USA Today Jan 23, 2006, page 3A

Excerpt

Page 3A

TSA: Program may use fliers' financial data
By Thomas Frank
USA TODAY



Congress barred the TSA from using commercial data on airline passengers after a government probe criticized the agency last year for improperly storing 100 million records on travelers when it said no data storage would occur.

The TSA says the ban does not apply to Registered Traveler because the program is voluntary and the background checks would be done by companies at an airport. It would be the company that determines whether applicants pose a terrorist threat, TSA spokeswoman Amy von Walter said.

However, the quizzes asked questions that were either too difficult, such as the year someone received their Social Security number, or so easy that “a terrorist … could pass the quiz on behalf of any person,” according to a report by the company, Verified Identity Pass.

CEO Steven Brill said the company had success using document scanners to authenticate applicants' driver's licenses and passports. “There are other things we can do beyond that quiz,” Brill said.