Secondary Security Screening Selection

Last updated

Boarding pass of passenger selected for secondary security screening. BoardingPass SSSS.jpg
Boarding pass of passenger selected for secondary security screening.
CIA Assessment on Surviving Secondary Screening WikiLeaks CIA Assessment on Surviving Secondary Screening.pdf
CIA Assessment on Surviving Secondary Screening

Secondary Security Screening Selection or Secondary Security Screening Selectee, known by its initials SSSS, is an airport security measure in the United States which selects passengers for additional inspection. People from certain countries are subject to it by default. [1] The passengers may be known as Selectee, Automatic Selectee or the Selectee list. [1] The size and contents of the list fluctuates and is a secret, although the Transportation Security Administration has stated there are tens of thousands of names on it. [2]

Contents

The Selectee list has been cited by civil liberties groups to be infringing on privacy rights and potential for racial and ethnic discrimination. [3]

Procedure when selected

Passengers who have been selected for secondary screening will have the letters SSSS or *S* (all capitals) printed on their boarding passes as a signal for the need for a thorough search at security checkpoints. [4] In the case of Southwest Airlines, secondary screening selectees may have a "checkerboard" pattern printed on their boarding passes. [5]

SSSS passengers will go through a more intensive screening process which may include enhanced pat-downs.[ clarification needed ] Their carry-on luggage may also be inspected by hand. In the case of film or other items that cannot be X-rayed, the agent may perform a test for possible explosive materials. The screener may also use a hand held metal detector to search the passenger for metal objects. [1]

Selection criteria

Neither the TSA nor the airlines publish the criteria that are used when boarding passes are issued to identify passengers who will be given extra screening or be denied boarding.

Some criteria are:

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has insisted no minors are listed on the No Fly List or the Selectee List. One minor was placed on this list in 2014 and, as of July 2017, minors with similar names to those on the lists still have difficulty in obtaining boarding passes and are subjected to additional screening. [10] [11]

Critics of the George W. Bush administration, including Sen. Edward Kennedy, Rep. John Lewis, feminist Naomi Wolf, peace activists Father John Dear and Sister Virgine Lawinger, Center for Constitutional Rights lawyers Barbara Olshansky and Nancy Chang, and Green Party activists Nancy Oden and Doug Stuber have been pulled aside for enhanced screening, leading activists to believe that some selectees were being harassed for speaking out against government policies. [12] [13] [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

After the September 11 attacks, there was an immediate call to action regarding the state of aviation security measures as the hijackers involved in 9/11 were able to successfully pass through security and take command of the plane. The existing security measures flagged more than half of the 19 hijackers in 9/11; however, they were cleared to board the plane because their bags were not found to contain any explosives. In the months and years following September 11, 2001, security at many airports worldwide were reformed to deter similar terrorist plots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transportation Security Administration</span> United States federal government agency

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within, and connecting to, the United States. It was created as a response to the September 11 attacks to improve airport security procedures and consolidate air travel security under a combined federal law enforcement and regulatory agency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airport security</span> Measures to prevent crime at an airport

Airport security includes the techniques and methods used in an attempt to protect passengers, staff, aircraft, and airport property from malicious harm, crime, terrorism, and other threats.

The Computer-Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS) is a counter-terrorism system in place in the United States air travel industry that matches passenger information with other data sources. The United States Transportation Security Administration (TSA) maintains a watchlist, pursuant to 49 USC § 114 (h)(2), of "individuals known to pose, or suspected of posing, a risk of air piracy or terrorism or a threat to airline or passenger safety." The list is used to pre-emptively identify terrorists attempting to buy airline tickets or board aircraft traveling in the United States, and to mitigate perceived threats.

The No Fly List, maintained by the United States federal government's Terrorist Screening Center (TSC), is one of several lists included in algorithmic rulesets used by government agencies and airlines to decide who to allow to board airline flights. The TSC's No Fly List is a list of people who are prohibited from boarding commercial aircraft for travel within, into, or out of the United States. This list has also been used to divert aircraft away from U.S. airspace that do not have start- or end-point destinations within the United States. The number of people on the list rises and falls according to threat and intelligence reporting. There were reportedly 16,000 names on the list in 2011, 21,000 in 2012, and 47,000 in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Registered Traveler</span>

A registered traveler is a person qualified through an airline passenger security assessment system in the United States air travel industry. Such programs were initially tested in 2005. Registered traveler programs are currently in operation in various airports around the country and are administered by TTAC, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) office responsible for Secure Flight, the replacement for the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS) and the canceled CAPPS II counter-terrorism system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Backscatter X-ray</span> Advanced X-ray imaging technology

Backscatter X-ray is an advanced X-ray imaging technology. Traditional X-ray machines detect hard and soft materials by the variation in x-ray intensity transmitted through the target. In contrast, backscatter X-ray detects the radiation that reflects from the target. It has potential applications where less-destructive examination is required, and can operate even if only one side of the target is available for examination.

Security theater is the practice of implementing security measures that are considered to provide the feeling of improved security while doing little or nothing to achieve it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boarding pass</span> Document provided to an air-travel passenger functioning as a ticket.

A boarding pass or boarding card is a document provided by an airline during airport check-in, giving a passenger permission to enter the restricted area of an airport and to board the airplane for a particular flight. At a minimum, it identifies the passenger, the flight number, the date, and scheduled time for departure. A boarding pass may also indicate details of the perks a passenger is entitled to and is thus presented at the entrance of such facilities to show eligibility.

