US to test if passenger lists can ID 'sleeper cells'

WASHINGTON -- The government will try to determine whether commercial data can be used to detect terrorist ''sleeper cells" when it checks airline passengers against watch lists, the official running the project says.

The Transportation Security Administration has been testing the project, known as Secure Flight, since November, but the project is being criticized on grounds it violates privacy laws.

Secure Flight is supposed to be a more accurate method of checking manifests against terrorist watch lists than the current system, which is run by the airlines. Many who are not terrorists have been told they cannot board flights because their names are similar to those on the no-fly list.