Passenger-screening system under scrutiny WASHINGTON (AP) =97 The government's plan to assign a threat level to all=20 airline passengers is running into trouble with budget officials who aren't= =20 convinced it will reduce the risk of terrorism. Mark Forman, associate=20 director of the Office of Management and Budget, said Tuesday the agency=20 won't let the plan go forward until questions about its effectiveness are=20 answered. He said the Transportation Security Administration hasn't been=20 forthcoming with information about how the program or the technology will=20 work. "I have a huge spotlight on that project," Forman told the House=20 subcommittee on technology and information policy. "If we can't prove it=20 lowers risk, it's not a good investment for government." CAPPS II =97 Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System =97 was ordered= by=20 Congress after the Sept. 11 attacks. The plan is to develop a nationwide=20 computer system that will check such things as credit reports and consumer= =20 transactions and compare passenger names with those on government watch=20 lists. A 1996 law allows the budget office to cut funds for information=20 technology projects that it doesn't consider efficient or effective. TSA spokesman Robert Johnson said the agency is meeting with the OMB this=20 week to resolve those issues. "There's no more important single program on= =20 our agenda today than CAPPS II when it comes to delivering increased=20 security and service to the traveling public," he said. Critics see a potential for unconstitutional invasions of privacy and for=20 database mix-ups that could lead to innocent people being branded security= =20 risks. A coalition of conservative and liberal groups sent a letter=20 Tuesday to Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif., chairman of the Select Committee= =20 on Homeland Security, urging greater scrutiny of the TSA's plan. "Congress= =20 should carefully and deliberately assess the program's effectiveness as a=20 security measure, its cost in economic terms, and its cost to civil=20 liberties before allowing TSA to move forward with CAPPS II," wrote the=20 coalition, which includes Americans for Tax Reform, Free Congress=20 Foundation, the Eagle Forum, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center= =20 for Democracy and Technology and the Electronic Privacy Information Center. The TSA's Johnson said the agency is working to allay privacy concerns by=20 building in protections and giving airline customers ways to resolve=20 problems if they arise. The system will only focus on identifying foreign=20 terrorists, he said. Barry Steinhardt, director of the technology and=20 liberty program at the ACLU, said that focus raises questions about the=20 system's effectiveness. For example, what about a domestic terrorist like=20 Timothy McVeigh, he asked. "Chances are terrorists will adapt," said=20 Steinhardt who, along with other civil libertarians, met last week with TSA= =20 officials to discuss the program. "The extent to which they want to do=20 something to a plane, you send in a domestic terrorist." Lori Waters, the Eagle Forum's executive director, applauded the TSA for=20 reaching out but said the group still has privacy concerns about CAPPS=20 II. "What's the complaint process going to be?" she said. "How are you=20 going to be dealing with children? There are a lot of issues up in the=20 air." Airlines already do rudimentary checks of passenger information,=20 such as method of payment, address and date the ticket was reserved. CAPPS= =20 II, which TSA officials hope to have operating nationwide by the end of the= =20 year, will collect additional data and rate each passenger's risk potential= =20 according to a three-color system: green, yellow, red. When travelers check= =20 in, their names will be punched into the system and the boarding passes=20 encrypted with the ranking. TSA screeners will check the passes at=20 checkpoints. The vast majority of passengers will be rated green and won't be subjected= =20 to anything more than normal checks, while yellow will get extra screening= =20 and red won't fly. Witnesses who testified at Tuesday's subcommittee=20 hearing cautioned that government data, such as Social Security=20 information, often is flawed. "The problem is the quality and=20 trustworthiness of information," said Jen Que Louie, president of Nautilus= =20 Systems, a data-mining company. He said some government data is so bad=20 "it's amazing they can conduct business." Defense contractor=20 Lockheed-Martin was awarded a $12.8 million contract in February to=20 administer CAPPS II as the first phase of a 5-year program. *************************************************** 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.thehummingbirdonline.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************