Flying Without a Wallet
Aug 10th, 2008 by sherri
There’s been a lot of speculation among security professionals regarding TSA’s policies, since so much of it is shrouded in secret. Last month, TSA announced a change of policy: passengers who “willfully refuse to provide identification at security checkpoint will be denied access… This new procedure will not affect passengers that may have misplaced, lost or otherwise do not have ID but are cooperative with officers.”
I was curious to learn more about the TSA’s new practices for ID-less travelers. As a security professional, I decided to research TSA’s latest security screening procedures. Below is a recounting of my experiment.
What Happened
[Names have been changed. This account was written an hour after the events, and is accurate within the limits of my memory.]
I last saw my wallet on Monday, August 4, 2008 at the FedEx counter in Cambridge, where I dropped it into the envelope marked “Las Vegas, Nevada.” On Wednesday around 4PM, I arrived at Boston Logan airport without my wallet.
Without an ID, JetBlue’s All Services line was my only hope for checking bags. The long line moved interminably slowly. A JetBlue representative with long blonde hair moved down the line, talking to
each passenger.
“Boarding pass? Anyone have a boarding pass?” She stopped at me. “Ah! You have a boarding pass.”
“I don’t have my wallet,” I looked at her, wide-eyed. “Is there any way I can get on the plane?”
“Oh, don’t worry,” she said. “They’ll just send you through special screening. It’ll be fine. ”
“Really?” I said. “Am I in the right line?”
“Yup, this is the right line. You’ll be fine.”
After about a half hour, I got up to the JetBlue counter. I handed my boarding pass to the woman behind the counter and explained, “I don’t have my wallet. Do you think I’ll make it on the plane?”
“Oh,” she said. “You’ll make it. But go to the gate right away, because now they have to make a phone call.”
“A phone call?”
“They call someone in Washington, I think.”
“Washington?”
“To check your identity.” She conferred with the woman next to her. “Yes, Washington. CIA or FBI or something, I guess. So you want to go through right away. Could take a while.”
I checked my bag, thanked her, and headed to the security screening.
At the end of the roped-off walkway, two TSA officers stood at a wooden podium, checking IDs and boarding passes. I handed one TSA officer my boarding pass. “ID?” he said.
“I don’t have my ID.”
He looked me in the eye. “You have to have ID to get through security.”
“I don’t have my wallet.”
“You need to have ID to go through security.”
“I really don’t have it.” I said.
Pause. “Well,” the officer said, “Hold on.”
Another white-uniformed TSA officer approached with a clipboard. He was a short, middle-aged man with a badge that read “Andrew,” followed by a number. He led me a few feet away, to a shiny metal table just next to the entrance, and put the clipboard down.
“You don’t have your ID?”
“No, I don’t have my wallet,” I said.
“You know, you need to have ID to fly,” he said.
There was another awkward silence.
“I really don’t have it,” I said.
“What happened to it?” he asked.
“I don’t know where it is,” I said.
“Do you have anything with your name on it?” he asked.
I thought a moment. “Nope. Everything I have was in my wallet.”
“Are you sure?” he asked. “Credit cards, anything?”
I poked through my purse, and flipped through my journal. “No… I’m sorry. It was all in my wallet.”
The officer looked at me sternly. “You know, two and a half months ago TSA took over this, and now our policy is that you have to have identification to get through security. Either a passport, if you’re a foreigner, or federal identification.”
“Ah,” I said. “Passport. That would have been a good idea.”
Another awkward silence.
“They’re going to have to interview you to verify your identity. I can’t guarantee that you’ll get through. It depends on your situation, and,” he emphasized, “your reasons for not having identification.” He looked me straight in the eye. “It could take a while. You may not get
on the plane.”
Silence. I nodded.
After a moment, he gestured to the clipboard. “You’ll need to fill out this form.”
There was a stack of white single-sided forms on the clipboard. I bent down to fill out the top one. It was very simple, and looked something like this:
Full Name:
Current Address:
Previous address (if no current address):
Signature:
Date:
Then there was a block of legalese which indicated that my disclosure of this information was voluntary, but failure to disclose it might prevent me from being granted access to the secured area. Finally, there was a block of text which indicated that falsifying information was
punishable by imprisonment or fines.
I printed my name and address, read the block of text carefully, and then signed the document.
A man in a dark suit with a TSA pin approached. The name on his badge was Peters. He introduced himself as John Peters.
“How old are you?” he asked.
“Twenty-seven.”
“And you don’t have identification?”
