The United States is pressing ahead with a system to screen all air travellers and giving each a "red", "yellow" or "green" rating depending on the security threat they pose.
A test phase in recent months won little support from airlines, but the government will now order airlines to hand over passenger records for inspection by officials.
A US Transportation Security Administration computer will run a series of checks, deciding whether each passenger poses a risk.
"Red" passengers will be banned from flying, "yellow" travellers will undergo further checks, while those marked as "green" will pass through the airport as usual.
The European Union has said the system will violate EU privacy laws as it will be applied to European citizens, but it has so far allowed the US to use passenger data for testing. The Bush administration is pushing ahead, however, and the order for airlines to hand over records could come as soon as next month.
The computerised system will collect passengers' names, addresses, dates of birth and travel itineraries. The details will then be fed into public databases to determine that the passenger is who he or she claims to be.
At the same time, a separate system will speed frequent fliers through airport procedures, but only if they volunteer personal information about themselves to the government.
That system was also criticised, with the American Civil Liberties Unions saying it could create "two classes of airline travellers".
AP