CAPPS II Trials Begin in March 287
corporal_clegg writes "According to this story on FoxNews, in March Delta Airlines will begin using a federal database that incorporates credit history and bank records in an effort to identify potential security threats. The federal system - CAPPS II (Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System) - will assign a "threat level" to passengers based upon information in the database and other criteria, such as whether the individual is on government watch lists. 'CAPPS II will collect data and rate each passenger's risk potential according to a three-color system: green, yellow, red. When travelers check in, their names will be punched into the system and the boarding passes encrypted with the ranking.' The scary thing is that no one really knows which databases the government will use or how long the records will remain. Slashdot covered this story in September 2002, and it now seems that the first airline is ready to give it a try. In addition to the links in the previous Slashdot article, a good background on CAPPS II can be found here." Actually, the last story we did on passenger profiling was just a week or two ago.
The Government Has No Right (Score:5, Interesting)
Not really.. (Score:5, Interesting)
But that doesn't even matter - I think instead what this system will be looking for is a person not with good credit, or even bad credit, but very little credit history... that's the kind of person that will make "them" wonder what they are up to.
So what you should really be railing against is that people who aren't good consumers (in that they make use of credit and thus build up a record) will be hassled.
Personally, I'm not sure about this either way... in some ways I like it if it means fewer obviously random and stupid searches like they do now. That might only be because I expect to be targeted for searches less as a result.
A funny side note - I recently took a one-way flight and my girlfriend and I were fully searched multiple times. However, if you think about it - people that purchase one way tickets a few days in advance are probably the last ones to worry about!! Instead, I say, be concerned about the passenger that supposedly has it "so together" that they purchased tickets (round trip or otherwise) months in advance... after all, a real terrorist is not going to leave it to chance that he can get a flight on a certain plane a few days in advance.
Alternative to CAPS II (Score:5, Interesting)
We can keep the current system in place with searches and questions for (hopefully) the minority of travellers who would't have an id. If you can take the time to get a driver's license once every couple years, you can take the time to get a background check too.
I simply don't understand.. (Score:5, Interesting)
Perhaps there's a reason public education sucks so badly besides governmental stupidity... perhaps it's governmental genious to get all these fucking idiots to think crap like this is actually good. To me it's absolutely astonishing that a lot of people think protesting should be outright illegal.. do they not comprehend what that means?! This kind of crap almost makes me want to cry, and thanks to the US's ability to influence most every other country with either wads of money or military power there is no escape... "Brave New World" wasn't a fictional book, it was a god damn prophecy.
This is just so damn scary... I've had a gun put to my head by a nervous wreck of a thief, and I am still more scared about our current political climate than I was about that...
Re:And instead of applauding... (Score:4, Interesting)
Applaud? Of course not. I never applaud those that rob me. To "protect" my way of life by not allowing me to live it?
I consider this effort not only ill-considered with regard to its likely effectiveness and potential for harm to 3rd parties, but additionally for its disregard for the rights of those affected.
Time to get out. . . (Score:5, Interesting)
Homeland passes. Here's what to do. [kuro5hin.org] (This post was a little intense sounding, but still, I believe, entirely valid. It's interesting to look back at where we were in November; not just at how the unimaginable happened, but how it now feels normal).
A German Jew on why he didn't get out in time. [kuro5hin.org] (This post is REALLY informative; it's a story by a German Jew who explains how he let all the warning signs slip past him and didn't get out before the Nazi axe fell. Read this one! It's gold.)
-Fantastic Lad
Gilliam's "Brazil": Our society in 10 yrs? (Score:1, Interesting)
Ignore the cute era-mangling scenic design and focus on the mechanics of the society depicted.
If the characters were American, and the "Ministry of Information" was "Home1and Security" instead, would the movie seem less removed from today's reality?
Anonymous (but no coward)
Travel Rating: RED (Score:3, Interesting)
Transportation officials say a contractor will be picked soon to build the nationwide computer system, which will check such things as credit reports and bank account activity and compare passenger names with those on government watch lists.
So..
For myself:
Credit History: low to moderate
Bank History: recent purchases of gas, guns, or large widthdrawls
Gov't watchlist: FBI - Cybercrimes
I'm going to have a "RED" rating, which means no air travel according to the article... Do you think this will be open for discussion at the terminal?