I shook my head. “I don’t have my wallet.”
“What happened to it?”
“I’m not sure where it is.”
“You need to have identification to pass through security.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I really don’t have it.”
At that point a large woman tried to walk past us, between the security workers and the silver table. Mr. Peters turned around and stopped her. “I’m sorry, ma’am, are you a passenger?”
“No,” said the woman, “I just dropped off my 90-year-old parents, and I need to go back there to help my mother find her cell phone.”
“I’m afraid I can’t let you through,” he said. “You’ll have to talk to the JetBlue staff.”
She argued with him for a little while, but he politely insisted, each time becoming visibly more frazzled. Finally, she repeated, “Go to the JetBlue counter.” He nodded. She left.
He returned. I smiled wanly. “Busy day.”
Mr. Peters nodded, and then looked down at the sheet which I had filled out and signed. “I’m going to have to make some calls to verify your identity.”
I nodded.
He pulled out a cell phone. I had assumed that we would be going to some separate screening room, but that wasn’t the case. He stood facing the silver table, and I leaned back against it. So this was the dreaded interview. People walked past us with bags and luggage.
“Hello,” he said. “Security.” Long pause. It sounded like he was transferred. He said a number that I think had the same number of digits as a phone number. Then he said a shorter number. “No, she
doesn’t.” He wrote something in small letters on the form. Then he spelled my name over the phone. “D-A-V-I-D-O-F-F. That’s Indigo Delta… yes.”
He looked at me. “What’s the name of a street that you lived on prior to your current address?”
“Inman.”
“Inman,” he repeated. There was a pause. “Where did you live in 2004?”
“Hmm…” I said. “New Mexico? I think? Maybe Massachusetts.”
He conferred with the person on the phone. “That’s fine.” He hung up.
“All right,” he said. “You’re going to go through full security screening.” He wrote “SSSS” in red marker on my printed boarding pass. He handed my form to one of the officers at the podium, and then gestured to the first screening line. “Right here.”
Almost through. I got into the security screening line as usual, pulled my laptop out and placed it into the gray bin. Instead of my usual hacker stickers, this time a sickeningly cute picture of puppy dogs gazed up at me. I had hurridly taped it over the hacker stickers before leaving for the airport, figuring I shouldn’t push my luck. I placed my flip flops and purse in the other gray bins and walked beside them down the conveyor belt.
When I got up to the metal detectors, I handed my red-scribbled boarding pass to the TSA employee. The big officer looked down at me and said something like, “Female assist, full screening, no alarm.”
A female officer named Menendez brought me to the end of the line, and another male officer carried my backpack, purse and laptop along with us. He placed my belongings on a counter next to explosives detection equipment.
Officer Menendez politely indicated that I should place my feet right on top of the painted yellow footprints, and then raise my arms straight out. She patted down my torso, legs and ran a detector over my body. Meanwhile, I watched the other officer check each of my bags for explosives. He used metal tongs to pick up a small white square which looked like paper, and then he ran the square it across the inside pocket of my backpack. Then he put it in the machine. The machine said, “Analyzing….” and then, in yellow, “Passed.” He did the same thing for my purse, and finally, my computer.
Apparently my computer was filled with explosives. The officers conferred with an older man who seemed to be the explosives machine expert, and then they picked up my laptop and it back to the X-ray machine a second time.
The puppy dogs looked a little sad rolling down the conveyor belt a second time. “Does it alert for computers a lot?” I asked officer Menendez.
“Oh, different things,” she said. “Computers, backpacks. We just run it through a second time.” The male officer brought my computer to the back counter. “You’re done.”
I stepped forward to pick up my stuff. The older explosives machine gentleman was standing next to me, tinkering with the machine.
“So what happened?” I said. “Why did my computer alert?”
He shrugged. “It happens. As long as it’s clean the second time, you’re fine.” I wasn’t sure he realized that they hadn’t run it through the explosives machine a second time, only the X-ray
machine. Not that it really mattered.
“Well, thanks!” I said.
“Have a wonderful evening.”
Analysis
- Recall that to indicate that I required extra screening, staff wrote in red Sharpie on my boarding pass. If I had simply printed off a second boarding pass at home, I could have presented that instead of the marked one, and gone through the metal detector as usual. In other words, passengers without ID can travel without undergoing any extra screening other than “identity verification.” A lawyer friend of mine commented that “if TSA marked ‘SSSS’ on a person’s hand rather than a piece if paper…the airport’s security would at least be as good as a bar’s.”
