Associated Press

08/11/04

The Homeland Security Department is tossing out huge chunks of a multi-million-dollar plan to run background checks on airline passengers. So many people objected to the Computer-Assisted Passenger Pre-screening System, CAPPS II for short, that the makeover will even include a new name. Critics especially disliked CAPPS II because it would check identity by running a passengers' personal information against government and commercial databases.

Homeland Security officials say the new plan will likely use a different system to check identity. Officials also say the new system will give passengers the ability to correct mistakes if they're wrongly identified as terrorists or suspects. The makeover will include a new name, though that, too, is turning out to be a dilemma for the Homeland Security Department.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040811/D84D18H80.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp