Are you on the Federal Terror Watchlist?
According to a C|Net article, 30,000 airline passengers have been mistakenly placed on the federal watch list. Having your name match with a name on the watchlist means you are subject to extra screening. According to Jim Kennedy, director of the Transportation Security Administration’s redress office, none of these passengers were kept from boarding.
In order to avoid these inconveniences, a person must submit forms to the TSA proving their identity, and the evaluation of these forms can take 45 to 60 days. At this point, the passenger’s name is not removed from the list. Instead, their name is put on a “clearance” list. This means they will not be able to check-in at a kiosk, and they would typically have to explain their situation to a customer service representative at check-in.
As a private citizen, I understand that sometimes all we have to go on is a name. Consider the possibility that a list of names were found in a known-terrorist’s desk drawer. These names are then put on the watchlist. This seems like a reasonable action. However, as a computer scientist and a researcher, it seems inefficient and almost irresponsible to just place a person’s name on a “clearance” list after having their identity verified and still subject the individual to inconvenience whenever they travel. If this is the best that the government has come up with, it seems a bit disturbing.
In the government’s defense, it seems they are trying to rectify these issues with a new Secure Flight program that is currently being scrutinized before approval. According to this GovExec.com article, Homeland Security is in the final stages of approving a new pre-flight screening process. The Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Commitee is advising them to narrowly focus the pre-screening program, possibly by requiring a passenger’s name and date of birth. The advisory panel also says that the TSA has yet to fully define Secure Flight, while the American Civil Liberties Union has repeatedly called on Homeland Security to eliminate the program.
Read more about this C|Net story here.