- Since the answers to the identification verification questions are so widely known, someone could easily have impersonated me and traveled under my name. Many people know that I lived in New Mexico, and the name of the street where I used to live. As a private citizen, I would much rather that the TSA allow anonymous travel than create a system where identity “verification” is required, but it is very easy to impersonate other people.
- Real attackers will just use fake IDs or identities and pass through unnoticed. Thanks to the age restrictions on alcohol, America has a flourishing ID forgery and resale industry, and faking federal identification is not difficult.
- It’s interesting to know that there’s an on-call system which TSA agents can use to do a quick background check on passengers. What information is in this system? If an attacker were to remember or record the numbers used by the TSA officer during the call, could they later gain access?
Rather than increasing security, the new policy change merely ensures that private citizens who express the wish to travel anonymously are punished for doing so. As Bruce Schneier says, “I don’t think any further proof is needed that the ID requirement has nothing to do with security, and everything to do with control.”
It’s important for private citizens to be able to travel without being tracked if they wish. I am not a criminal. I just don’t believe it’s anybody’s business where I go. I understand the need for ensuring the safety of our transportation infrastructure, and as such, searching passengers before boarding makes sense.
The freedom to travel anonymously also underlies our right to peacefully assemble. When a government tracks its citizens and can arbitrarily decide to limit or cut off travel, that threatens our democracy. This is especially true in our global society, where many people rely on air travel, trains and the highway just to see their families.
TSA’s new policy, which is to focus on finding “dangerous people” rather than objects, poses enormous challenges. It requires that the agency make sweeping judgments about travelers with very little information, and in a very short amount of time. It is simply not feasible to accomplish this accurately.
We need to make sure our airports are safe, but at the same time, we have to be very careful not to destroy the very thing we are trying to protect: our free country.
[...] things go a little more smoothly at Logan International Airport, where she eventually managed to clear her way through the Transportation Security Administration’s security screening and fly out to this week’s [...]
How do you thing this would have gone if you were a brown-skinned twenty-something male? Throw in a beard and an indian accent and you’d be in for a real treat; I imagine.
Hi,
Thanks for this interesting read. The new policies are clearly thought out by people who don’t want to threat people themselves. If you have a mindset of a real attacker, most weak spots come clear in a minute.
If you really like the stuff about identification etc. maybe you can look up the stories about Irene Gravenhorst. She went through the whole ID loosing thing in a big way. She now knows what the government means with ID and how you can use it to claim certain rights.
http://www.0×000000.com/?i=627
- Unomi -
[...] “They call someone in Washington, I think.” Flying Without a Wallet [...]
While you could have used you printed at home boarding pass, it would not have the marks of approval for no extra checks and then you would have still received extra attention, which are questions and screenings. I have a lot of boarding passes from all over and I don’t have any with the same approval scripts, they seem to change often.
[ Very good point! Although they are pretty easy to see on other people's boarding passes, and trivial to fake once you've seen them. -sherri ]
A great story , i currently am working on getting my commerical pilots license in canada. Watching the events that have taken place since sept 11 have really done more damage then the original attacks did. Current air laws have been changed and changed and changed to the point that the books of laws change almost constantly. The freedom of a country is clearly being outweighted by the fear of another attack which will eventually happen over the close of human history.
I hope eventually once the current government switchs , laws to change the currently laws are passed, allowing more freedom in using the airways for transport, and also keeping a safe place for people to travel.
The same could be said for hotel accomodations and charge card purchases. If a traveler provides a valid reservation confirmation certificate and/or number, and a valid credit card in the same name, why should he or she have to also produce a picture ID? Yet many hotels now require a picture ID in order to check in. To add more aggravation, if you are making a large purchase, traveling out of state or staying a at a hotel week or more (with a large resulting charge), your credit card company may insist on the hotel calling the credit card company for verification. The credit card company will also demand you show a picture ID, or provide other personal information (such as utility payments, etc.) to verify your ID. This is supposedly to guard against identity theft, yet all the information they ask for would be easy for a thief to get if they already have your wallet’s contents. What a waste of time!
Awesome test of a very unknown loophole in the security screening process.
When I was coming back from Washington D.C., my professors and I had decided to try and catch an earlier flight. Because we were trying to get on an earlier flight 20 minutes before it took off, I got the red sharpie on my boarding pass too — but they checked it with a UV light. Apparently there’s a special property of the red ink they use that makes it distinguishable to security. Are you sure they didn’t take a little flashlight to it?
[Positive. -sherri]
Actually, we have a republic, not a democracy.
