A CAPPS by Any Other Name

The controversial Secure Flight passenger pre-screening system, or CAPPS III as some have dubbed it, is riddled with faults and should be shelved until it meets strict criteria laid out by Congress.

That's according to Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-California), members of the American Civil Liberties Union and computer security expert Bruce Schneier, who held a press call Thursday to bring attention to an upcoming report by the Government Accountability Office, which they hope will fault Secure Flight for failing to meet several criteria for its implementation required by Congress.

The GAO report, which was mandated by Congress last year in the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2005, is likely to be released Monday. But Sanchez and others said they were concerned that the Transportation Security Agency, which will implement Secure Flight, is trying to ignore Congress by taking steps to roll out the system on two national airlines this August, before the program can be certified by the GAO or cleared by Congress.

Sanchez also said they were speaking out now out of concern that the GAO could be pressured to certify Secure Flight before it's ready to go forward........MORE......

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