Survival Arts

CAPPS II Being Dismantled

Courtesy of a smith2004-discuss listmember, proof that resistance from privacy advocates can be effective: "Plan to collect flier data canceled."

A controversial government plan to collect personal information from airline passengers and rank travelers according to terrorist risk level is being dismantled because of concerns over privacy and effectiveness, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Wednesday.

Ridge said security leaders have all but scrapped plans for the Computer-Assisted Passenger Prescreening System, known as CAPPS II. The program was never officially begun, even though the government has spent more than $100 million on its planning.

Once touted as a key tool for keeping U.S. skies safe from terrorists, the system has been under relentless criticism from privacy advocates and some members of Congress who called it an unwarranted intrusion into passengers' privacy.

Asked Wednesday whether the program could be considered dead, Ridge jokingly gestured as if he were driving a stake through its heart and said, "Yes."