To be sure, however keep in mind that the 911 Hijackers had nothing more than box-cutters on them at the time. They could likely have completed their mission had they not been carrying any “dangerous objects”. What they did was simple, they exploited existing flaws in the security practices of the day.
Hacker law #1: Where security exists, it will be compromised.
Interesting story…having been through this ordeal do you really believe that anyone was ‘tracking’ you? I travel weekly and I am certain that the only people that could ‘track’ my movements are the airline (I always fly the same one), the hotel chain (again the same one) and maybe my wife. The Government? Not a chance – all TSA does is look at an ID I hand them and match it to my boarding pass – they don’t scan either and have no method to capture the info. Sure TSA security is a joke…but it’s not a conspiracy.
[...] Flying Without a Wallet (philosecurity. Thanks, Lovro!) [...]
Yes, but did your wallet make it out there?
I can’t imagine you’d want to go through that crap again
[It did indeed.
The return trip was certainly much more pleasant. -sherri]
I’ve traveled post 9/11 without ID as i forgot my wallet on the bed before leaving for the airport. I was given a “you’re an idiot” look from the first security person who also took my boarding pass and wrote “NO ID” on it in red pen. Then everyone else didn’t seem to think it was a big deal. They searched my bag and let me go on the plane.
I got to where I was going and had my wallet mailed to me. After that I traveled into Mexico and back into the US without showing ID.
But I don’t remember being able to travel anonymously by plane in my lifetime. Your name is on your ticket. Your name is in the airline’s computer system. I don’t think the lack of anonymity these days is solely the TSA/Homeland Security’s fault. It started way before the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The TSA is aggravating and their methods are inane and impractical and a waste of taxpayer money, yes. But I think technology is to blame for our lack of anonymity when it comes to any financial transaction…even if you keep your money in your mattress.
The “previous address” bit makes me think TSA is using a standard credit bureau database. It’d probably be the easiest thing for them to get their hands on, quite frankly.
It seems a good form of civil disobedience would be for everyone to “lose” their ID and try and fly. (I also liked how you never once lied to a security agent–at the time you actually had no way of knowing where your wallet was!)
Well played.
FWIW, your boarding pass photos still have enough information to access the booking record. You might want to black out some more info, such as the booking reference number.
“To be sure, however keep in mind that the 911 Hijackers had nothing more than box-cutters on them at the time. ”
Umm, how do you know that the 911 hijackers went through security with boxcutters? Did they also get through security with a gun because a gun was used in one of the hijackings.
“What they did was simple, they exploited existing flaws in the security practices of the day.”
Oh, I guess you mean that their associates had infiltrated airport jobs that provided access to the tarmac and plane cabins prior to takeoff. Have those flaws been addressed?
[...] Flying Without a Wallet (philosecurity. Thanks, Lovro!) [...]
[...] Flying Without a Wallet (philosecurity. Thanks, Lovro!) [...]
This is awesome, to get to Bill’s comment – I am a 20something Indian male with a beard. I loved this article and love the freedom I’ve been afforded in this country I’ve been lucky enough to be born in. I want to try doing this, with a spare boarding pass as suggested
Thank you for posting, and I hope we can one day regain trust in our fellow man.
Heaven forbid that airports attempt to help police catch people attempting interstate flight.
ZOMG ITS 1984!!1 WATCH ZEITGEIST AND LOOZCHANGE, FALSE FLAG BLAHBLAHBLAH.
I am an all-obeying citizen and put away my watch, belt, phone .. everything but my id and boarding pass into my bag on the parking coach itself.
Flying from St. Louis to Portland, the airport security let me take a 4.5 oz pack of hair wax with me. But apparently, the return flight is more of a security risk, or the guy just wanted to keep it for himself.
Also, while nailcutters, letter openers etc. are a no-no, they let me take a multimeter with extra-sharpened probes onboard with no issues from st. louis to atlanta and back. Apparently, even if could be a weapon, it’s sufficient to make it look like something else. Cables in my bag that could have strangulated my co-passenger were okay too.
And, also whatever Vanderwal said. Try getting in, have them mark your boarding pass, then show a different boarding pass with no marking or a different marking and see what kind of furor you create.
As former TSA, I honestly don’t see anything wrong with the procedures other than they are and tend to be a little repetitive. But, as former TSA, I can usually get through the line faster because I’m well aware of procedure. Although, the whole traveling without ID, that’s gotta be remedied somehow. I’d like to think that if I lost, or “lost”, my ID that I’d still be able to fly without the third degree. Although, this is piddle compared to what you usually go through just to identify yourself to your bank over the phone.
