Ridge admits all air travellers may have to register with the government

Confirming what many of us have already inferred , USA Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge said yesterday, in response to questions following a speach at the National Press Club, that all would-be airline travellers may eventually be required to register with the Department of Homeland Security, eliminating any claim that the DHS “Registered Traveler” program, already being deployed in a test phase, is “voluntary” or “consensual” and confirming that the combination of the “Registered Traveler” and Secure Flight programs will together be more invasive of travellers’ rights than the erstwhile CAPPS-II :

[Question]: Are there any plans to expand the registered traveler program to non-frequent flyers?

Secretary Ridge: … At some point in time, once that first decision is made as to whether we expand it, and it’s expanded, I would think it would be very appropriate to expand it to include those men, women, families who don’t travel as frequently…. We think the registered traveler program with frequent flyers is a good place to start, but that could also be a prequel. That could be the first step of enlarging it to not only other frequent travelers beyond the pilots, but potentially down the road, the citizens that even travel casually.

Perhaps we should rename the “Registered Traveler” program the “Airline Passenger License” program?