1. TSA is now checking out people well in advance of their arriving at the airport, cross-referencing their reservations with a variety federal databases for all sorts of things. The goal is to flag, in advance, people who may not need as intense scrutiny — and people who they think do.
On the one hand, this would address criticisms of "Why are they randomly patting down grandma?" one-size-fits-all security models. The problem is, the basis for identifying who's more or less suspicious is algorithmic and opaque, and the redress process appears to be fairly weak (if you find yourself being constantly inspected more).
2. The TSA is, in turn, sharing its information / conclusions with other federal agencies. Which, on the one hand, makes "connecting the dots" sense, but also increases the aggregate knowledge that the government is coordinating about you (which is then both open to abuse and means you're in real trouble if the TSA "misclassifies" you).
More interestingly / disturbingly, in some cases the sharing is being done with non-governmental organizations:
'For instance, an update about the T.S.A.’s Transportation Security Enforcement Record System, which contains information about travelers accused of “violations or potential violations” of security regulations, warns that the records may be shared with “a debt collection agency for the purpose of debt collection.”'
Trying to figure out the justification for that.
3. The TSA's trying to expand the Pre-Check program to cover up to a quarter of travelers. I have to say, being able to walk through security without divesting myself of my shoes, belt, laptop, and baggie of fluids is really kind of nice (almost makes me feel like a citizen). Unless they change the requirements for it, though, I don't see how that will work (on-the-fly criminal background checks? point-of-entry fingerprint lookups?).
So, in sum, a lot of things that make sense (if we assume the need for such security, this is doing it with a bit more intelligence), but are also more than a bit worrisome (in terms of a security state with cross-connected files, which may or may not be accurate, on everyone).
Security Check Now Starts Long Before You Fly – NYTimes.com
The T.S.A. has at its fingertips a large range of personal records to prescreen passengers, including past travel, property records and vehicle registrations.
I was a bit confused, but in a happy way, when I got to TSA security in Indianapolis on Monday for my return flight; an agent working the lines informed us that they were taking part in a pilot test of some different procedures and we didn't have to remove liquids, our shoes, hats, belts or "light" jackets. The only thing odd seemed to be that they'd gone back to requiring CPAP machines to be taken out and put in a bin (they had been doing that for a while but had stopped about 3 or 4 years ago).
The bag scan took a few seconds longer than I've become accustomed to, but not by an egregious amount.
+The Bruce, Mile High That's what life is like in the Pre-Check lane. Amazing how blissfully unobtrusive it all seems.