by Scott Ott
(2004-01-12) -- The Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) new enhanced program to screen all airline passengers will expand later this year so that no one may enter a train, stadium, school, shopping mall or bank in the United States without undergoing a thorough background check, a metal-detector scan and possibly a body search.
Starting next month, the TSA's Computer Assisted Passenger PreScreening Program (CAPPS 2) will compare airline passenger lists with computer databases, then classify each passenger with a color code (red, yellow, green) representing the individual's potential threat to the flight.
"This is a great advance in American liberty," said an unnamed spokesman for the TSA. "Thanks to this technology, you'll soon feel safe wherever you are because you'll know that everyone around you has been thoroughly vetted by our federal government."
Eventually, the system will interact with the computer chips in personal vehicles, screening each driver and passenger before allowing access to cars, trucks and Segway Human Transporters.
"When we get all the circuits humming," the official added, "each person will wear a color-coded threat-level badge everytime he or she leaves home. Through GPS technology, the badge will be updated in real time. It's the government's job to protect each citizen from all threats. And the biggest threat to people is other people. When you know which people are ThreatCon Yellow or Red, you can make wiser choices."
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