Feds to do checks of airline traveler lists

By Leslie Miller
The Associated Press

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The new system is intended to verify the identity of domestic travelers by amassing information that passengers have given airlines and comparing it with records in government databases. The goal is to screen travelers more effectively by using a larger pool of suspected terrorists than airlines had access to.

The government does not provide airlines with complete terrorist lists for fear that such information could fall into the wrong hands, said David Stone, chief of the Transportation Security Administration.

"We will have the database under the umbrella of the government so we can have enhanced security and not have the release of the names into arenas where enemies can access them," Stone said.

The new system, Secure Flight, is to begin testing in the next two months. It would replace a proposed screening operation derided by critics for failing to adequately ensure passengers' privacy.

But Rep. John Mica, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee on aviation, said it will take a year to put Secure Flight in place after the testing. "I agree with the Sept. 11 commission, there's been far too much delay," said Mica, R-Fla.

The government-run screening will not seek to identify anyone other than known or suspected terrorists. Nor will it assign a risk level to travelers.

Civil libertarians complained the earlier system would use information on passengers gleaned from commercial databases.

Under Secure Flight, the government would gather information about travelers from data-collection companies that service the banking, mortgage and credit industries.

Airlines and reservation services would provide passenger name records. That can include credit-card numbers, travel reservation information, address, telephone number and meal requests, which can indicate a passenger's religion or ethnicity.

The Customs Service has used a similar method to screen passengers flying into or out of the United States.
 
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