By JG Vibes | October 23, 2013
New TSA screenings will single out “high risk” passengers before they even arrive at the airport
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| NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 28: Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers walk through John F. Kennedy Airport on February 28, 2013 in New York City. Should the $85 billion in automatic federal budget cuts, known as the sequester, go into effect Friday as scheduled, airport control towers in a number of states could close, putting pilots and staff members at risk. In addition to the closed control towers, TSA workers could be furloughed, leading to long waits and confusion at many airport security checkpoints. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) |
A passenger’s level of risk will be determined by a series of factors including how often the person travels, where they stay when they travel, as well as any personal information that might show up on a background check.
Passengers names will be cross referenced in various government databases to assess the level of threat that they apparently pose.
“I think the best way to look at it is as a pre-crime assessment every time you fly,” said Edward Hasbrouck, a consultant to the Identity Project, one of the groups that oppose the prescreening initiatives.
“The default will be the highest, most intrusive level of search, and
anything less will be conditioned on providing some additional
information in some fashion.”[1]
The TSA responded with their typical fear mongering talk of preventing terrorism.
“Secure Flight has successfully used
information provided to airlines to identify and prevent known or
suspected terrorists or other individuals on no-fly lists from gaining
access to airplanes or secure areas of airports,” the security agency said in a statement. “Additional risk assessments are used for those higher-risk passengers.”
However, with how many mistakes that the
Department of Homeland Security has made with their “terorr watchlist”
and their “no fly list”, it is very obvious how dangerous and arbitrary
this new screening process is.
“The average person doesn’t understand how
much intelligence-driven matching is going on and how this could be
accessed for other purposes,” said Khaliah Barnes, a lawyer with the Electronic Privacy Information Center, which has fought to block these initiatives. “There’s no meaningful oversight, transparency or accountability.”
It has also been admitted by the TSA that
travel information may be shared with debt collection agencies when they
are attempting to track down a debtor.
In other TSA news, we recently reported that
the TSA will be deploying teams of military police into train stations,
subways and even music festivals.[2]
Sources:
[1] Security Check Now Starts Long Before You Fly – NYTimes
[2] NY Times Confirms That TSA VIPR Teams are Patrolling American Towns - Intellihub
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