TSA Administrator Hawley Testifies About Watch Lists
News & Happenings
July 24, 2008
Today, Administrator Kip Hawley testified before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation on a number of issues, including TSA's use of subsets of the terror watch list and airline's misidentifying passengers as individuals on these watch lists.
We know misidentification hassles at the airline ticket counter is consistently among the most frustrating complaints of the traveling public. Many passengers are inconvenienced each day. That's why in April, DHS/TSA announced a solution to the problem that requires action by the airlines.
In order to eliminate the vast majority of situations, each airline now has the flexibility to create a system to verify and securely store a passenger's date of birth to clear up watch list misidentifications. By voluntarily providing this limited biographical data to an airline and verifying that information once at the ticket counter, travelers that were previously inconvenienced on every trip will now be able to check-in online or at remote kiosks. More airlines need to actively pursue this approach for all passengers.
As incentive for the airlines to take action, TSA announced plans to collect data from Air Carriers to determine how many cleared passengers are being forced to the ticket counters to verify their identification prior to being issued a boarding pass. TSA is also actively exploring enforcement action against Air Carriers who inaccurately tell passengers that they are watch-listed.
Furthermore, misinformation about the government watch lists is abundant. Let's clear that up:
There are less than 50,000 individuals on the no-fly and selectee lists. Individuals on the no-fly and selectee lists are identified by law enforcement and intelligence entities as legitimate threats to transportation that require either additional screening or are prohibited from boarding an aircraft. Watch lists are legitimate tools used everyday that keep people known to have ties to terrorism off commercial airplanes.
- Click here to read TSA Administrator Kip Hawley's testimony on Continuing Efforts to Improve Our Aviation Security Environment.
- Click here to read the TSA Myth Buster on "TSA's Watch List is More Than One Million People Strong."
