Scrutiny

Michelle Higgins has an article in The New York Times about the TSA and vigilance:

Airline passengers have been asked to remove their shoes, shrink their toiletries, and submit to full-body scans. Now one more thing must be inspected: their middle initials.
In an effort to beef up security, the job of matching passengers’ names against terrorist watch lists is being transferred from commercial airlines to the Transportation Security Administration. The government initiative, known as Secure Flight, seeks to reduce the number of times passengers are misidentified as possible terrorists, in part by standardizing how names are matched, but also by now including age and gender in a passenger’s profile.
In the first phase, which was instituted earlier this year, the security agency asked airlines to begin collecting passenger names as they appear exactly, letter for letter, on government-issued IDs like passports and driver’s licenses. The second phase, effective 15 August, requests airlines to ask passengers for their gender and date of birth. In theory, the new rules are designed to help the Transportation Security Administration distinguish between a John X. Doe who is a 9-year-old boy, and a John Z. Doe who is a 34-year-old man on a terrorist list. But the new rules are also creating a lot of confusion, and a lot of misinformation is spreading among travelers. In particular, the new name requirement is causing some passengers to worry that they will be barred from flying. For example, if a plane ticket reads “Pat Jones” instead of “Patricia X. Jones”— as it appears on her passport— will she be barred? Or what if someone goes by a middle name? Or what if the middle initial was mistyped? In an effort to clear things up, here are answers to some common concerns:
Will I be turned away at the airport if my passport reads “Jonathan M. Smith,” but my reservation is under “Jon Smith”?
Transportation Security Administration officials say no. Under Secure Flight, the security agency checks a person’s name against the terrorist watch list shortly after a reservation is made, and usually well before someone gets to the airport and a boarding pass is printed, said Paul Leyh, the program director of Secure Flight. Once a person is cleared, Mr. Leyh added, Secure Flight gives the airline permission to issue that passenger a boarding pass. In other words, anyone with a boarding pass has already cleared Secure Flight.
What if someone prefers to go by his or her middle name, or some other variation from the name printed on their government-issued ID? Do they have to change their ID now?
The security agency is not asking passengers to change their IDs. What passengers are being asked to do is to travel under the name that is on the government ID. Slight differences should not be an issue, but the Transportation Security Administration says that providing all the information accurately (name just as it appears on the ID, date of birth, and gender) will reduce delays and misidentifications by more than 99 percent. To keep things consistent, you might consider changing the name on your driver’s license to match your passport, unless you always carry a passport as your government-issued ID for all of your travel, domestic and international.
But I heard you can be turned away by security if your name doesn’t match your ID. Is that true?
Yes, but that is already the case and it has nothing to do with Secure Flight. The agents at the security gate already check that the name on your boarding pass matches your identification. If there are significant differences (for example, if your passport says “Michelle Rose Higgins,” but you hate your first name, so your boarding pass reads “Rose Higgins”), you may be delayed for additional screening. But Transportation Security Administration says that isn’t because of Secure Flight. As before, whether you are allowed through will ultimately be left to the security agent’s discretion, so being courteous might not be a bad idea. To help cut down on the confusion, the agency is offering a video explaining Secure Flight on its home page and its own list of frequently asked questions.
What about children who don’t have an ID card or a passport?
Though children need a passport to travel internationally, the Transportation Security Administration does not require minors (seventeen and under) to present a photo ID to pass through security. Agents may ask the minor or accompanying adult to state the individual’s full name and date of birth instead. While an ID may help the minor avoid secondary screening, it is not mandatory.
Will Secure Flight affect my frequent flier programs?
It may. As Mike Weingart, president of Travel Leaders, a travel agency based in Houston, explained, “If I am Michael Nat Weingart on my passport, Michael N. Weingart on my driver’s license, and Mike Weingart on my frequent flier program, it won’t work.” To receive mileage credits, he said, the names must match, so he is advising clients to make sure all their travel profiles and IDs agree. As a pre-emptive step, passengers with different names on their frequent flier accounts should change them to match their IDs. Airlines often require a fax or a letter to make that request. Meanwhile, keep your boarding passes in case you need to submit a request for miles retroactively.
What if I’m mistakenly identified as someone on the terrorist watch list?
You can apply for a redress number through the Traveler Redress Inquiry Program of the Department of Homeland Security; you will be required to provide additional verification to clear your identity. Under Secure Flight, passengers can enter their redress numbers at the time of booking to distinguish themselves from people on the list.
Why isn’t my airline asking for my full name, gender, or birth date yet?
The Transportation Security Administration set 15 August as a target date for the airlines to begin compliance, but many airlines and travel agencies are still updating their reservation systems to accept the new information. So instead of a hard deadline, Secure Flight is being rolled out, airline by airline, over the next year or so.
All domestic airlines are expected to be in compliance by the first quarter of 2010 and international carriers by the end of 2010. Of the larger airlines, Delta is expected to be ready this weekend, Southwest by 1 October, and American sometime this fall. Some smaller carriers, like Allegiant Air based in Las Vegas, are already collecting full passenger names, gender, and birth dates.
So, for now, what will be the biggest change?
For most passengers, nothing, except having to provide your birth date and gender when booking a flight.