Secure Flight is an airline passenger pre-screening program, implemented from August 2009 by the United States Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Secure Flight matches passenger information against watch lists maintained by the federal government. The initial implementation phase of Secure Flight resulted in the complete transfer of responsibility for passenger watch list matching to TSA from aircraft operators whose flights operate within the United States. The second phase of Secure Flight will result in the transfer of responsibility for passenger watch list matching to TSA for flights into, out of, and over the United States.

The Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB) is the central terrorist watchlist consolidated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Terrorist Screening Center and used by multiple agencies to compile their specific watchlists and for screening. The list was created after the September 11 attacks.

The Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE) is the U.S. government's central database on known or suspected international terrorists, and contains highly classified information provided by members of the Intelligence Community such as CIA, DIA, FBI, NSA, and many others.

Passenger Protect, commonly referred to as the Canadian no-fly list, is the Canadian government initiative to identify individuals who may be an "immediate threat to aviation security" and prevent them from boarding a flight,

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Full body scanner</span> Device which detects objects in or around a persons body

A full-body scanner is a device that detects objects on or inside a person's body for security screening purposes, without physically removing clothes or making physical contact. Unlike metal detectors, full-body scanners can detect non-metal objects, which became an increasing concern after various airliner bombing attempts in the 2000s. Some scanners can also detect swallowed items or items hidden in the body cavities of a person. Starting in 2007, full-body scanners started supplementing metal detectors at airports and train stations in many countries.

In the United States, border security includes the protection of ports, airports, and the country's 3,017-mile (4,855 km) land border with Canada and 1,933-mile (3,111 km) border with Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Covenant Aviation Security</span> US aviationsecurity services company

Covenant Aviation Security, LLC (CAS) is a Chicago company that provides security services to the aviation industry. Michael Bolles has been its President since July 2012.

Airport racial profiling in the United States is U.S. government activity directed at a suspect or group of suspects because of their race or ethnicity. Under Fourth Amendment analysis, objective factors measure whether law enforcement action is constitutional, and under the Fourteenth Amendment challenges to the practice are assessed under the customary strict scrutiny test for racial classifications.

Clear Secure, Inc. is an American technology company that operates biometric travel document verification systems at some major airports and stadiums.

Behavior Detection and Analysis (BDA), until 2016 called Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT), is a program launched in the United States by the Transportation Security Administration to identify potential terrorists among people at an airport by a set of 94 objective criteria, all of which are signs for either stress, fear, or deception. Passengers meeting enough of the criteria are, under the program, referred for a patdown and additional screening. The criteria were initially secret, but in March 2015, The Intercept published them after obtaining the information from an anonymous source.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TSA PreCheck</span> U.S. Transportation Security Administration traveler program

TSA PreCheck is a trusted traveler program initiated in December 2013 and administered by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration that allows selected members of select frequent flyer programs, members of Global Entry, Free and Secure Trade, NEXUS, and SENTRI, members of the US military, and cadets and midshipmen of the United States service academies to receive expedited screening for domestic and select international itineraries. As of July 2023, this program was available at more than 200 airports.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "TSA Leaks Sensitive Airport Screening Manual". Wired. December 2009. Archived from the original on March 31, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  2. 1 2 ACLU. "Frequently Asked Questions About the No-Fly List". aclu-wa.org. Washington State. Archived from the original on February 12, 2014. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  3. ↑ "ACLU Files Lawsuit Challenging The 'No Fly List'". avstop.com. July 2010. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  4. 1 2 "Associated Press: "Women complain about airport patdowns"". NBC News . November 30, 2004. Archived from the original on June 19, 2015. Retrieved July 27, 2008.
  5. ↑ "Gilmore v. Gonzales". FreeToTravel.org. United States District Court, Northern District of California. July 18, 2002. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2015. Southwest... clerk tore up the boarding pass, printed out another one with a checkerboard pattern on it... you become selected for secondary screening...
  6. ↑ Singel, R: "How to Get Off a Government Watchlist" Archived July 24, 2008, at the Wayback Machine , Wired, April 16, 2007. Accessed January 8, 2008
  7. ↑ Women voice objection to intrusive searches at US airports Archived May 9, 2010, at the Wayback Machine DailyTimes, December 1, 2004. Accessed January 8, 2008
  8. 1 2 Merino, Isidoro (April 12, 2023). "SSSS: Four letters you never want to see on your boarding pass". El País . Archived from the original on April 13, 2023.
  9. 1 2 Halpern, Ashlea (January 11, 2022). "What to Know If an SSSS Code Shows Up on Your Boarding Pass". Condé Nast Traveler . Archived from the original on March 4, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Mom says TSA agents at DFW Airport traumatized son with 'horrifying' security check". March 30, 2017. Archived from the original on August 3, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Are These Kids Terrorists?". Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  12. ↑ Sherwood Ross. "Bush Restricting Travel Rights of Over 100,000 U.S. Citizens". WarIsACrime.org. Archived from the original on August 14, 2016. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  13. ↑ Naomi Wolf (September 2007). The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot . Chelsea Green Publishing. pp. 93–94.
  14. ↑ Dave Lindorff (November 22, 2002). "The No-Fly List: Is a federal agency systematically harassing travelers for their political beliefs?". In These Times. Archived from the original on December 7, 2020. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.