US starts passenger pre-screening
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A long-delayed US government programme to pre-screen the names of airline passengers against terror watch lists is expected to begin early next year, the Associated Press reported.
The final rule for the programme, called Secure Flight, has come into place, which would validate air travellers’ information so there’s less chance a person could be mistaken for someone else on a watch list. The programme has been delayed several times because of privacy concerns, the report said.
It said misidentification of passengers has been one of the biggest inconveniences in post-September 11 air travel.
Currently, passenger pre-screening for domestic flights is handled by the individual airlines. But airlines do not always tap into the most up-to-date watch lists, which contain names of people whom intelligence agencies have determined should not be on planes.
Under the new programme, the airlines will be responsible for collecting a passenger’s full name, gender and birth date, as opposed to the current practice of only collecting the passenger’s name.
Said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff: “Secure Flight will help us better protect the travelling public while creating a more consistent passenger pre-screening process, ultimately reducing the number of misidentification issues.”
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