Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System II

The Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS II) was a program of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) instituted to increase security at airports by assessing the risk level of passengers before they're allowed to board. CAPPS II searched through information stored in government and commercial databases and assigned a color-coded level of risk to each passenger. Amid controversy from such organizations as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the program was terminated by President Bush in August of 2004. The program was then replaced by a similar program called Secure Flight in early 2005 generating the same concerns over privacy and civil liberties. In the history of passenger air flight screening, there were many incidents involving innocent Americans being grounded due to false positives. A notable example is the grounding of Senator Ted Kennedy in 2004.

For more information see: ACLU's page on CAPPS II EPIC's Page on Passenger Prescreening Programs EFF's Page on CAPPS II DHS's Fact Sheet on CAPPS II