Sure, there are major flaws in the system, but it’s gotten to the point where I don’t even care anymore. I just fly because it’s faster than driving, and sometimes cheaper. Always early when I can be, never in a rush, always compliant, and always prepared for the security gates. Laptop out, jacket off, shoes off, individual bins, laptop by itself, ticket and ID out. I’m through those security checks faster than it takes most people to argue.
I haven’t flown in about a year now, but I still love doing it. And, I am at the airport at least once every two months since I’m a mystery shopper as well, but I frankly don’t see what all the hassle is about. It might be because I’m former TSA, just like I don’t see the hassle at Disneyland because I’m former Disney Cast. But, whatever it is, all I read is “whine whine whine”.
You got on your flight, didn’t you?
I often travel with high-speed scientific film which I prefer not to x-ray (ISO 3200). I try to ship ahead with UPS to avoid problems but I couldn’t last time. When I requested hand inspection, the explosives machine operator indicated he was sorry for me. Since each pack needed to be tested individually, it was inevitable that there would be an alarm. Once it alarmed the only option would be to x-ray it (ruining it) or pulling it open for hand inspection (ruining it). Sure enough after 5 packs, the alarm went off. So, I’ll guess the false positive is between 10-25%. I wonder what the false negative rate is on this equipment.
FYI, After allowing the alarmed film to be x-rayed, I was allowed to keep it with no further inspection of it.
I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
[...] philosecurity » Blog Archive » Flying Without a Wallet Little story about a girl named Sherri who wanted to fly… with out her id. Or in other words how our TSA is not really making us safe but keeping us under control. (tags: security travel privacy tsa airport) [...]
What does “SSSS” stand for?
Super Secret, Secret Squirrel?
Im sure he doesn’t have a wallet either. Hes got no pants on under that trench coat.
Fliegen ohne Identität…
In den USA wird ja alles sicherer, gerade im Flugverkehr. Geradezu lächerlich wirkt dagegen der Versuch ohne Ausweis einen Inlandsflug zu versuchen. Aber der ist so in den Köpfen verankert, daß er nicht einfach so abzuschaffen ging. Also ist er imme…
My friend and I were running late for our flight from LAX to Sacramento Ca and had to be screened “specially”. We did the xray machine and then our purses were hand searched with the little wipe pads for explosive dust. My friend had a lighter and a arosol of mace in her purse that wasnt seen by the xrayer or the hand screener. We could have torced the crabby flight attendent!!!
[...] Link. [...]
@bob the mob:
Your comment doesn’t make any sense. How can a TSA agent possibly identify someone who is not allowed to travel between states, just by looking at their ticket and ID? Wouldn’t they have to memorize every fugitive and parolee that the police are trying to catch? Please explain.
TSAHacker, what you do on the phone with your bank happens via mutual agreement between two private parties. Security guards at a government checkpoint demanding that you identify yourself or be denied your right to travel is an entirely different situation.
This forced ID check amounts to a requirement that we ask for and receive permission before going about our business. It’s entirely un-American, and it does nothing to improve security.
Almost everything TSA does accomplishes only 1) making foolish, uninformed, or oblivious people feel safer when flying via commercial airline and 2) creating an infrastructure to facilitate the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s restriction of the movement of people using its blacklists.
Paraphrasing words of The Identity Project: No matter how sophisticated the security embedded into an I.D., a well-funded criminal will be able to falsify it. Honest people, however, go to Pro-Life rallies. Honest people go to Pro-Choice rallies, too. Honest people attend gun shows. Honest people protest the actions of the President of the United States. Honest people fly to political conventions. What if those with the power to put people on a ‘no fly’ list decided that they didn’t like the reason for which you wanted to travel? The honest people wouldn’t be going anywhere.
[...] ID is technically possible for domestic flights. Sherri Davidoff shows how on her blog…Link: Philosecurity – Flying without a wallet Rather than increasing security, the new policy change merely ensures that private citizens who [...]
Isn’t the whole point of the exercise to insist on being able to travel anonymously? You didn’t have to show your ID, ok. That’s fine. But in the end, you still had to give your name and arguably left more traces in the system through this ‘unusual’ event than if you would have just flown with an ID.
Thus, no anonymous travel at all is possible anymore, with our without ID. Unless one is willing to lie.
