U.S. says air screening system won't hurt privacy WASHINGTON (Reuters) =97 The head of a controversial airline=20 passenger-screening program sought to ease concerns Thursday that the=20 government would scrutinize travelers' financial and criminal records=20 before letting them board. While the Transportation Security Administration= =20 will hire private data aggregators to confirm travelers' identities and=20 screen out possible hijackers, the agency will not view credit records,=20 traffic violations or other personal data, Admiral James Loy said. In fact,= =20 the agency will not keep records of travelers at all once they have=20 completed their trip, Loy said at a privacy conference. "Not long after the traveler has returned home, loosened up his laces and=20 unpacked his bag, all government records of his trip will be erased," Loy=20 said. The agency has faced a firestorm of protest since it first announced= =20 details of its second-generation screening program at the end of February.= =20 Scheduled for deployment in spring 2004, the Computer Assisted Passenger=20 Prescreening System, or CAPPS II, would combine government intelligence=20 with information from credit bureaus and other commercial data services to= =20 determine if a passenger had links to al Qaeda or other violent groups.=20 Business travelers, privacy advocates and some lawmakers worry that the=20 system would allow the government to compile an Orwellian database of its=20 citizens, violating long-established privacy laws and subjecting travelers= =20 to invasive scrutiny. CIVIL LIBERTIES CONCERNS "I'm not an airline security expert, but I know a violation of the U.S.=20 Constitution when I see one," said Bill Scannell, a California resident=20 whose Web site, www.boycottdelta.com, targets the airline that is testing=20 the program in three airports. In Congress, a Senate committee approved a=20 measure Thursday that would require TSA to examine the civil-liberties=20 impact of the program. "There have to be rules and congressional=20 oversight," said Sen. Ron Wyden, the Oregon Democrat who sponsored the=20 measure. A TSA spokeswoman said that the system was still being developed,= =20 but it would work on a much more limited basis than some reports have=20 described. Airline reservation agents would provide a traveler's name,=20 address, phone number, date of birth, and travel plans to the TSA, which=20 would then check that information against a variety of commercial databases= =20 and and an FBI watch list, said TSA spokeswoman Heather Rosenker. The=20 search would yield a final "threat assessment" of each passenger, but it=20 would not reveal information like whether a person had outstanding parking= =20 tickets or was turned down for a loan, Rosenker said. TSA also plans to set= =20 up an independent review board to ensure the system does not violate=20 travelers' civil liberties and provide travelers with an ombudsman to=20 handle complaints, Loy said. Agency officials also plan to meet with=20 privacy experts next week to hear other suggestions. Lara Flint, a staff=20 attorney with the nonprofit Center for Democracy who plans to attend the=20 meeting, said commercial databases often contain clerical errors that could= =20 pose problems when used as the basis for security decisions. "It's a=20 different world when the government's using this kind of technology" than=20 when it is used by banks or junk-mail firms, Flint said. "It could mean you= =20 don't get a job, or you get arrested, or you don't get on a plane, who= knows." *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.tha.gov.tt/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************