Don't that CAPPS the climax?

Via a link from TalkLeft, we hear that CAPPS II is apparently in serious trouble. It couldn't happen to a nicer Big Brother system.

Washington, February 11 (UPI) - A congressional report to be published Friday slams the planning for a controversial new computer screening system designed to identify potential terrorists among airline passengers, saying it has failed a series of tests set by lawmakers. ...

The damning report may prevent funds for the system, known by the acronym CAPPS II, for Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-screening System phase two, from being released by Congress. ...

"I'm even more worried now about the implementation of this system than I was before," said former Georgia GOP congressman Bob Barr, a long-standing critic of the proposal. "This should be the death knell for this idea, but I think it will take a great deal of courage and perseverance by congress to kill this off." ...

Concerned lawmakers set a series of eight tests - enacted into law in several funding bills - that the system had to pass before money could be released to fund its implementation. The tests included establishing a process for correcting erroneous information and restoring the right of wrongly labeled innocent passengers to travel by air; assuring the security of the system from hackers and internal abuse; addressing privacy concerns; and - crucially - providing evidence that the screening will actually turn up potential terrorists.

The summary says the Transportation Security Administration failed on all these counts.

Damn, when I agree with Bob Barr on something, it's worth making note of. But I've long held that privacy is an area where left and right meet and diverge in all sorts of odd combinations.