The U.S. Transportation Security Administration this week said it is on track to launch its next-generation airline passenger prescreening program, Secure Flight, on Jan. 1, 2009. The new program shifts the responsibility of watchlist matching from airlines to the government.
During a House subcommittee hearing this week, a TSA official noted that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff certified that the program has met 10 criteria required by Congress as conditions to proceed for a January rollout. "The rule is now in the final stages of administrative review," said assistant administrator of TSA's Office of Transportation Threat Assessment and Credentialing Greg Wellen during the hearing this week.
After several stops and starts, TSA last summer proposed a redrawn Secure Flight program that aimed to address privacy, operational and data accuracy concerns, among others
(BTNonline, Aug. 13, 2007). Previous attempts to launch the program came undone after failing to meet the 10 congressional standards outlined in a U.S. Government Accountability Office report in 2005
(BTNonline, March 28, 2005).
TSA would do the watchlist matching under the new program, but airlines and travel agencies would act as collectors of traveler data. By TSA estimates, the program could add time to the reservations process and create more costs for travel agencies and airlines.
Wellen this week noted that under the current system, airlines have taken diverging approaches to matching watchlists, which has created inconsistencies and passenger inconvenience. "One carrier may have a sophisticated computer system that uses robust filters to clear names," Wellen said. "Another carrier may check names manually, or use a less advanced software program."
Under Secure Flight, Wellen said TSA would enable passengers to voluntarily provide more identifying information than currently is collected to broaden watchlist matching.
"Secretary Chertoff announced in April the flexibility given to the airlines to create a system to verify and securely store a passenger's date of birth to clear up watchlist misidentifications," Wellen said this week. "By voluntarily providing this limited biographical data to an airline, travelers who were previously inconvenienced on every trip now have an opportunity for a better travel experience." Wellen said that "thousands of passengers are inconvenienced each day" under the current program.
The proposed program in the past year has continued to court criticism from privacy groups and some in the travel industry
(BTNonline, Oct. 8, 2007). Wellen said, "TSA is very clear that privacy and security are essential ingredients, and both have been built directly into the Secure Flight program."