Just a note, but there is no Constitutional right to “anonymous travel”. There is a Constitutional right to interstate travel, but the Supreme Court has noted that this applies only to foot or motorized ground traffic, and has noted that roadblocks may be used under certain circumstances and that identification may be required at those roadblocks. _All_ air travel (except military flights which includes Air Force One) falls under jurisdiction of the FAA and most security policies enforced by the FAA come from the Department of Homeland Security.
I appreciate your efforts to point out the weaknesses of TSA screening, but let’s not perpetuate the myth of “anonymous” travel. This isn’t the Internet.
blarman: The Ninth Amendment of the Constitution was specifically added to clarify that the rights of the people extend beyond those that are specifically mentioned in the Bill of Rights. My current musing is that perhaps a “right” is best defined as something the people demand and can also defend.
That said, in the 2004 Gilmore case, the courts did “recognize the right to travel without showing ID,” citing TSA’s policy at the time of allowing passengers to decline to show ID as long as they consent to extra searching.
Here are a couple of good articles which mention that:
Your papers please: TSA bans ID-less flight
Flying without an ID is coming to a controversial end
I fly without ID all of the time. I made the decision at the start of this year to not present ID. I do get secondary, but it’s worth it.
I went through security once with my fiance. I am a 6′1” 280 pound white guy. My fiance is a 5′5” 120 pound Filipina. This is important to note.
When we went through the section where they check the ID and the boarding pass, I handed the TSA agent my ID and my boarding pass. She looks at the each and looks at me and makes a mark. I move on, eager to get in the short line to get through the screening, leaving behind my fiance (yea.. rude.. I know). After a few steps my fiance calls for me to come back. It seems that I forgot that I was holding her boarding pass.
I look down and realize that I had handed the TSA agent my ID with my fiances boarding pass. She has reviewed it and my ID, glancing up at me and then making her mark that it was ok for me to go through.
Further, it is not that our names are similiar at all. Although I will not give our real full names, it would be similiar to mine being John Timothy and my fiances being Amanda Rubicon.
Amazing.
pitpawten:
Actually I tend to agree with the assesment here: http://psweb.sbs.ohio-state.edu/faculty/jmueller/ISA2008.pdf
Essentially you are right, they exploited something. They exploited all of the previous hijackings that resulted in negotiations and maybe a rescue attempt.
Nobody on the first two planes expected they were going to either die or be used as a weapon. The september 11th attacks were a self correcting problem, as evidenced by the response of the passengers on the plane that had time to hear about the other planes.
The entire security problem was solved the same day that it was exploited.
-Steve
I’m not much happier than anyone else here about the extent to which ID checking is security theater, but playing devil’s advocate for a moment:
1. It’s not just the TSA whose expectations are driving the theater. I fear that some large fraction of the American public — perhaps even a majority — would freak right out if the TSA were to suddenly announce, “Eh, ID checking is unnecessary, we’re abandoning it.”
2. *IF* government-issued ID were accurate, unique, and unforgeable, and *IF* a no-fly list made sense, ID checks would obviously be an essential component of the no-fly implementation.
@John ["How can a TSA agent possibly identify someone who is not allowed to travel between states, just by looking at their ticket and ID? Wouldn’t they have to memorize every fugitive and parolee that the police are trying to catch? Please explain."]:
I presume that checking is done in advance, by the TSA’s computers, when the airlines electronically share with the TSA their lists of booked passengers. I’m not sure how the enforcement part of the no-fly list is implemented, but I presume that the gate agents can be alerted to look for just those blacklisted passengers who are known to have checked in, or perhaps that the TSA has a way of directing the airlines not to issue a boarding pass to a blacklisted passenger at all.
The TSA should not allow anyone to board a plane without any official ID. You should have been turned back.
When we decide to travel on any public transport, there is no right to travel anonymously. If one does not want the government to know where or when you are traveling, then don’t use public, federally controlled means of transportation.
There is no such thing as a right to travel anonymously. The right to freedom of assembly is not applicable here.
If the government needs to know who I am in order to protect me, then so be it.
Steve, I think your statement is, under our current circumstances, logically correct: “*IF* government-issued ID were accurate, unique, and unforgeable, and *IF* a no-fly list made sense, ID checks would obviously be an essential component of the no-fly implementation.” Were we able to identify people by other means — checking a tattoo or chip implant, mental telepathy, etc. — then requiring people to present credentials would not be an essential component. We could say the same of any practice which applies to certain people — doing it right requires us to identify people.
