FC: Feds will begin testing massive system to profile air travelers

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5185-2002Jan31.html

   By Robert O'Harrow Jr.
   Washington Post Staff Writer
   Friday, February 1, 2002; Page A01

   Federal aviation authorities and technology companies will soon begin
   testing a vast air security screening system designed to instantly
   pull together every passenger's travel history and living
   arrangements, plus a wealth of other personal and demographic
   information.

   The government's plan is to establish a computer network linking every
   reservation system in the United States to private and government
   databases. The network would use data-mining and predictive software
   to profile passenger activity and intuit obscure clues about potential
   threats, even before the scheduled day of flight.

   It might find, for instance, that one man used a debit card to buy
   tickets for four other men who sit in separate parts of the same plane
   -- four men who have shared addresses in the past. Or it might discern
   an array of unusual links and travel habits among passengers on
   different flights.

   Those sorts of details -- along with many other far more subtle
   patterns identified by computer programs -- would contribute to a
   threat index or score for every passenger. Passengers with higher
   scores would be singled out for additional screening by authorities.

   As described by developers, the system would be an unobtrusive network
   enabling authorities to target potential threats far more effectively
   while reducing lines at security checkpoints for most passengers.
   Critics say it would be one of the largest monitoring systems ever
   created by the government and a huge intrusion on privacy.

   Although such a system would rely on existing software and technology,
   it could be years before it is fully in place, given that enormous
   amounts of data would need to be integrated and a structure would need
   to be established for monitoring passenger profiles.

   At least one carrier, Delta Air Lines, has been working with several
   companies on a prototype. Northwest Airlines has acknowledged that it
   is talking with other airlines about a similar screening system.
   Federal authorities hope to test at least two prototypes in coming
   months or possibly sooner, according to government and industry
   sources familiar with the effort.

   [...]




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