An article from The Register about why NASA wanted data on 10 million Northwest Airlines passengers:
"This shows that NASA was working on data mining, that this work had relevance to CAPPS follow-ups, and that it envisaged a system using biometrics to check both with a central database and to match the booked passenger with the flying passenger (page 12). So far, so fairly prosaic, but the requirement 'must detect people who may pose a threat but are unknown' is a tricky one. So, what about 'non-invasive neuro-electric sensors'? The NASA presentation says it is working on this interesting technology in collaboration with an unnamed commercial partner. Such a system, if deployed, would likely work in conjunction with data mining and biometric screening in order to kick up people who might be having suspicious thoughts, or seem suspiciously nervous.
That's the kind of notion that makes you suspiciously nervous just thinking about going to the airport - there goes your holiday, friend... "
