Transportation Security Administation still loves CAPPS II [priv]

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://www.senate.gov/~commerce/hearings/testimony.cfm?id=985&wit_id=2785

Wednesday, November 5 2003 - 10:00 AM - SR- 253

The Testimony of
Mr. Stephen McHale
Deputy Administrator,, Transportation Security Administration
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

...

. Between September 2002 and October 2003 our Office of Internal Affairs 
and Program Review (OIAPR) conducted 847 checkpoint and 2,737 airport 
security access tests, as well as computer assisted passenger prescreening 
(CAPPS) and checked baggage tests at 107 airports. We are conducting covert 
testing at over three times the annual rate of the old FAA “red teams,” and 
our testing uses more difficult, realistic testing situations. Although TSA 
cannot discuss the results of our tests in detail in this setting, results 
have shown an improvement of approximately 10 percent from September 2002 
to August 2003

...

 TSA is making plans for delivering high-speed connectivity to all TSA 
locations within airports across the country. This will provide access to 
real-time training on current threats, connectivity with checked baggage 
areas, and will establish a foundation for planned implementations of 
additional administrative, surveillance, CAPPS II, and other security 
enhancements.

...

TSA is moving forward with the development of the second-generation 
Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS II), which will help 
us to focus our screening resources where they will be most effective. 
CAPPS II is yet another layer in our system of systems to address a 
continuum of security threats with minimal impact on airline customers and 
operations. CAPPS II is intended to identify terrorists and other high-risk 
individuals before they board commercial airplanes. CAPPS II will conduct a 
risk assessment of each passenger using national security information and 
information provided by passengers during the reservation process—including 
name, date of birth, home address and home phone number, and provide a 
“risk score” to TSA. The “risk score” includes an “authentication score” 
provided by running passenger name record (PNR) data against commercial 
databases to indicate a confidence level in each passenger’s identity. 
CAPPS II will be a threat-based system under the direct control of the 
Federal Government and will represent a major improvement over the 
decentralized, airline-controlled system currently in place.

...

 CAPPS II would not retain data on U.S. passengers who are permitted to 
fly. Information would be stored only for a sufficient time to assess that 
a U.S. traveler is who he or she claims to be and to evaluate Government 
information related to terrorist threats and practices. Information would 
not be kept after completion of the traveler’s reserved itinerary, apart 
from a necessary audit trail that would not be searchable by passenger name 
or other personal identifier.

...

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