[infowar.de] CAPPS heisst jetzt "Secure Flight"

[Ralf Bendrath <bendrath -! - zedat - fu-berlin - de>]

Infowar.de, http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~bendrath/liste.html
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Diese Umbenennungen scheinen die Regel zu werden, wenn ein Programm auf
öffentlichen Widerstand stößt. Raider heisst jetzt Twix, und Carnivore
heisst DCS1000.
RB

http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2004/0823/web-tsa-08-27-04.asp

Wednesday, September 1, 2004

TSA launches Secure Flight

BY Aliya Sternstein
Published on Aug 27, 2004
	
The Transportation Security Administration has overhauled the
controversial Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS) II
and will take over responsibility for checking airline passengers' names
against terrorist watch lists.

The new government program, announced Aug. 26, is called Secure Flight.
Testing will begin within the next 60 days for the latest phase of the
two-year, over-$100 million program within the next 60 days. The
overhaul follows a CAPPS II review ordered by Homeland Security
Department Secretary Tom Ridge in July.

Unlike the previous proposal, the new system will only look for known or
suspected terrorists, not other law enforcement violators. In addition,
it will include a redress mechanism, where people can resolve questions
if they believe they have been unfairly or incorrectly selected for
additional screening.

The current system screens an average of 16 percent, or one out of every
six air passengers. TSA officials say the enhanced program will cut that
number down to 5 percent or 6 percent. Lockheed Martin Corp. will
continue to work with the TSA on this project, despite revisions.

Privacy advocacy groups are cautiously optimistic about the new Secure
Flight, although they have some concerns about the integrity of the
watch lists.

"The watch list is now the centerpiece of the program, and, frankly, I
think that's appropriate," said Lara Flint, staff counsel for the Center
For Democracy and Technology.

She does have lingering questions about the standards for getting on and
off the list and periodic audits for accuracy. "If the watch lists are
no good, the program is not going to make us more secure or protect our
civil liberties," Flint said.

Officials from the American Civil Liberties Union, a fierce opponent of
CAPPS II, said that although Secure Flight represents an improvement,
much of it still remains a mystery.

"We certainly applaud the effort to streamline the mission and cut back
the scale of the program...but the redress system seems to be different
in name only," said LaShawn Warren, legislative counsel for the ACLU.
She added that security and use of the information are still concerns.
"No one has put forth any reason why identity theft would not circumvent
the system," she said. "There's a lot of money going into this program
that may not make us safer."

This is not the first overhaul of the controversial risk-assessment
program. CAPPS II represents a revision of an earlier version of the
program.

Some high-profile incidents recently illustrated how the current system
can finger the innocent. Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) was recently stopped
before boarding a flight because an individual on terrorism watch lists
had used his name as an alias.

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