WASHINGTON, D.C. The Transportation SecurityAdministration (TSA) today announced it will move forward to test a newpassenger-prescreening program called Secure Flight.  The decision followscompletion of a thorough review of the computer-assisted passenger prescreeningsystem (CAPPS II) proposal ordered by Department of Homeland Security (DHS)Secretary Tom Ridge in July.  Based on the results of this review, TSAmodified its earlier passenger prescreening proposal to create the new SecureFlight program.

Under Secure Flight, TSA will take over responsibility for checking airlinepassengers' names against terrorist watch lists a function currentlyadministered by each airline individually.  The move will help eliminatemost of the false alerts caused by the current out-dated system.  When inplace, Secure Flight will help move passengers through airport screening morequickly and reduce the number of individuals selected for secondary screening while fully protecting passengers' privacy and civil liberties.

"This new system will allow Homeland Security to implement a keyrecommendation of the 9/11 Commission for the government to continueimproving the use of no-fly' and automatic selectee' lists by using anexpanded watch list," DHS Under Secretary for Border and TransportationSecurity Asa Hutchinson said.  "Secure Flight is a critical part ofHomeland Security's overall layered strategy to secure the nation's commercialair transportation system."

"TSA is prepared to begin testing and execution of the next-generationpassenger prescreening program," said Rear Admiral David M. Stone USN(Ret.), Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Transportation SecurityAdministration.  "Secure Flight will enhance security for the nation'stravelers while preserving the individual freedoms of each passenger."

Significant progress has already been made by the U.S. Government byproviding greatly expanded No-Fly and Selectee lists to airlines to conductchecks on their own computer systems.  New names are being added every dayas intelligence and law enforcement agencies submit persons for consideration. Under Secure Flight, TSA will take over responsibility for comparingPassenger Name Record (PNR) information of domestic air passengers to a greatlyexpanded list of known or suspected terrorists in the Terrorist Screening Center(TSC) database.   As the program is phased in, TSA will be able to checkpassenger records against watch list information not previously available toairlines.  

Passengers on international flights will continue to be checked against namesin the consolidated TSC database by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP),through its Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS).  These checks aremandated by U.S. law.  

Secure Flight differs from earlier proposed systems by focusing screeningefforts on looking for known or suspected terrorists, rather than using it forother law enforcement purposes.  In addition, the new program will alsoinclude a redress mechanism through which people can resolve questions if theybelieve they have been unfairly or incorrectly selected for additionalscreening.  

Separately, TSA will also conduct a very limited test to determine whether ornot comparing passenger information to commercially available data can help tomore accurately verify theentity of individuals.  

Results of the testing, both of the TSC database comparisons and the use ofcommercial data to verifyentity, will be as publicly transparent as possiblewithout compromising national security.  Testing and eventualimplementation will be governed by strict privacy protections includingpassenger redress procedures, data security mechanisms, and limitations on use.

TSA will collect passenger data and begin testing Secure Flight within thenext 30-60 days.  TSA will likely move forward with implementation of thesystem nationally after testing is completed and the agency publishes a finalNotice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM).