As Pre-check grows, so do security, privacy questions
TSA program set up to speed fliers past checkpoints
The Transportation Security Administration is expanding its expedited airport screening program called Pre-check for millions of passengers, although security and privacy experts continue to raise concerns.
More than 55 million have enjoyed a brisker walk through expedited screening, which includes Pre-check, since the program began in October 2011. Pre-check participants typically get through checkpoints faster by keeping on shoes and jackets and leaving laptops and liquids in carry-on bags. After starting with frequent fliers, the program is now open to general travelers who can pass a background check.
TSA Administrator John Pistole’s goal is to move half of all passengers through expedited screening by the end of the year.
“TSA Pre-check is enabling us to move away from a one-sizefits-all approach to transportation security, as we look for more opportunities to provide the most effective security in the most efficient way,” he said in opening a Pre-check application center last month at Washington Dulles.
The program is popular with business travelers and frequent fliers, even if the expansion leads to longer lines. Bob Lorentzen, a USA TODAY Road Warrior who heads a video company in Bradenton, Fla., joined the program early, and “it is the best thing that has happened at the airport since TSA started after 9/11.”
“I felt it was certainly worth paying the $85 if it ever saved me from missing just one flight,” said David Lusvardi, a Road Warrior and tourism sales manager from Las Vegas who missed a flight by five minutes before the program. “Since it is a voluntary program, I have no problem with giving them my personal information.”
TSA’s Ross Feinstein said the agency is expanding the number of Pre-check lanes and hours of operation “to enable more passengers across the country to experience expedited screening in the most efficient way possible.”
As the program grows, security experts question if it’s thorough enough. Privacy experts warn against giving up personal data for a fast trip through a checkpoint. “Either the assessments will be based on a laughable amount of information about people and will only be providing an illusion of security, or they will be so intrusive that the government will basically be doing background checks on everyone who flies,” said Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union’s speech, privacy and technology project.
Pre-check began at four airports for frequent fliers on specific airlines. It has expanded to 116 airports, and expedited screening covers children up to 12 years or travelers at least age 75, airline crewmembers and members of the military, even without Precheck background check.
Now travelers can apply for Pre-check for $85 for five years, by providing biographical information and fingerprints. Random travelers could also be chosen, after a screen for trace explosives by either dogs or a hand swab.
An average of 1,850 people every day are applying for Precheck, according to TSA.
“We’ve had such great experience in its early stages,” said Charles Carroll, senior vice president for identity services at MorphoTrust. “A lot of people are showing up as walk-ins.”
The Pre-check application asks for the traveler’s full name; gender; date of birth; city, state and country of birth; current and previous addresses; immigration status; height, weight and hair color; and Social Security number.
Participants must provide a photo and fingerprints, so applicants must apply in person, but a reservation can be made on TSA’s website. Applicants must bring documentation, such as a birth certificate or passport.
TSA already checked passenger names against a watch list to see whether the travelers were prohibited from flying or merited extra scrutiny. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also keeps a list that TSA checks of people not permitted on aircraft because of health concerns.
Under the Pre-check application, TSA will check applicants against unspecified law enforcement, immigration and intelligence databases, with the FBI checking criminal history using the fingerprints, says TSA’s privacy statement about the program.
TSA has “sole discretion” in determining who is eligible for Pre-check. Criminal convictions, not-guilty by reason of insanity pleas, and instances of being caught with a loaded firearm at a checkpoint may disqualify an applicant. TSA may share data with federal, state, local, tribal and foreign governments, “or other appropriate authority,” to determine if someone seems to be a transportation or national security risk.
Concerns about Pre-check focus on the balance of allowing travelers while blocking terrorists. For example, Pre-check lanes have metal detectors, while fullbody scanners for the general population aim to spot nonmetallic underwear bombs.
TSA officials note there are other layers of security, some of which are unseen. But security and privacy experts wonder if the Pre-check investigation is thorough enough or too invasive.
Khaliah Barnes, administrative law counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said TSA is basically denying travelers due process by determining if they’re high or low risk without the person being able to effectively challenge the decisions. TSA exempted itself from revealing which agencies get the data, she said. “Just because it’s voluntary doesn’t mean you need to check your privacy rights at your gate. The program is really presented as a way to streamline the process, and everybody wants to streamline that process. But the agency isn’t being clear to individuals about how much scrutinizing they do.”
Security expert Jeffrey Price, an author and associate professor at Metropolitan State University in Denver, joined as quickly as a version of the program was available. “With the Pre-check program opening up to everyone, it will cease to become a perk for the frequent flier and will become the standard screening for most everyone.”