However, let’s not lose track of the fact that “the no-fly implementation” is simply a restriction of people’s right to travel (and thus of their right to associate) based on a blacklist. That is never a good idea.
I really encourage anyone who’s interested in this topic to see the Gilmore v. Ashcroft — FAA ID challenge FAQ. Two questions and answers from that page are particularly relevant here:
The takeaway there is that the line between “terrorist” and “freedom fighter” (or between “terrorist” and “political agitator” or “activist” for that matter) is a political one. One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. When the United States government supports terrorists, it calls them freedom fighters. When freedom fighters’ efforts do not benefit the United States government, it calls them terrorists.
Americans have been led to focus so sharply on the risk of terrorist activity that many of them are now willing to take the word of those who claim to look out for their best interests when those supposed protectors say who is and is not a terrorist. This is not a matter of whether such a system will be abused, but when it will be abused. Patriotic Americans (and anyone who believes in liberty) should resist this practice.
TSAHacker (26): I think you missed the point of Sherri’s post. The issue is not that flying is a hassle. It’s that most of the hassle doesn’t actually produce a substantially more secure flight. Yes, she got on her flight. The process doesn’t seem like it would stop someone from impersonating her, though.
If you read the “Analysis” section, rather than the narrative, you’ll note that Sherri (a) concedes that screening baggage makes sense, but (b) lists a few ways that moderately intelligent attackers could subvert the system. While many attackers are not even moderately intelligent and may well be caught by the system, the fact that several security experts have noticed wide gaping holes means that anyone with the gumption to Google “TSA security flaws” will be able to exploit the system. At that point, the major effect will be the hassle, without the countervailing benefits.
No one denies that security is a difficult task, whether we’re talking about computers or airplanes. This does not excuse the deployment of policies whose main effect is to make matters more difficult for the vast majority of users, while not doing the same for intelligent attackers.
I wouldn’t call this a little known loophole. At least one person, every other week, for 12 weeks flying out of Austin has done this. Wow, isn’t their civil disobedience cool. Nobody at the airport is smart enough whether to figure out if my gun is actually unloaded when I present it to them at the counter, either.
Seriously, we know most security, TSA sponsored or not, is full of holes. What’s really the point of re-hashing the same “isn’t TSA so stupid! Tee hee!” line over and over? Has this been in doubt since before the day they formally existed?
USA Today reported that TSA had a policy, which it is discontinuing, of adding people who failed to present id to their list of people who violated security laws or were questions for suspicious behavior.
See: Fliers without ID placed on TSA list
http://www.usatoday.com/_ads/interstitial/2008/page/interstitial.htm?http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/surveillance/2008-08-12-tsa_N.htm
Jmarsh (49): It isn’t in doubt amongst the security-aware, but apparently those in charge either haven’t got the message yet, or are being willfully ignorant. I suppose it’s in the hope that it’s the former that people continue to engage the TSA loopholes, but I suspect that it’s really the latter–at the higher levels, at least.
I would say this loophole is very little known generally. I doubt most people are even aware of TSA’s policy change with respect to “misplaced IDs.”
[...] Flying Without a Wallet I think that this is really interesting, there either needs to be good, effective security, or [...]
The most amazing thing about this whole story is that anyone would trust their wallet to the postal service
The machine that they used to check your stuff for explosives was most likely one of those: http://www.smithsdetection.com/eng/297.php
I travel a lot. I’m in the IT security business too. This was the most interesting thing I’ve read in a very long time. Thanks so much.
I recently inadvertently left my driver’s license at my office and didn’t have it with me trying to go through security. The only suggestion I got to get through security without gov’t-issued ID was from a Frontier Airlines check-in agent, who suggested I provide my Costco card to TSA, because it had my picture on it. Needless to say, I didn’t bother trying that.
[...] philosecurity |del.icio.us |Digg it |Netscape |reddit |SiteHoppin [...]
[...] lists. (Did you catch the news that, to fly without ID, you need to provide the government with details of your past addresses? I.e., what you say at the airport is checked against their pre-existing databases on [...]
When I was in high school I was flying from Massachusetts to Missouri with my aunt but we were delayed in getting to the airport in Boston, so we only arrived a few minutes before the plane was set to take off. We explained the situation to some peon who took us to a lady that at least looked like she had some authority and he told her what we had told him. She looked up and down at us for about five seconds, said, “Okay, follow me,” and we proceeded to bypass *all* security. She took us straight to the place where we boarded, and they checked our ID and boarding passes and showed us to our seats. I’m actually glad to know that some people have enough common sense to realize that the vast majority of air travellers pose no security threat whatsoever.
