The TSA gets expanded access to information about you when you fly

[kangofu]

Security Check Now Starts Long Before You Fly
Source - The New York Times
By SUSAN STELLIN
Published: October 21, 2013 The Transportation Security Administration is expanding its screening of passengers before they arrive at the airport by searching a wide array of government and private databases that can include records like car registrations and

Comments

[anolinde]

Oh my God.

[nicosian]

I vaguely worry if they start looking at past travel itineraries, because my passport is kind of a...well, I travel a lot and I go to Dragoncon every year and I'm just waiting for the whole picture to get me flagged.

( I already get the shifty eye for the chinese visa stuck in my passport. And the page where going on the eurostar gets you stamped thru belgium, france, netherlands and london in what looks like one day. )

I KNOW it's a billion times worse for non caucasian passengers, and it's really shitty that all their "enhanced screening" seems to coincide with a middle eastern name.

Basically, the TSA: doing no one, no good.

[moonshaz]

Anyone who has never traveled outside the United States would not have a passport number on file and would therefore not be subject to the rules that the agency uses to determine risk, she said, although documents indicate that the agency is prescreening all passengers in some fashion.

So...does this mean someone who has never traveled outside the US could slide right by? Because, in that case, wtf is even the POINT? All the terrorists would need to do is recruit someone without an international travel history and a non-Middle Eastern sounding name, and they can skate right on through?

Maybe I'm not reading this right/misunderstanding, but I. Don't. Get. It.

I have never traveled outside the U.S. and haven't even been on a domestic flight since 1992. And the more I hear, the less I want to EVER fly on ANY kind of commercial airline flight. It sounds like you practically get turned inside out before you can get on a plane. DO NOT WANT. AT ALL. EVER.

[et_tu_lulu]

Uggg, this shit stresses me out so much. I've not flown for years, but I go through airport security a few times a year to escort my kid to the gate and every.single.time I get pulled aside and patted down, purse dumped out, purse swabbed, shoes swabbed. The last few times, I go through without anything other than my ID and car keys so there is less for them to search through.

I'm flying during the holidays and I can only imagine what I'll get to experience as an actual ticketed person.

[chaya]

I'm reminded of when we first heard about the body-scanners; a ton of personal information available to employees we don't know we can trust with it.

Some of those bodyscan pictures ended up getting out and going up for sale, didn't they? Pictures of kids?

As long as the TSA isn't run by and employing reliable people who can handle sensitive info, this shit will never work.