Speak out, lest airport security blacklist you

When I embark on a trip to Europe this coming summer, my biggest worry will not be delayed flights or lost baggage ““ it will be this column.

Zakariya Reed, a firefighter from Toledo, Ohio, told the Washington Post that he was detained by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) several times at the Michigan border and twice questioned about his “politically charged” (meaning, anti-Bush administration) letters to his local newspaper ““ which TSA officials printed out and laid before him.

The TSA was created as a response to the events of Sept. 11 and has diligently worked toward making us a little less safe every day by compiling massive amounts of information on ordinary citizens like Reed. These records, which can be kept for 15 years, not only detract resources from investigations of real terrorists, they also violate our constitutional rights.

The TSA’s snooping efforts are extensive. They have notes on everything from individual travelers’ names, race, traveling companions, preferred reading material, and even the type of bed you request at a hotel.

What, you didn’t know that all terrorists enjoy sleeping in king size beds? It allows them more room to snuggle next to their explosives.

This extensive data mining results in an essentially useless “No-Fly” list, which has been criticized for its vast number of errors. To date, I have seen no reports about the list identifying actual terrorists, though it has named Sen. Edward Kennedy and a 7-year-old boy as potential threats.

Professor Pamela Hobbs, a lawyer who instructs a class on constitutional freedom at UCLA, explained over e-mail that the TSA “requires all passengers to submit to “˜screening’ ““ that is, a search ““ without reasonable suspicion that the person may be engaged in criminal activity, in clear violation of the Fourth Amendment.”

The American Civil Liberties Union agrees, stating on its Web site that the lists treat innocent passengers as if they are guilty of a crime without trying them, and punishes them by restricting their constitutional right to travel.

The lists also violate the Privacy Act, which restricts the amount of personal information agencies can gather and requires the process to be transparent.

Yet you can’t find out if you’ve been placed on one of the TSA’s lists until you arrive at an airport and are subjected to extra screenings or not allowed to travel. Furthermore, no one will tell you why you’ve been placed on the list, and if your name has been mistakenly listed, the TSA is not obligated to remove it. So much for transparency.

The TSA, however, has a perfectly good reason for that. It claims exemption from the Privacy Act and having to show people their own records because it designated all of the information as “classified,” including public lists of airline passengers’ names. Your own name is so top secret, the TSA can’t even tell you what it is.

Even more frightening, the federal government moved to take over the screening process from the airlines. While the TSA has been compiling the lists, the airlines have had the responsibility of enforcing them since 2005. Under this new rule, set to take effect in 2009, the TSA requires airlines to report on individuals’ height, eye color, weight and other personal information that is totally useless for trying to identify terrorists.

Some people argue that this isn’t a big deal ““ if you have nothing to hide, why worry? The answer is painfully obvious: Due to its blatant disregard for the constitutional rights of Americans, this system is just begging to be abused.

Imagine what an unscrupulous person could do with a 15-year record of your credit cards, addresses, places you visit and travelling companions.

Imagine being placed on the “No-Fly” list by a TSA agent you snapped at while checking in your bags ““ and never being able to remove it.

Imagine if airline employees were so busy deciding if they should classify your eyes as “˜brown’ or “˜hazel’ that terrorists slip by undetected.

Most students consider traveling part of their education, not a way to sacrifice their rights to privacy and due process. If we remain silent it won’t be long until the TSA inspires the government to take away the rest of our rights. We must let our legislators and politicians know that these violations are not acceptable by calling and writing.

And please hurry. As a lifelong author of “politically charged” publications, I only have a two hour layover on my flight next summer, and it will probably take much longer than that for the TSA to print everything out.

Had any bad experiences with the TSA? Tell Strickland all about it at kstrickland@media.ucla.edu. General comments can be sent to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.

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