U.S. to start airline background checks.

Perhaps as early as this summer, the U.S. government's plan to check all airline passengers' backgrounds before they board a plane could be in place. The Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System, or CAPPS II, would screen all passengers by checking their information against commercial or government databases.

The government will compel airlines and airline reservations companies to hand over passenger records for scrutiny by U.S. officials. The computerized system will collect each traveler's full name, home address, telephone number, date of birth, and travel itinerary. The data will be fed into large databases, such as Lexis-Nexis and Acxiom, that tap public records and commercial computer banks to verify that passengers are who they say they are. Once a passenger is identified, the CAPPS II system will compare him or her against wanted criminals and suspected terrorists contained in other databases.

Under the system, all passengers would receive a number and one of three color coded ratings--green, yellow, or red--indicating the level of risk. Suspected terrorists or violent criminals would be designated red and forbidden to fly. Passengers who triggered concerns would be classified yellow and receive extra security screening. "Green" passengers would warrant only routine screening. Factored into each person's score will be intelligence about certain routes and airports where there might be higher-rated risks to security.

CAPPS II has been criticized by privacy advocates, who contend the system infringes on civil liberties and might wrongly label people as security threats. U.S. airlines have been reluctant to cooperate with the government because of these concerns and possible backlash from passengers.

Northwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways, and Delta Air Lines already have come under fire for sharing passenger data with the government without letting customers know. Northwest acknowledged that it had provided three months of data, which included credit card numbers, addresses, and phone numbers, on millions of passengers soon after September 11, 2001, to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for a secret government air-security project. NASA said it used the information to investigate whether data mining of the records could improve assessments of threats posed by passengers. JetBlue conceded it had violated its privacy policy by turning over records on 1.1 million customers to a defense contractor. Both airlines were criticized for voluntarily sharing customer data and are being sued by angry passengers in class-action lawsuits.

Top airline executives met recently to discuss their misgivings about CAPPS 11 and agreed to work with the Homeland Security Department to ensure that traveler privacy is protected. Most airlines are scrambling to create disclosure policies that inform customers that they might share personal data with the federal government.

Getting the European airlines' cooperation may be more of a challenge. In February, the European Commission and the United States agreed to a provisional accord for the transfer of air passengers' data to U.S. authorities so that investigators could sift through it for possible terrorism links.

But European Union (EU) privacy watchdogs say U.S. privacy safeguards are inadequate and do not do enough to protect privacy rights of non-U.S, citizens. The EU's top privacy watchdog Stefano Rodota said the EU's landmark data privacy law--passed in 1995 and considered the world's strictest data protection system--would be watered down and global privacy standards lowered if the European Commission bowed to U.S. demands. He said other countries, including Australia and Canada, have also asked the European Union to turn over air passengers' data and would get a green light because they guaranteed enough privacy protection.

Another big area of concern for EU citizens is the lack of a legally binding redress system. U.S. citizens can go to court if their private information is compromised, but the tentative EU-U.S. deal rules it out for EU citizens, according to Rodota. A data privacy ombudsman has been created in the United States but, because the position is connected to the Homeland Security Department, it does not meet EU standards. EU privacy watchdogs said they believe the right to rectify errors should be guaranteed and an independent redress mechanism should be set up.

EU watchdogs said the list of passengers' personal data to be passed on to the United States should be narrowed down and its use limited to terrorism and related crimes. The United States has asked airlines for access to their booking records so that it can collect up to 34 pieces of information about passengers, including addresses, phone and credit card numbers, travel companions, and itinerary. The list was cut down from an initial U.S. request of 39 items, but the EU watchdogs considered only 19 appropriate.