Delta Air To Test U.S.-Mandated Screening System; All Passengers To Be Rated; Privacy advocates worry over how much data will be collected on travelers.(A)

Byline: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Delta Air Lines will begin testing a new government plan for air security next month that will check background information and assign a threat level to everyone who buys a ticket. The system, ordered by Congress after the Sept. 11 attack, will gather much more information on passengers than has been done previously. Delta will try it out at three undisclosed airports, and a comprehensive system could be in place by the end of the year. 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. Civil liberties groups and activists are objecting to the plan, seeing the potential for unconstitutional invasions of privacy and for database mix-ups that could lead to innocent people being branded security risks. "This system threatens to create a permanent blacklisted underclass of Americans who cannot travel freely," said Katie Corrigan of the American Civil Liberties Union. There also is concern the government is developing the system without revealing how data will be gathered and how long they will be kept.

Advocates say the system will weed out dangerous people while ensuring law-abiding citizens aren't given unnecessary scrutiny.

Transportation officials say CAPPS II -- Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System -- will use databases that already operate in line with privacy laws and won't profile race, religion or ethnicity.

Fast Access

"What it does is have very fast access to existing databases so we can quickly validate the person's identity," Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said.

An oversight panel, which will include a member of the public, is being formed. The Transportation Security Administration will set up procedures to resolve complaints by people who say they don't belong on the watch lists.