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Thousands Mistakenly End Up On Terrorist Watch List

December 7, 2005

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The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) mistakenly put thousands of unsuspecting airline passengers on a "terrorist watch" list, according to one agency official.

The individuals were "selectees," meaning they were singled out for additional screening and verification before boarding an airplane.

CNET News reported that Jim Kennedy, TSA's director of "redress," revealed the error at a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) "privacy and integrity" committee meeting on Dec. 6th.

Kennedy said that 30,000 people were categorized as "selectees" for various reasons, including "fitting a certain profile, flying on a one-way ticket, or being selected randomly by a computer."

Passengers who have been repeatedly detained and screened in error can submit a "Passenger Identity Verification Form" to get their names removed, Kennedy said.

Much like the process for fixing credit report errors, the correction can take as long as 60 days, and involves sending numerous personal documents to TSA, including notarized copies of one's birth certificate, passport, and driver's license.

TSA has been advocating the implementation of the "Secure Flight" passenger screening program in order to more easily distinguish normal passengers from possible terrorists or saboteurs. The "Secure Flight" program has been criticized by privacy watchdogs and government auditors for not properly protecting the privacy of passenger records, and for relying too heavily on commercial databases for its information.

The TSA was forced to abandon using commercial databases in order to push the plan forward.

In addition, the TSA had previously helped defense contracting company TorchConcepts acquire millions of passenger records from JetBlue airlines in order to build "risk assessments" of airline passengers, in violation of the 1974 Privacy Act and JetBlue's own privacy policy.

A federal judge recently dismissed a lawsuit against JetBlue for selling the data without passengers' consent.

Despite the millions of dollars spent on improving airline security and screening, there has been no clear indication that travelers are any safer or at any greater risk than they were prior to the September 11th terrorist attacks.

The TSA recently relaxed its rules on carrying small cutting tools such as scissors on board planes, in order to focus more aggressively on detecting explosives.

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