A new federal screening program designed to uncover terrorists working for U.S. government-backed aid organizations is drawing criticism from groups that say the vetting process is overly intrusive, undermines their mission, and could endanger the lives of their employees, the New York Times reports.

Authorized by Congress and run by USAID, the Partner Vetting System (PVS) requires nonprofits to collect detailed personal data — including biographical information and bank account numbers — on each officer, board member, and critical employee associated with aid projects funded by the United States. The information is then shared and put through classified intelligence and law enforcement databases to check for connections to terrorist groups. The program, which went into effect June 27, initially will operate in five countries — Guatemala, Kenya, Lebanon, the Philippines, and Ukraine — but could be expanded, officials told the Times. The government has operated similar screening programs for years in Afghanistan, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.

While there have been no documented cases of U.S. aid ending up in the hands of terrorists, officials say the program is needed and told the Times that the evaluation program has helped stop $600 million in U.S. aid from ending up in the hands of individuals or groups suspected of being or supporting terrorists, mostly in Afghanistan. The agency did not reveal over what time period that had had happened.

Critics of the program warn that collecting information on aid workers — many of them local employees — could have devastating consequences for those who are risking their lives in conflict zones. In Pakistan, for instance, a handful of international aid organizations, including Save the Children, have been accused of having connections to or providing cover for intelligence operations. According to data compiled by aid organizations, 155 aid workers were killed in 2013 (the last year for which data is available), while 171 were seriously wounded and 134 were kidnapped — a 66 percent year-over-year increase in the number of violent attacks on aid workers. The collection of data on workers by U.S. intelligence agencies could lead to more attacks, aid groups argue, while local groups may refuse to work with U.S.-funded organizations and programs for fear of having their names added to government intelligence databases.

"We are vehemently opposed to this program," said Samuel A. Worthington, president of InterAction, an umbrella group of humanitarian organizations. "Aid is supposed to be done separately from intelligence." Aid groups have long screened local partners, Worthington added, by running their names through publicly available databases at the Treasury Department and through long-established relationships developed over years.

The vetting system already has prompted several aid groups to pull out of U.S. government-funded projects. They include Mercy Corps, which backed out of a $38 million USAID program aimed at helping farmers in four northeastern provinces in Afghanistan because it did not want to turn over the names of its local partners. "The requirements of PVS will undermine the trust that communities where we work have in us," said Craig Redmond, Mercy Corps' senior vice president of programs, adding that the organization also was concerned that the screening program could affect its work in eastern Ukraine, where, with the help of a $2.5 million USAID grant, the group is delivering food and repairing water and sewer lines. "We cannot help innocent Ukrainian civilians who are impacted by the conflict," said Redmond, "if there is even a whisper that humanitarian groups are possibly collecting personal data for any side."