Threat Level Privacy, Crime and Security Online Secure Flight Comes to Southwest Airlines, Six Years Later

Six years ago the federal government proposed taking over the job of comparing passenger names against the terrorist watch lists. Just this week, Southwest Airlines frequent fliers are being asked to update their profiles with name, gender and date of birth information in order to let the feds try that system out.

In an e-mail to its frequent fliers, Southwest says it has been working with the government to “introduce” Secure Flight, the long-delayed successor to the current system of having airlines compare passenger names against the tens of thousands of names on the government’s No-Fly and Selectee lists. Southwest frequent fliers are being asked to provide:

1. A full name, exactly as it appears on the current (non-expired) government-issued photo ID that you will be traveling with
2. Date of birth
3. Gender
4. The TSA-issued Redress Number** (if applicable)

For those wary of turning over such info, Southwest suggests they just do it.

“It is to your advantage to provide the above information to potentially prevent delays or inconveniences at the airport, especially for those individuals who have similar names to those on the watch lists,” Southwest said.

Soon all domestic fliers, who number more than 2 million daily, will be asked to provide that information when they purchase a ticket. A redress number is given out though the DHS-TRIP program to people who match against the list, but aren’t the people on the list.

Under Secure Flight, the airlines send that information to the TSA 72 hours before a flight so that the Terrorist Screening Center can check the data against the watch lists to see if any match.

The feds hope the extra info will increase accuracy in a system that has snagged many innocent, but unluckily named, travelers in its nets. Congress mandated the takeover after the hijackings on 9/11, but the system has been slowed by repeated privacy scandals and the technical difficulty of integrating the second largest IT system in the world with Homeland Security’s.

Southwest isn’t the first major airline to attempt compliance with the new system — American Airlines announced in mid-September that it would start asking for more information for persons booking flights and advised its frequent fliers to update their profiles to use their name exactly as it shows up on their I.D. card.

Famous examples of those caught by the current system that relies only on name matching include Sen. Edward Kennedy, an important nun, federal employees with security clearances, Cat Stevens the singer (on the list) and Catherine Stevens - the wife of former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska).

Already Wired.com readers are writing in to ask if they should submit their information to Southwest.

“Will it really keep me more secure?” one reader asked. “I’m considering not entering this information. I already have a driver’s license that is not expired … Shouldn’t this be enough to get me on a plane?”

A TSA spokeswoman suggests that choice is not wise.

“At the very least there would be a delay at the ticket counter,” spokeswoman Suzanne Trevino said. “Ultimately, they could be denied a boarding pass.”

Passengers who have no identification, lost it or prefer not to show it may still be able to fly after getting extra screening, but they have to be nice to airport screeners or else they won’t be allowed through the metal detectors, according to TSA policy. Source www.wired.com