, hijackings.

Acting TSA Administrator David Stone said the agency didn't
sacrifice security for the experiment.

``This pilot program will provide frequent travelers with
the means to expedite the screening experience without
compromising on security,'' Stone said in a statement.

The program will be offered to frequent fliers who travel
at least once a week in selected markets. Through the
summer it will be tested in four more airports.

Participants will give the TSA their name, address, phone
number, birthdate and ``biometric identifier,'' including
fingerprint and iris scan. That information will be matched
against law enforcement and intelligence databases like the
terrorist watch list. The passengers will also be checked
for outstanding criminal warrants.

Once they've signed up, they can pass through a registered
traveler lane at airport security checkpoints. They will
still have to walk through the metal detector and have
their carry-on bags screened for dangerous items. The
advantage to the program is that registered travelers won't
be taken aside for more intensive secondary screening, if
they don't alarm the equipment.

Currently, passengers receive secondary screening if they
set off the security devices or if they are selected
through a system called the Computer-Assisted Passenger
Prescreening System, or CAPPS.

CAPPS selects people who pay for their ticket with cash or
only fly one way. It is largely viewed as ineffective. The
TSA has been trying to replace it with CAPPS II, which
would screen passengers by comparing the same personal
information used in registered traveler -- but without the
biometric identifier -- against commercial and government
databases.

CAPPS II is stalled because airlines refuse to turn over
passenger data for testing because they fear criticism that
it would violate their customers' privacy.

There won't be a charge to sign up for the experimental
phase of the registered traveler program.

Northwest Airlines will offer the program beginning at
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. In late July,
the registered traveler program will be tested at Los
Angeles International Airport with United Airlines.
Continental Airlines will participate beginning in early
August at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.
By the end of August the program will be available for
American Airlines customers at Boston's Logan International
Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

^------

On the Net:

Transportation Security
Administration: http://www.tsa.gov

Homeland Security Department: http://www.dhs.gov


http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Airport-Security.html? 
ex=1088402349&ei=1&en=e115f75059c64f6f

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