CAPPS II Section of HR 2115, the "Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act"

H.R. 2115 -- CENTURY OF AVIATION REAUTHORIZATION ACT

SEC. 607. CAPPS2.

(a)   IN GENERAL- The Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security of the Department of Homeland Security shall not implement, on other than a test basis, the computer assisted passenger prescreening system (commonly known as and in this section referred to as `CAPPS2') until the Under Secretary provides to Congress a certification that-

(1)   a procedure is established enabling airline passengers, who are delayed or prohibited from boarding a flight because CAPPS2 determined that they might pose a security threat, to appeal such determination and correct information contained in CAPPS2;

(2)   the error rate of the Government and private data bases that will be used to both establish identity and assign a risk level to a passenger under CAPPS2 will not produce a large number of false positives that will result in a significant number of passengers being mistaken as a security threat;

(3)   the Under Secretary has demonstrated the efficacy and accuracy of all search tools in CAPPS2 and has demonstrated that CAPPS2 can make an accurate predictive assessment of those passengers who would constitute a security threat;

(4)   the Secretary of Homeland Security has established an internal oversight board to oversee and monitor the manner in which CAPPS2 is being implemented;

(5)   the Under Secretary has built in sufficient operational safeguards to reduce the opportunities for abuse;

(6) substantial security measures are in place to protect CAPPS2 from unauthorized access by hackers or other intruders;

(7) the Under Secretary has adopted policies establishing effective oversight of the use and operation of the system; and

(8) there are no specific privacy concerns with the technological architecture of the system.

(b) GAO REPORT- Not later than 90 days after the date on which certification is provided under subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall submit a report to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation of the Senate that assesses the impact of CAPPS2 on the issues listed in subsection (a) and on privacy and civil liberties. The report shall include any recommendations for practices, procedures, regulations, or legislation to eliminate or minimize adverse effect of CAPPS2 on privacy, discrimination, and other civil liberties.

SEC. 608. REPORT ON PASSENGER PRESCREENING PROGRAM.

(a) IN GENERAL- Within 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, after consultation with the Attorney General, shall submit a report in writing to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on the potential impact of the Transportation Security Administration's proposed Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening system, commonly known as CAPPS2, on the privacy and civil liberties of United States citizens.

(b)   SPECIFIC ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED- The report shall address the following:

(1)   Whether and for what period of time data gathered on individual travelers will be retained, who will have access to such data, and who will make decisions concerning access to such data.

(2)   How the Transportation Security Administration will treat the scores assigned to individual travelers to measure the likelihood they may pose a security threat, including how long such scores will be retained and whether and under what circumstances they may be shared with other governmental, nongovernmental, or commercial entities.

(3)   The role airlines and outside vendors or contractors will have in implementing and operating the system, and to what extent will they have access, or the means to obtain access, to data, scores, or other information generated by the system.

(4)   The safeguards that will be implemented to ensure that data, scores, or other information generated by the system will be used only as officially intended.

(5)   The procedures that will be implemented to mitigate the effect of any errors, and what procedural recourse will be available to passengers who believe the system has wrongly barred them from taking flights.

(6)   The oversight procedures that will be implemented to ensure that, on an ongoing basis, privacy and civil liberties issues will continue to be considered and addressed with high priority as the system is installed, operated, and updated.