TSA suspends CAPPS II testing for privacy reasons


Wired has an article indicating that the TSA has suspended testing on the controversial CAPPS II airline security system.

Although the suspension is temporary, it does give some hope that there may be thinking going on in the government that privacy may be a good thing.... perhaps.

Under the system, after you buy a ticket, the system will check your criminal, financial, and credit records looking for "bad" things and flag you for tighter inspections by the TSA.

One of the biggest concerns is that there is very little documentation on exactly what databases will be searched and what criteria will be used. Privacy advocates say that at least what databases will be consulted is an important privacy consideration. Security advocates claim that the more there is known about how the system works, the easier it will be for criminals to circumvent.