The Transportation Security Administration last month quietly began comparing airline passenger name records with a database of government watch lists as its first step in testing Secure Flight, the government's post-CAPPS II passenger prescreening system.
TSA in October mandated domestic carriers hand over PNR information from June and is comparing that data with the government's "no-fly" list and other watch lists. TSA expects to complete the initial test next month.
"We are comparing passenger name record data from June, which was given to us from the domestic air carriers," a TSA spokesperson said. "We're comparing that information and cross-referencing that against the databank available to us through the Terrorist Screening Center database."
TSA also is in the midst of selecting a contractor to implement "a Secure Flight Program that compares airline passenger names against the Terrorist Screening Database 'to keep known terrorists from flying and identifies other [potential] terrorists,' " the Department of Homeland Security disclosed in a request for proposals. Meanwhile, however, TSA is handling the initial tests.
As the government moves forward on the Secure Flight initiative, concerns among travel industry professionals and privacy advocacy groups about CAPPS II have been extended to this next-generation system. Yet, TSA has been adamant in the face of such criticism
(BTN, Oct. 4, 2004).In a comment offered to TSA last year, Business Travel Coalition chairman Kevin Mitchell noted a lack of transparency in the process. "There may be rationale for revamping the current prescreening system that BTC and other parties could support," he said. "However, we do not yet know what Secure Flight would be. That is to say we do not understand the privacy and civil liberty tradeoffs required in return for expectations of greater security. Nor do we know about the safeguards, remedies, costs, future program growth and alternatives to such a program."
The government has attempted to address such concerns. One widespread complaint about CAPPS II that carried over to Secure Flight was difficulty resolving misidentification within the system. However, the intelligence bill signed into law in December requires TSA to correct misinformation that may mistakenly place travelers on "no-fly" lists, while also safeguarding privacy and establishing a system of redress. The legislation also requires domestic carriers to regularly turn over PNR data 180 days after testing.
TSA also has extended the pilot of its Registered Travel program. TSA in September launched the last of five Registered Traveler pilots when Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., joined airports in Boston, Houston, Los Angeles and Minneapolis.
"The initial 90-day limit would have brought the program to a close in November, but we were having such great response that those five airports continue to operate the registered traveler program," TSA said.
TSA said it is not yet extending enrollment to new volunteers or expanding the program to other airports. While the ongoing pilot "won't be indefinite," TSA is determining a closing date.
While TSA had planned to release a report in December assessing the program's successes or failures, "We had the opportunity to extend the pilot and we're taking advantage of that to collect more data," a TSA spokesperson said. "Therefore no results or a report has been generated. The more data that can be gathered during pilot, the better."
TSA added that, so far, Registered Traveler feedback from the approximately 10,000 program volunteers has been positive.