Secure Flight, a new program for identifying terrorist suspects on planes will take off in early 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The program will require airlines to supply the government with more comprehensive information about passengers. It will also take Homeland Security Department a step closer toward full responsibility for pre-flight passenger screening. Right now, screening is undertaken by each airline separately.
The Secure Flight program promises to match the names of passengers boarding flights heading in and out of the U.S. with the names on suspected terrorist watch lists. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says that it will make this process more effective and reduce flagging innocent people.
Airline Security Paradox: Too Porous and Too Restrictive
Airline security in the stepped-up post 9/11 environment has been faced with two problems. One, it appears to be too loose, as instances of terrorist attack attempts demonstrate. (DHS head Michael Chertoff pointed to the thwarted August 2006 effort to bring liquid explosives on board a UK flight, when he introduced Secure Flight).
The second problem is that watch lists are snagging too many innocent people. The Secure Flight Program says it will reduce this risk. This will definitely come at the cost of passengers' privacy, though. The DHS says that supplying extra private information (such as gender, and date of birth) will be voluntary, but it's pretty clear that not supplying such information will make travel more inconvenient.
There are three dangers in this scenario:
- Giving the government more information may not make us more secure. It's good for the government to have the names of people who are wanted by law enforcement, but that is hardly the real meat of counterterrorism. There other areas of terrorism prevention that must also be operative, from treating root causes like political discontent to making sure that known terrorists are tried and convicted.
- Giving out more personal information, voluntarily, is a slippery slope. Arguably, we're already pretty far down that slope. I can't remember exactly the day that I gave up the effort to keep my social security from credit card companies, stores and other businesses asking for it, but I know I'm not going back to withholding it. These businesses, and the government too, can make it extremely inconvenient to withhold information. And while giving over each bit of personal information may not seem like much, it's good to be conscious of the value of what we are giving away when we permit the government (or any business) access to information that signals who we are, where we live and what we do.
- There is no promise that the information we give away won't be misused. We already know that no-fly lists and other lists (such as the Specially Designated Nationals lists maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control) have been inappropriately used by realtors and loan offerors seeking to weed out applicants for their services. We have the right as citizens to ask that our government be respectful of our information, and ensure it is not abused.
The Secure Flight program virtually ensures that much more information will be required of some individuals if they want to fly without being subjected to 'enhanced screening' or even denied boarding. Such passengers will be called "known travelers," and will have numbers assigned to them following a "terrorist security threat assessment." The government acknowledges that it has not yet determined "which categories of individuals should be considered Known Travelers. However, the Known Traveler process is designed to reduce false positives from being triggered on watch lists. False positives are now triggered primarily when people have one or more names that match those of known or suspected terrorists (such as "Muhammad," or "Osama.") Plus, what does it say about our American ideals if some Americans have to have an extra identification number in order to travel, just because of their name?
As long as the initial process for identifying potential processes is weak and prejudicial, the processes that flow from it will be as weak and likely to be profiling, rather than identifying, suspects based on evidence.
Tell the Government What You Think of the Secure Flight Program
There are a couple of ways of letting the government know what you think about Secure Flight, and an associated Plan, Advance Passenger Information System (APIS), which is scheduled to go into effect at the end of 2008.
1. First, get the information you'll need to evaluate the program. The Department of Homeland Security has created several summaries of the program including:
Most important is the plan itself, which is written in a document called the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
.2. If you have comments there are a few ways to submit them. A couple are through government websites: Regulations.gov or the Docket Management System. I find these difficult to maneuver through, though.
The easiest way to make your point is by mailing or faxing your comments directly to:
U.S. Department of Transportation,Docket Operations, M-30
West Building Ground Floor, room W12-140
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE
Washington DC, 20590
Fax No. 202-493-2251
The TSA includes the following guidelines for submitting a comment:
With each comment, please include your name and address, identify the docket number at the beginning of your comments [it's TSA-2007-28572] and give the reason for each comment. The most helpful comments reference a specific portion of the rulemaking, explain the reason for any recommended change and include supporting data. You may submit comments and materiel electronically, in person, by mail, or fax, but please submit your comments by only one means. If you submit comments by mail or delivery, submit them in two copies, in an unbound format, no larger than 8.5 by 11 inches, suitable for copying and electronic filing. If you want the TSA to acknowledge recept of comments submitted by mail, include a self-addressed, stamped postcard with the docket number on it.