I did this recently and it was pretty uneventful. No phone calls, just the SSSS and the only extra security was that they swabbed down all of my luggage for the explosives detector (which, BTW, detects any nitrates, so don’t mess with any fertilizer or nitro patches before going to the airport). I was through in 10 minutes. They didn’t even seem to be particularly fazed by it.
When I found myself at the airport with no I.D., thinking I’d have to go get it and come back, they assured me it wasn’t a problem. I had a boarding pass and they marked it to indicate I didn’t have ID and then put me through a full search, but never called anyone or had me fill out any forms to check my identity at all – nor did they ask for any other kind of ID (and I had other ID on me). I could have flown Alaska that day under a bogus name and as long as I submitted to a more extensive search, they didn’t care. I was glad I got to fly home that day, but it’s bothered me ever since that no verification of my identy was even requested of me!
None at all surprising…remember, the security directors at the airports are all political appointees….BUT, I can tell you that there are security procedures in place that you cannot see…….
interesting history, but, what about racism, or discrimination, i think that you are a white guy, what if u werent?
I considered doing this same thing when flying out to BH/DC, but decided against it since I didn’t want to be delayed.
Of course, then I ended up sitting in Denver for an extra 6 hours because they diverted my plane. Made me miss the Qualys party.
Don’t fly United.
Here in OZ you can’t get your boarding pass without Photo ID. If you print it off at home when checking bags you have to provide Photo ID. If you print it off at home and have no luggage you just pass through security without any special checks. Random(?) people are checked for exposure to explosives. The interesting person is my wife, who (last month) flew with the following in her security screened, handbag.
1 pair of scissors,
1 pair of nail clippers.
An aluminium covered notebook, that has cut her a number of times when using it.
She also has screws in her spine that sets off the metal detectors. They use a hand held detector to check her. She tells them she has screws in her back. They say OK. No check are made as to the validity of her claim. She does carry a letter from her doctor that explains the metal, but has never been asked for it.
May be we are the profile of the ‘normal’ everyday person, who does not impose a threat.
It all seems so arbitrary to me. We have travelled on every continent except the Antarctic, with no worries except in Heathrow and LA international. Heathrow was that I could not correctly identify what was in a blue bag in my luggage. I had 5 bluebags. I had to compltely unpack my bag. In LA we wanted to bookin more than 12 hours before our flight. We were told we could not as they had had a bomb scare in longterm checked in baggage.
the government planned 9/11. stop stressing over airport security.
I live in the States and have done so for over 40 years. I am a 74 year-old female with an English accent, a green card and a European passport. I would say two out of three times I travel I am taken out of line for the full search. No one can seem to tell me why!
And of course, I am now even more “suspicious” since occasionally my new metal hip will cause the detector to buzz…
omg.. good work, guy
If you want to travel anonymously, then walk.
The airline has to make sure that its passengers don’t have anything on them that can harm other passengers, the crew or the plane itself. They have to know that you aren’t boarding the flight to intentionally disrupt it. This is common and basic safety and security of a product/service.
If the flight is between two countries or US states, then the plane is travelling to a different legal system and jurisdiction. When crossing any border or stateline, the police have to check travellers to see if they’re criminally convicted/on parole/wanted in either country or state. Your flight was from Boston to Las Vegas – to a different state. You were also passing through the airspace of a dozen other states.
The United States of America is not like any other country. It is the 3rd largest country by both area and population in the world. It is comprised of 50 different states, each with its own laws. Other countries, even those larger than the US, only have one legal system and set of laws across the entire nation.
To travel freely within Germany, the UK, France, Australia or Canada is reasonable. The US, on the other hand, is so fractured legally (mainly due to the history of how it was compiled) that it would be impossible to travel so freely without overhalling the entire legal system, which would take decades and which most people couldn’t be bothered to do just to be able to fly between states without a driver’s license or passport.
I think the most salient point you make is the crumbling of our freedoms. I frankly can’t believe you chanced taking your laptop with you, knowing what you intended to do. Brave one!
[...] “In reality, ID checks don’t make us safer. All of the terrorists on that 9/11 flight had valid ID. It’s a fake security measure designed make us to feel safer. It’s not actually intended to keep us safe. There are ways around it, too… Just last year TSA announced a new policy for the first time ever, which said that if you don’t have your ID but you cooperate with TSA, show them credit cards etc, you can fly. So if you say you screwed up, it’s cool. If you politely refuse for whatever reason to show ID… [...]