Airport Security Rife With ‘Watchlist Misidentification Issues’

Travel Blog  •  Elyse Franko  •  09.02.08 | 9:33 AM ET

New York Times columnist Joe Sharkey reports on the complete disorder of government security watchlists. These include the national no-fly list, for those who are “known security threats,” and a secondary list for people whose names match records from police databanks and other security forces. The problem is, if any criminal on record has your name, you could encounter trouble at security checkpoints—and for “security” purposes, you probably won’t be able to get off the list any time soon, even if you’ve proven your own innocence. 

According to Sharkey, the F.B.I.-run selectee list is “the chief source of complaints and derision because it contains many names that belong to young children, members of Congress, nuns, war heroes, and various David Nelsons (including the one who is Ozzie and Harriet’s son).”

Related On World Hum:
* Passenger: TSA Forced me to Remove my Nipple Ring With Pliers.
* ‘Sweeping Review of Airport Security Screening’ Underway

Tags: Air Travel, Airworld, Travel and Security, News and Briefs

Elyse Franko is a Long Island native, a graduate of the American University School of Communication in Washington, D.C., and a former World Hum intern. During her time at university, she wrote and edited for several campus publications and fostered her love for traveling by spending time abroad in Istanbul, Turkey, and Berlin, Germany. She currently works as a teaching assistant in Vienna, Austria.


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