Lets not even talk about how many travelers won't be going to DefCon next year.
My credit history is a long run of usually breaking even (and sometimes not), and a few years of decent income and fixing past debts.
My bank history is mixed.. I've had some idiots at banks really mess up my attitude towards banks (see my previous rants). So I've had large sums of cash in banks, and then move the cash.
We won't discus why I'd be watched by the feds.
Consider this.. I'm going out of town for a month (like I did around Christmas).. I may take most of the cash out of my bank account (95%+) to have spending cash, since one of the credit bureaus completely hosed my rating and the bank won't issue me one of those handy-dandy Visa debit cards. I don't have a credit card that I could live on for a few days on the road, much less a month.
I do own guns. I have a small collection. I'm a red-blooded American, and that's one of the founding features of America is the right we have to own guns. Imagine George Washington saying "Now that we've become an independant nation, everyone hand over their guns." hahaha.
I'd almost guarantee that I'll flag as yellow or red if I'm going on vacation.
I wonder if trans-oceanic cruises will pick up more sales now.. If you can't fly in America, you sure won't be able to go anywhere but the Americas (North, Central, or South), unless someone else knows a good way to get to Europe, Asia, or Austraila without a plane.
I know it's a 6-8 hour flight across America, or 40+ hours of driving. They're going to be pushing transportation back years if they say any percentage of America can no longer fly.
Maybe they're just trying to make up for the bucks that the US Federal Gov't has been loosing into Amtrak every year.
I frequently talk to someone in Russia, and he really relates the happenings in America to the old Soviet controls over it's people.. Even down to the name "Homeland Security".
Maybe I should just make up a few extra sets of papers. One I travel with. One I get hotels with, and then one that's really me.
Re:What about other means of transportation? (Score:3, Interesting)
Anyway, we have looked at leaving the country. And unlike these prissy actors/actresses, we have no problem doing it. There's really not much here that isn't in other places. Hell, Bahamian citizenship is extremely easy to get and land is CHEAP there. Canada? I hear that's not too hard to immigrate to. Other than that, we're still looking. Any suggestions?
Actually, CAPPS I caught them (Score:1, Interesting)
this to me seems that the current system (in addition to vigilant passengers and air marshalls) is plenty effective.
Relax! (Score:2, Interesting)
In this context "consumer" is exactly the right word. To the airline you are a customer, but in terms of profiling security risk what they are really looking for (at least partially) is, literally, what kind of consumer you have been - in terms of what debts you have accumulated (and paid off) through the years. If they find no evidence that you have been a consumer of any sort (no credit cards, no mortgages, etc) with no monetary history to speak of, then they would be a lot more likely to find you odd (you have to admit an American with no monetary history is like a cat without fur) and flag you the customer for extra searching, much as I was flagged because I was on a one way flight that I had purchased only days before. That's what profiling is all about, finding patterns that deviate from the norm and looking at them carefully.
It's a crappy way to treat a Customer, but then if the searches affect fewer customers there will also be fewer complaints overall - which is exactly why profiling comes about, because so many people are rigorously searched right now that make no sense to search that they are considering using profiling of some sort to reduce the set of people who have something to complain about and reduce the headache that air travel has become (so that airlines can get back to going bankrupt every ten years instead of every five).
Sadly, the other option (to simply bring searching back to where it was pre911) would never occur to anyone (in the airline industry and government), even though it makes the most sense for everyone and offers an insignificant extra security risk.
The cost of your civil rights...... (Score:1, Interesting)
My grocery card is listed under "Ted Nugent". My CVS discount drugstore card "Harry S Truman".
For airline tickets? Pay using cash. Sure you might get flagged and searched but so what? Make as little of a traceable trail as possible.
Remember on 9/11 that nothing that was being done by the terrorists was illegal. You could bring razors on board.
9/11 was the realization of a fed wet dream to run roughshod over civil rights and they had a perfect excuse to do it: "Terrorism". In fact, use "terrorism" as your excuse and you can get away with everything. "Terrorism" is the new "communism".
What did all of this wonderful new capability cost the United States? 3,000 lives, the WTC and our international standing as a respectable country with the perfect buffoon (W) leading us.
Some in government would say that that was a cheap price for keeping complete track of you.
Anonymous (obviously)