"How Airlines, Government Check Watch Lists"

Friday, September 24, 2004

How Airlines, Government Check Watch Lists
By LESLIE MILLER
The Associated Press


WASHINGTON (AP) - The deportation of Yusuf Islam, the singer formerly known
as Cat Stevens who was stopped while flying into the United States, exposed
problems with the way perceived threats to aviation are identified. 

Islam was removed from a London-to-Washington flight this week after U.S.
officials discovered he was aboard, even though his name was on a "no-fly"
list that airlines use to keep dangerous people off planes. The aircraft was
diverted to Maine's Bangor International Airport, where federal agents met
the plane and interviewed Islam before sending him back to England. 

Here, in question and answer form, is a look at the government's watch
lists. 

Q: How does the government keep known terrorists off commercial airliners? 

A: At the check-in counter, airline employees check passenger names against
a "no-fly" list and an "automatic selectee" list, which flags them for extra
screening. 

Q: What's the difference? 

A: The no-fly list includes names of people who are deemed a direct threat
to aviation. The selectee list includes names of people who need extra
attention from security, because of intelligence information. People on the
no-fly list aren't allowed to board planes. 

Q: Do airlines check names against terrorist watch lists? 

A: No, because the government is reluctant to share classified information
with private companies or foreign countries. 

Q: How many names are on the lists? 

A: The Homeland Security Department won't say, but says the lists have been
greatly expanded since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Estimates range from
tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. 

Q: Does anyone check passenger names against terrorist watch lists? 

A: Yes, for international flights into the United States. Fifteen minutes
after a plane takes off, airlines transmit passenger data to the Customs
Service's National Targeting Center. 

Q: What kind of passenger data? 

A: Passport information - name, passport number, country of issuance and
birthdate - and passenger name records. The amount of information in
passenger name records varies by person and airline. It generally includes
name, address, flight details, seat location and form of payment. It can
also include itinerary for an entire trip, travel agent, credit card number
and meal preference. 

Under an agreement with the European Union, certain data elements are
filtered out, such as meal preference. 

Q: What does the National Targeting Center do with the names on flights from
overseas? 

A: Law enforcement officials use various computer programs to compare the
passenger data with names on lists, including lists of terrorists, wanted
criminals and people who've violated immigration laws. 

Q: What happens if someone on the no-fly list is on a flight? 

A: The response includes diverting the plane to another airport or
forbidding the plane to enter U.S. airspace. Law enforcement officials meet
suspects upon landing and interview them. 

Q: How do people get on the list? 

A: The Transportation Security Administration compiles the lists based on
information from other federal agencies. 

Q: How do people find out how they got on the list? 

A: They don't. 

Q: How do people get off the list if they feel they've been mistakenly
tagged as a terrorist? 

A: They can clear up confusion if they think they've been mistaken for
someone else on the list by calling the TSA's consumer response center at
866-289-9673 and finding out what the procedures are. To remove someone from
the list, the TSA consults with the agencies that supplied the information. 

Q: Why was Islam allowed on the plane? 

A: United Airlines and the government are investigating. But some airlines
have old reservation systems that only include part of a person's name.
Sometimes names, especially Arabic ones, are spelled several different ways
and don't match the names on the lists. It wasn't until Islam's passenger
data was forwarded to the National Targeting Center that trained law
enforcement officials identified him. 

Q: Shouldn't the government be checking passenger names against all the
lists? 

A: That's what the Homeland Security Department and the Sept. 11 commission
say. The department on Tuesday announced a plan to check the passenger name
records of people on domestic flights against watch lists. 

Q: Why hasn't that been done already? 

A: Privacy advocates, both liberal and conservative, have blocked a similar
plan. They were concerned about the government having access to large
amounts of personal information about people. They question whether the
Homeland Security Department has a strong enough commitment to a system for
allowing innocent people to get off the lists. They're concerned about lists
that are developed in secrecy and could be used to target people with
politically unpopular positions. 

On the Net: 

Transportation Security Administration: http://www.tsa.gov 

Homeland Security Department: http://www.dhs.gov


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