| No-fly List |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT NO FLY LIST | |
| united states department of homeland security | |
| aviation in the united states | |
| security | |
| terrorism | |
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CONTROVERSY The No Fly List has raised Civil Liberties concerns, due in part to the potential for ethnic, religious, economic, political or Racial Profiling and Discrimination . Particular concern has been raised about the use of Credit Report s in calculating the risk score. In response to the controversy, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) stated it would not use a person's Credit Score to determine his/her risk score, and that it would comply with all rights guaranteed by the First and Fourth Amendments . Stuart Taylor went on to explain the controversy; Government entities external to the U.S., such as the European Union , expressed concerns about allowing the CAPPS II proposal to be implemented within their respective borders. During the early testing of the No Fly List, and CAPPS II, the TSA privately requested airlines disclose massive amounts of private information about their passengers. Though intended only for testing, this action was likely a violation of the Privacy Act Of 1974 , which forbids the government from compiling secret databases on Americans. Though spokespeople from several major airlines initially denied these allegations, they later reneged and admitted they had disclosed the information, revealing they had not only lied to their own customers, but also to the government and the public. These admissions were followed by further admissions from the Transportation Security Administration and the United States Department Of Homeland Security , revealing the government had inappropriately requested and used this information. In the midst of this controversy, the " program. They have also begun testing of another program called '' Secure Flight '', which is supposed to solve some of the problems of CAPPS I while avoiding the privacy issues of CAPPS II. SIZE According to the TSA, as of November 2005, 30,000 people in 2005 alone had complained their names were matched to a name on the list via the name matching software used by airlines.2 Less commonly known is that the list, while very long, also includes many duplicates. Some are common misspellings and some are different dates of birth. FALSE POSITIVES AND ALLEGED MISUSES A "false positive" occurs when a passenger is not on the No-Fly list, but he has a name that matches or is similar to a name on the list. When an airline ticket is purchased, the reservation system compares the passenger's name to the No-Fly list. "False positive" passengers will have a restriction placed in their reservation that prevents them from being issued a boarding pass until the airline has determined whether or not they are the actual person whose name is on the No-Fly List. Passengers are not told when a restriction has been placed on their reservation, and they normally do not find out that anything is unusual until they attempt to check-in for their flight. "False positive" passengers are not able to use Internet check-in or the automatic check-in kiosks in airports. Any attempt to use them will normally result in a message that the check-in cannot be completed and that passenger needs to see a live check-in agent. In order to be issued a boarding pass, a "false positive" passenger must present identification that sufficiently differentiates himself from the person on the No-Fly list. This can include, but is not limited to, date and place of birth, middle name, citizenship, passport number, etc. Depending on the airline, this clearance can be done either electronically, with the check-in agent keying the information into the system, or a manual procedure where the agent telephones a centralized security office to obtain clearance. Once a "false positive" passenger has been cleared for a flight, the clearance will usually, but not always, apply to the remaining flights on that reservation, including the return. However, the next time this passenger purchases an airline ticket he will have to be cleared all over again. If a passenger's identification is insufficient to differentiate that passenger from a name on the "No-Fly" list, the airline will refuse to issue a boarding pass and tell the passenger to contact the TSA . Policies vary from airline to airline as to whether a check-in agent will tell passengers why they must always have additional steps performed when they check-in, or why they are unable to check-in via Internet, kiosk, or at curbside. In some cases, check-in agents will incorrectly tell passengers that they must be cleared because they are "on the No-Fly list", when in fact they are simply a "false positive". False positive passengers who are ultimately issued boarding passes are not on the No-Fly list. In the majority of instances, passengers are not told anything, and it is only through the repeated experience of needing to be cleared or being unable to use curbside, Internet or automatic check-in that they discover they are a "false positive". False positive passengers are at a disadvantage when travelling due to the fact that their documents must be inspected by airline personnel, before they can be issued a boarding pass. Because this permanently excludes them being able to use Internet, kiosk, or curbside check-in, they are, at best, required to appear at the airport earlier than they might normally have, because they must wait on line to be cleared. Some airlnes do provide a special counter for this purpose. Other airlines simply require the passenger to wait on the line for passengers with checked baggage, even if they have no baggage to check. At worst, passengers have actually missed flights because the flights were oversold and all of the available boarding passes were already claimed by other passengers who were able to check-in via the Internet, or because airline personnel could not contact the airline's security department to obtain a clearance, or the passenger's identification didn't sufficiently differentiate them from a name on the "No Fly" list. Some false positives and abuses that have been in the news include, In alphabetical order: |
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