US to tighten screening of air passengers

In a new measure to check terrorism, drug trafficking and other crimes, US authorities have decided to tighten screening of all air passengers using a vast computerised system, which will also check their personal records.

The new system is to provide a more thorough approach to screening passengers collecting travelers' full name, residential address and telephone number, date of birth and travel itinerary, the Washington Post said.

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Under the order, which could be issued in February, all travellers passing through US airports will also be scored with a number and a color that ranks their perceived threat to the aircraft.

The information will be fed into large databases, such as Lexis-Nexis and Acxiom, that tap public records and commercial computer banks, such as shopping mailing lists, to verify that passengers are who they say they are, the paper said.

The two-step screening process will result in a numerical and color score for each passenger.

A 'red' rating means a passenger will be prohibited from boarding, 'yellow' indicates that the passenger will attract additional scrutiny at the checkpoint and a 'green' rating paves the way for a standard trip through security.

Also factored into one's score will be intelligence about certain routes and airports where there might be higher-rated risks to security.

Business travelers who typically pay high prices for their seats will likely get an easier pass through security in the 'registered traveler' program.

Another program to be introduced this year seeks to speed frequent fliers through security lines in exchange for volunteering personal information to the government.

Certain travelers, such as non-US citizens, could face additional questioning under the new rules, the daily says.

The new initiatives will augment a system introduced last week to fingerprint and photograph millions of foreign visitors on arrival in the US. Introduced in the backdrop of the 9/11 terror attacks, they have already evoked stiff resistance from airlines and privacy advocates.

They fear both programs could be discriminatory because they subject airline passengers to different levels of scrutiny.