U.S. scraps CAPPS II.

The Computer-Assisted Passenger Prescreening System, known as CAPPS II, the controversial U.S. government plan to collect personal information from airline passengers and rank them according to terrorist risk level, has been delayed indefinitely and will most likely be abandoned over privacy and effectiveness concerns, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge recently announced. Ridge said security leaders have all but scrapped plans for CAPPS II. Once touted as an important tool for keeping U.S. skies safe from terrorists, the system has received sharp criticism from privacy advocates and some Congress members who called it an unwarranted invasion of passengers' privacy. Though the program was never officially begun, the government has spent more than $100 million on its planning, according to USA Today.

Under CAPPS II, each passenger would have been required to give an airline or travel agent his or her full name, date of birth, address, and telephone number so that the government could then verify his or her identity through a database of terrorist watch lists, public records, and mail marketing lists. Ridge cited privacy concerns, particularly those arising from recently proposed regulations that would have required airlines to hand over information about passengers as part of a test of the program, as being at issue. Critics also complained that determined terrorists who used fake identities could easily evade the system.

However, The Washington Post reported that disagreements over CAPPS II exist within the Department of Homeland Security, with some officials viewing it as a major aviation security improvement and others believing passengers will see the program as a surveillance system that pries too much into their lives. Some elements of CAPPS II are already being used to check foreign airline crews, some employees working at airports, and travelers who have volunteered in a security screening program. Officials also said they would continue plans to test the computer network using passenger information.

According to the Post, the Transportation Security Administration is currently testing a less controversial voluntary program that allows frequent fliers to become "registered travelers" by providing personal information to the agency, along with a fingerprint or his scan. If the agency accepts a passenger into the program, which requires a background check, the traveler will receive an identification card that allows quicker passage through security lines. Ridge said a new program with a different name might be developed to take the place of CAPPS II, but if enough people volunteer their personal information through the registered traveler program, a CAPPS III may not be necessary. The registered traveler program is now being tested by 10,000 volunteers at five U.S. airports.