A new system to check background information and assign a threat level to all commercial air passengers will be piloted by Delta Airlines at three undisclosed airports.
Defense contractor Lockheed-Martin will develop the system, called CAPPS II (Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System). It will check passenger information -- which may include credit reports and banking activity -- and compare it with those on government watch lists. Under the new system, airlines would be required to ask more questions of its passengers -- name, address, phone number and date of birth.
The system collects the data and rates each passenger's risk potential using a three-color system (green, yellow, red), which is then encrypted on a boarding pass that TSA screeners will check at security checkpoints.
Department of Transportation officials, hoping to allay the fears of civil liberties watchdogs, say the databases will operate in line with privacy laws and will not profile passengers based on race, religion or ethnicity. The data from the background checks will not be stored.
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