Skip Airport Security Lines?

[Goldmember]

Skip Airport Security Lines?

Melissa Bell, Medill News Service

 

 

WASHINGTON-- Are you tired of long security lines at the airport? They could soon become a thing of the past for some fliers.

 

Tests of the Registered Traveler program, which will offer expedited security checks for prescreened, low-risk passengers, have been successful, the International Biometric Group said this week. The program is expected to go into effect nationwide this June, the consulting firm said.

 

The four initial pilot tests of the program were run by independent firms and followed and analyzed by the Biometric Group.

 

The Registered Traveler program will prescreen volunteer passengers who can then use special security lines that accelerate the airport screenings. The details have not yet been determined, but screening could include fingerprint scans and criminal record checks, among other things.

 

The screened passengers will use smart cards to store fingerprint biometric data for identification purposes. TSA is also considering using iris-based biometrics.

 

The program will be run through a joint effort of federal agencies, airport authorities, and private firms.

 

Any Cause for Concern?

 

Kip Hawley, the assistant secretary of the Transportation Security Administration, testified before a Senate committee on behalf of the program Thursday. He said the group was working hard to ensure the program would not cost the government and that it could not be penetrated by terrorists.

 

"TSA's principal requirements are: (1) pays its own way, and (2) does not diminish security," Hawley said.

 

Some privacy advocates have raised concerns that the program would be invasive. But Dana Marhon, a consultant with International Biometrics Group, says TSA is carefully following guidelines set by the Privacy Act. All information will be collected by a private firm, not by the government, she says.

 

And, she points out, "If individuals are concerned about providing information, they simply need not participate."

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20060210/tc_pcworld/124690