Briefs

By Ryan Singel, Wired News, July 16, 2004

The government's controversial plan to screen passengers before they board a plane is dead -- but it may return in a new form with a new name.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge bluntly told a reporter Wednesday that the Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-Screening System II, or CAPPS II, was effectively "dead" and jokingly pretended to put a stake in its heart. His comment went far beyond Tuesday's statement to members of Congress by the Transportation Security Administration's acting chief, Adm. David Stone, who said the program's main components were being "reshaped."

Homeland Security spokeswoman Suzanne Luber, however, says both were right. "The name CAPPS II may be dead, but the process of creating an automated passenger pre-screening system to replace the current CAPPS will continue," Luber said. "What form that takes, that's what we will continue to focus on. Due to operational factors (such) as public comments on CAPPS II proposal, we are now redesigning the program itself."

Here is the rest of the story.

See also an article from Kanasas City News.