Feds Simplify Security Plan

Names to be screened through watch lists
By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 9, 2007 8:28 PM CDT
Feds Simplify Security Plan
In this photo provided by Virgin America, a Virgin America plane arrives from New York at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, on Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007. Virgin America's inaugural flights, which could mark the beginning of stiffer price competition, will link its San Francisco hub...   (Associated Press)

The Homeland Security department unveiled a plan today to screen all airline passengers’ personal data through US watch lists. The proposal, a revision of an earlier plan that provoked congressional action over privacy concerns, will be tested beginning this fall, the AP reports. "Secure Flight will not harm personal passenger privacy," DHS secretary Michael Chertoff said.

The plan requires airlines to submit passenger lists 72 hours before departure and requires travelers to provide full names when they make reservations; they'll be asked to furnish birth date and gender. Chertoff stressed that providing information will be voluntary. He also announced that in 6 months, airlines must begin providing international flight manifests before departure rather than after. (More Michael Chertoff stories.)

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