March 31, 2005 | Name That Secret Function

A recent government report on Homeland Security's ongoing drive to revamp the nation's airline passenger screening system revealed that there has always been more to the story than the government let on.

The report laid out that the original proposal -- known as CAPPS II - would background check potential passengers using commercial data from companies similar to ChoicePoint, government watch lists and lists of people with outstanding criminal warrants.

The government also planned to use government intelligence databases and computer algorithms to determine whether a passenger might be a hijacker, despite their name not being on a list.

This was widely known and reported.

But in a footnote, the report also said that there one other function that the Transportation Security Administration never told the public since they classified it "Sensitive Security Information."

That's a designation the TSA uses to hide information from would-be terrorists - including the secret that airlines are required to ask passengers for identification.

What could the TSA have possibly wanted to do with CAPPS II that it could not share with the American citizenry?

I'd call and ask what the eighth one was, but they certainly won't tell me. So since we can't know, the only thing we can do is suppose, guess and assume.

So the contest now is: Name that secret function.

Prizes will be awarded in various categories, including a handmade tinfoil cap for the best conspiracy theory and an authentic, fully redacted FOIA response page from the TSA for the most ludicrous suggestion.

Here's a list of the seven functions of CAPPS II the government mostly told the country about.

Table 2: System Capabilities Planned for CAPPS II Capability Description

1. Watch list matching
Comparison of data contained in the passenger's reservation (PNR) with information contained in government watch lists (selectee and no-fly lists) to identify potential threats to aviation security and other individuals of interest to the counterterrorism community
2. CAPPS I rules application
Matching information in the PNR to CAPPS I rules to identify individuals who should be subject to additional security screening (ed. note These are rules that flag people for paying with cash or buying one-way tickets, etc.)
3. Identity authentication
Checking PNR (ed. note Passenger Name Record is the technical term for your reservation record) data against commercial databases to assist in confirming the passenger's identity
4. Criminal checks
Matching PNR data against lists of international fugitives and government "wanted lists" to identify known criminals
5. Intelligence-based search for unknown terrorists
Using algorithms developed through intelligence modeling to identify previously unknown terrorists by searching for patterns in an individual's travel or transaction history that are indicative of terrorist activities
6. Use of opt-in lists
Maintaining a list of individuals, who have been previously cleared under credentialing programs, such as registering passengers in advance of making reservations, to minimize the volume of passengers that must be prescreened
7. Use of alert lists
Providing the capability to create a temporary watch list based on information extracted from current intelligence reports, such as blocks of stolen passports

Source: TSA.

The relevant footnote about the extra capability is on page 9 and reads:

TSA planned to incorporate eight capabilities into the CAPPS II program. We have only listed seven of these capabilities, because one is Sensitive Security Information.

For those wanting to see the full report it is in .pdf format here.

Posted by Ryan Singel at March 31, 2005 10:58 AM

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